Forward Greg Eastwood says Brisbane will react to coach Wayne Bennett's stinging "spray" with a high octane performance against Cronulla at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

"The Bulldogs loss was a kick in the arse for us and another poor (second half) performance last Friday night was a stab in the back," said the Kiwi international who has upped his workload in a bid to get fitter for the finals.

"It's really sunk in to the players.

"It was pretty dull around the place after Wayne's spray.

"It's sunk in for the boys and today's training was really good, the intensity was awesome.

"Sometimes you need a rocket to stop you getting too cocky."

Idle or not, Bennett's post match blast and threats of wielding the axe after a sloppy win over the Cowboys last week has had the desired affect, Eastwood revealing the forwards had met this week to address their form and intensity.

"The forwards had a meeting (on Monday) and we know we have to show up this week and turn the intensity right up so our backs can do the job with their fancy stuff," he said.

"We've dropped off (intensity) in the last few weeks.

"We started off really good against the Cowboys but our second half effort was really poor.

"We dropped the ball a lot and gave away a lot of penalties and we really needed (Bennett's) spray after the game."

Eastwood, who has a love of fast foods, has knuckled down on his fitness since being dropped by Bennett.

Bennett dropped Eastwood to the Queensland Cup after he missed a training session before the clash with Canberra in June.

"It hurt when I got dropped and I had to step up and show the boys I could come back from that disappointment and do the job," he said after an intense training session which focused heavily on defence.

"I've been putting in the hard yards and doing the extras and it's coming good for me."

With Justin Hodges back in the centres and Darren Lockyer seemingly over his knee issues, Brisbane is close to full strength to challenge the second-placed Sharks who are sure to test their new resolve.

Brisbane will need to be at their best with "Bruise Brothers" Greg Bird and Paul Gallen certain to make sure the clash is highly physical.

"They're a big part of the Cronulla team but our forwards are going to step up and show them when they come to Suncorp it's going to be tough," said Eastwood.

"We have to pick up our intensity heading toward the finals and it has to start this week.

"We know we've got the team and ability to get into the top four and we definitely want to do that."

Forward Sam Thaiday skipped training because of a tight calf muscle but prop Nick Kenny continued to push for a return from his ankle injury.

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