RCG, Lane wary emotional Wests Tigers could crash party

Reagan Campbell-Gillard has welcomed a rematch with former club Penrith in the opening week of the finals but the Eels prop is aware the Wests Tigers pose a threat to the Western Sydney blockbuster.

Parramatta can secure fourth spot on the Telstra Premiership ladder with victory over the joint venture on Saturday but a loss could see the Raiders leapfrog them into the top four.

A bottom-four finish would be a disastrous result for the Eels after the side led the competition up until round nine.

The Eels bounced back from a try-less effort against the Panthers in round 18 to beat the Broncos but the result has still left many questioning their credentials after a lacklustre second half of the season.

"People and media can say what they want, I believe that the team we have we are definitely a threat," Campbell-Gillard said.

"We've matched it and come up against the teams that are sitting above us.

"We beat Penrith and Melbourne and although we lost to the Roosters, I thought that was a pretty good performance.

"We know we can match it with those teams. Everyone is writing us off but the belief we have within the squad we can take it all out."

Campbell-Gillard said the Panthers were a "red-hot team at the moment" but the side could ill-afford to overlook the Tigers with an emotional day out expected.

The Tigers will farewell club legends Benji Marshall and Chris Lawrence at Bankwest Stadium after more than 15 years of service to the game.

"They (Penrith) are doing everything right, so that would definitely be a really good game," Campbell-Gillard said of a possible finals fixture.

"But that is next week, we have to win this week to make sure that we put ourselves in that position.

"It is going to be a tough game, and it is massive that we get the win."

Eels forward Shaun Lane believes the side's 26-12 victory over the Broncos helped the side turn a corner over doubts about their point-scoring ability.

"Our start is very indicative to how we're going to perform [in the game]," Lane said.

"Our first set on the weekend we looked keen and hungry to defend. That opening set of defence for us is a big thing, we always try to focus on our first 10 minutes.

"If we win the first 10 minutes, we tend to win the game. I think we turned a corner with our effort against the Broncos even though we kind of missed a little bit of icing on the cake in a few instances."