THERE is no hiding the fact Matt Prior is expecting a war on Sunday.
Cronulla will look to continue their charge towards the finals when they face fellow top eight hopefuls Canterbury having won five of their past six games.
Other than the thought of a fiery forward battle, the Sharks will also have to get the job done at Canterbury's spiritual home: Belmore Sports Ground.
The Bulldogs will return to Belmore looking to put some breathing space between them and Cronulla, with the teams locked in equal fifth on 22 points along with Melbourne and New Zealand.
It is a prospect Prior is relishing.
"It's going to be awesome. It'll be an experience," he said.
"I'm expecting it to be packed out with Bulldogs fans everywhere.
"I think it's going to be crazy.
"Hopefully all our fans get out there and give us a bit of support."
The 28-year-old will play a key part in a forward battle that will include the toughness and experience of Cronulla's Paul Gallen, Wade Graham, Luke Lewis and Andrew Fifita against the size and aggression of Canterbury's David Klemmer, James Graham, Greg Eastwood and Frank Pritchard.
"I think [it will be a war]," Prior said.
"Their forward pack is one of their strong points and they've got some big boys in the starting team and on the bench.
"We've got some big boys too, so I think there's going to be some big hits and big collisions.
"Obviously their forward pack, we're going to have to get on top of them.
"If we can win that battle in the middle I think everything else will fall into place."
Cronulla's Ben Barba and Michael Ennis will return to face their former clubs.
Barba is expected to play and trained on Tuesday after missing last week's thrilling 21-20 win over Canberra with a knee problem.
With the closeness of the NRL table heading into the final seven rounds Prior said Cronulla were focused on maintaining their tilt at the finals.
"We've just got to keep winning," he said.
"So many teams are congested around the back end of the eight.
"We've got to keep winning, get the points and try and finish as high as we can.
"I guess that's our focus at the moment — get the two points however we can get it."
