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MACQUARIE halfback Mick Moran said his teammates owed it to themselves to keep their Newcastle Rugby League campaign alive today with a win over Kurri Kurri.
The Scorpions' stellar season will end in disappointment today if they lose the minor semi-final to the Bulldogs at Kurri Sportsground.
After being on track to win the first minor premiership in their 53-year history, four losses in their past five games have left Macquarie staring at an early exit in the finals.
"We definitely don't want to be packing up and thinking about next year," Moran said.
"There's been good talk at training that there's nothing to hold back on.
"I think we owe it ourselves and I know nobody is going to hold back."
Injuries have cut deep into Macquarie and there were fears Moran and fullback Nathan Cantor would be added to that list after they sustained ankle injuries in last Sunday's 32-24 loss to South Newcastle.
But both trained on Thursday night and will play today.
Moran's inclusion is particularly vital for a young Scorpions squad, because he knows plenty about performing in big games.
The former South Sydney recruit won two grand finals with Maitland, including a man-of-the-match performance in 2011 where he kicked the golden-point field goal.
He believes complacency crept in because the Scorpions secured a top-five berth a month out from the finals.
"I think it might have been in the back of our heads that we were always sitting good," he said. "At training this week we've all spoken about it.
"There's no next week, and maybe we've been complacent when we were sitting right."
Kurri roll into the game with confidence after defeating Maitland 36-4 and Cessnock 23-16 in their last two outings.
If the Bulldogs stumble it could mean the end of prop Jesse Royal's career, which included 65 NRL games with the Knights and the New Zealand Warriors.
"I'll probably retire and give the body a bit of a rest and get over a few niggling injuries," he said.
"We'll see how we go at the start of the season as I might want to chuck the boots back on."
Controversy has been raging at Toronto this week over the league's decision to schedule the match at Kurri despite Macquarie finishing second and the Bulldogs fifth.
"We were all quite surprised the game is being played at Kurri," Royal said.
"I can understand why all the Macquarie players and fans are blowing up about it, but at the end of the day the grand final is played at No.1 Sportsground, which is nobody's home ground."
