Brisbane prop Petero Civoniceva says the Broncos and Roosters will be playing for more than just two premiership points when they battle for their first NRL victory of the season in the traditional Good Friday clash in Sydney.

Civoniceva believes confidence for the year ahead will also be on the line at Aussie Stadium.

"They're obviously in a similar position to us and I've played enough against Chris Anderson-coached teams to know how much he loves beating the Broncos," Civoniceva said.

"I think we're both playing for more than two points tomorrow night and if anything, we're playing for confidence as a team to move forward."

Anderson, who returned to coaching this year after a lay-off, publicly lambasted his players after their heavy loss to Manly last week, accusing them of tossing in the towel.

Whether he made his comments simply to fire up his players, Civoniceva says Brisbane will confront a desperate Roosters outfit shamed by the outburst.

"He (Anderson) is a very experienced coach, he's done it all and I'm sure he knows which buttons to press to get the best out of his players.

"They'll be fired up to prove a point to themselves more than their coach," said Civoniceva.

"As a player, the last thing you want is to see your coach bag you in the newspaper and talking negatively about you.

"They're definitely going to come out on tomorrow night to prove not only to their coach and their supporters, but more importantly to themselves that they can go on with the job for the rest of the year."

Civoniceva said the fire and hunger was still there after the high of 2006 and it was more a case of eliminating periods when Brisbane "lose the plot".

"I don't think (lack of hunger) is the issue, I think sometimes we're maybe guilty of trying too hard," said the big front-rower.

"We're probably pushing the pass that doesn't need to be thrown where last year we showed a lot more patience in attack."

Last year when they lost six games in a row they refused to concede they were in a form slump.

They don't see their latest three-game losing trot as anything to panic about.

"There's that realisation for all the boys, we need this win - there's no easy way around it." he said.

"We saw the tape during the week of that final few moments of the Penrith game (last week) and it was very easy to see where we got it wrong. We've got to get it right or other sides will definitely get a sniff of us."

Friday night's loser will have to overcome a 75-year drought to win the premiership.

Rugby League stats guru David Middleton says the last team to win the premiership after starting with four straight losses was Newtown in 1933.

But the Bluebags had help, with all the leading Australian players shipped off to the UK in July for a Kangaroo Tour, weakening the top sides enough for Newtown, who lost only two players, to take the premiership.

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