A refreshed Felise Kaufusi says Melbourne’s week off through the finals will be more valuable than ever at the end of a hectic NRL season.
The Storm put their feet up last weekend while Canberra went hammer and tong with the Sydney Roosters to earn their spot in Friday night’s grand final qualifier at Suncorp Stadium.
The Raiders then had to fly back to Canberra, racking up around 50 hours of travel time this season with Campbelltown their “home” early in the reboot.
And then the Raiders were informed on Wednesday that their plans to fly to Brisbane early on game day and relax in an inner city hotel had been kiboshed by the Queensland government.
They will now leave Canberra four hours later than they had hoped and head straight to the iconic stadium in Birsbane while the Storm will stroll down from their Sunshine Coast base.
Kaufusi, who was among a swag of Storm stars saved from travelling to Sydney for the final round match against St George Illawarra, said he felt in top shape before the must-win match.
“The body is holding up well, especially after that week off,” the 28-year-old said.
“I think it plays to our advantage; physically and mentally you get to freshen up and fine-tune some things.
“For us, and the year we’ve had and not being able to rest, it will play well into our hand.”
Kaufusi did concede that the Raiders, who are gunning for their sixth successive win, would bring momentum into the match.
The Queensland second-rower lines up in the Maroons’ Origin pack alongside Canberra prop Josh Papalii, who gets the Green Machine going forward.
Kaufusi said stopping Papalii was a key to Melbourne dening the Raiders advancing to their second straight title decider.
He also made mention of Raiders lock Joe Tapine and reserve prop Hudson Young.
“He’s been massive for them this year,” Kaufusi said of Papalii.
“I watched the game against the Roosters and he was on fire.
“He’s big and physical and he’s got a good off-load on him so it’s going to be a tough task for our front-rowers, but a good match-up.
“We’ve got some big boys in our team.”