North Queensland were subjected to a 90-minute marathon semi last Friday night against the Broncos in a match widely considered one of the best in finals history.

The Cowboys prevailed but victory came at a cost with several of Green’s troops having much of the week off after being battered in the epic encounter.

On the contrary, Cronulla have not played in a fortnight since overcoming the Raiders in their qualifying final to earn the week off.

The Sharks, which are searching for a maiden NRL Premiership, are certain to have the upper hand in the energy stakes with Green expecting an explosive start to the match.   

Green said his troops had their minds on the job, however, whether his side were physically up for the monumental challenge ahead remained to be seen.

 “I think it’s probably more physical,” said Green.

“Mentally the boys are good.

“They’re excited about playing footy this time of year but no doubt last Friday night’s game went for 90 minutes and it was a pretty epic game so it took a fair bit out of them.

 “We won’t really know how they’ve responded until we get to the game I suppose whether we get through the 80 minutes or potentially longer but at this point in time, we’ve managed the week really well in terms of training and the boys are feeling pretty good at this stage.”