They'll be opponents this weekend, but Canberra Raiders five-eighth Blake Austin could soon be thanking the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Bulldogs coach Des Hasler's decision to withdraw his players from City-Country selection may gift Austin another chance to push for a State of Origin call-up.
The clash has seemingly lost all relevance for most clubs and the Bulldogs are loath to ask their players to back up from a Sunday match in Mudgee for their round 10 clash against the Cowboys the following Thursday night.
Bulldogs five-eighth Josh Reynolds was in the frame for the City No. 6 jumper, but his hopes of an extra game to push his case for an Origin recall have been dashed.
Now his opponent on Saturday night is in prime position to try and add a second City jersey to his collection.
The Raiders are unlikely to impose a similar City-Country ban, given they have a seven-day turnaround between the representative clash and their round 10 fixture against Newcastle.
Austin will line up at five-eighth in Ricky Stuart's slightly-tweaked Raiders squad that will take on the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.
Stuart has called upon Clay Priest to make his return from a minor shoulder injury from the interchange bench, pushing Dunamis Lui back on to the extended reserves list.
Scott Sorensen has also been brought on to the extended bench, with Dave Taylor and Jordan Turner both dropping out of the 21-man squad.
The Raiders will look to bounce back from a shattering golden-point defeat against Manly that continued their recent struggles in tight games.
The Green Machine have won just seven of 26 games decided by six points or less since 2014 but club legend Steve Walters believes that record will soon turn around.
"Most of the time, the only way you'll get good in those situations is if you play in them more times, and that's the big part," Walters said.
"I think it's great to see them in the game all the time against the good quality teams. The only way you develop that experience in big games under pressure is to play in a few, which they're doing.
"The more they're in those situations all year, then the better they'll be at the end of the year too. There's not many people that are born to just slot straight into those games.
"Most people, and I put myself in the same bracket here, you've just got to get used to playing in the big games, you get used to it and I think they've come along really well."
The Bulldogs have named an unchanged starting side, but former Raiders under 20's captain Matt Frawley is likely to come off the bench again despite being named in No. 20.
The only change for the Bulldogs is the return of Will Hopoate after he recovered from a fractured eye socket suffered in round two.
NRL ROUND NINE
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium, 5.30pm. Live on Fox League.
Raiders squad: 1. Jack Wighton, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker (C), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Blake Austin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Junior Paulo, 9. Josh Hodgson , 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Josh Papalii, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Adam Clydsdale, 15. Luke Bateman, 16. Clay Priest, 17. Sia Soliola. Reserves: 18. Dunamis Lui, 19. Scott Sorensen, 20. Makahesi Makatoa, 21. Lachlan Croker
Bulldogs squad: 1. Brett Morris, 2. Kerrod Holland, 3. Josh Morris, 4. Brenko Lee, 5. Marcelo Montoya, 6. Josh Reynolds, 7. Moses Mbye, 8. Aiden Tolman, 9. Michael Lichaa, 10. James Graham (c), 11. Josh Jackson, 12. Greg Eastwood, 13. David Klemmer. Interchange: 14. Sam Kasiano, 15. Danny Fualalo, 16. Adam Elliott, 17. Raymond Faitala-Mariner. Reserves: 19. Francis Tualai, 20. Matt Frawley, 21. Reimis Smith, 23. Will Hopoate
