Having never made the trip down the Hume Highway to face the Canberra Raiders at GIO Stadium, Tim Simona is excited for challenge that lies ahead this weekend.
Missing Wests Tigers' defeat late last year in Canberra due to a leg injury, the Samoan international centre will line up for the Club in chilly conditions at GIO Stadium for the first time in his career this Monday night. And while he's not 100 percent sure what to expect in terms of the cold, Simona said he was more than ready for a tough challenge against a desperate Raiders side looking to keep their finals hopes alive with a win.
"It's going to be my first game playing there," Simona said before training today.
"I hear it's going to be pretty cold, but I'm used to it growing up from New Zealand.
"It's pretty cold there so it's similar weather to what we should get on Monday night."
Simona also said he was looking forward to taking on fellow Samoan international Joey Leilua after his mid-season switch from Newcastle during the year.
Close friends wih Leilua, Simona said the individual battle would be another good test for himself, having come up against some high-profile centres over the past few weeks in Justin Hodges (Broncos), Blake Ferguson (Roosters) and Will Chambers (Storm).
"I'm pretty good mates with Joey," he said, "so it's going to be a pretty good matchup [between us] again this week. Hopefully we can have a good battle against each other, but I just want to put a good performances in and help the boys out to get a good win."
See what Tim had to say in full about this week's game and opponents in the video above.
Saturday footy returns to Campbelltown on August 15 when we take on the Knights!
