Steelers Harold Matthews star Hayden Buchanan says his side is relishing the chance to kill two birds with one stone against the Raiders this weekend.
A win at Ron Costello Oval would all-but lock-up a finals berth for Aaron McDonald's side while claiming a major scalp en route to the big games.
Currently in fifth spot on the ladder, the Steelers are just one win adrift of second-placed Parramatta and the Raiders in third.
The Steelers will take some confidence out of an emphatic 50-6 win over the Bears last week, with Buchanan grabbing a hat-trick in the first 18 minutes.
"My job's pretty easy," Buchanan said.
"I just stand out there and look pretty, it's everyone around me that does the work. Our forwards really led the way last week.
"Their defence was really good and they laid the foundation for the rest of us to do what we do. Hopefully we can bring that into this week again.
"I feel we haven't put together a full 60 yet. In trials when it was stop-start we did that really well but, so far this season, we haven't quite put that 60 together. That's the goal this week.
"If we can knock [the Raiders] off we're pretty much in the finals and it'll give us a heap of confidence going into those finals."
It was a solid bounce-back from a last-gasp defeat to Balmain a week earlier, with Buchanan saying it was a timely reminder that a lackadaisical approach can be costly.
"It was certainly a wake-up call for all of us that we can't get lazy," Buchanan said.
"After what happened against Balmain we really wanted to show where we stood in the comp. We gave that up right towards the end [against Balmain] so we were ready to go."
In other matches, Russ Aitken's SG Ball side will be looking to hand the Raiders their first loss of the season and keep their finals hopes alive, while Courtney Crawford's Tarsha Gale Cup side will be looking to tighten their grip on a finals spot.
In the open Women's, the Steelers will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing last-start defeat to North Sydney when they host Mounties.
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
