He missed the game, but Canberra Raiders recruit Matt Frawley is feeling the NRL grand final buzz.
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Frawley has returned to the club he supported as a child on a development contract as he chases his dream of wearing lime green.
The 24-year-old played for Huddersfield in the English Super League this year, but returned to his hometown as the Giants made room to sign ex-Raider Aidan Sezer.
Before that he spent four seasons with the Canterbury Bulldogs, playing 31 NRL games, having played juniors for the Green Machine.
He grew up dreaming of playing for the Raiders and wants to do that next year.
Frawley's noticed a buzz during the pre-season, with the club buoyed by making this year's grand final.
"Absolutely. I wasn't here for the grand final, but all my family and friends got behind the team," he said.
"I think there's that real buzz that's carried into the pre-season.
"Obviously it was disappointing for the boys not to win the grand final, but it gives us something to work towards for next year.
"If we can continue to have a good pre-season, start the season strong and have a similar year to last year."
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Raiders co-captain Jarrod Croker said he still hasn't watched the grand final - and doesn't plan to until he wins a premiership.
But he said the pain of falling narrowly short was driving the group as they approached the Christmas break.
It will be their final holiday until the end of the 2020 season.
While both came through Canberra's junior ranks, Croker hasn't played with Frawley before.
He said Frawley would provide further depth in the halves - alongside Jack Wighton, England international George Williams and Sam Williams.
"There's obviously a lot of pain. I haven't watched the game or spoken too much about it," Croker said.
"We've obviously got a lot of fire in the belly and want to go that one step further.
"But at the same time we don't want to look back and dwell on it either.
"It's a pretty tough thing to swallow, but it's only going to make us hungrier.
"Probably won't watch the game again until we win one hopefully."