After recording his Dream Team season's best score of 3 in the previous weekend's victory over Sydney Roosters, Ferguson managed only 17 provisional points against his old club on Saturday night.

Admittedly, it was a tough assignment because the 21-year-old was signalled out for extra attention by the Sharks faithful who hadn't forgiven him for leaving their club to join one which, as he said, could ''win games''.

After being howled down for 80 hostile minutes, the low point of which was his having a drink thrown at him by a fan in the grandstand as he returned to the dressing room, Ferguson openly admitted there were areas in his game that needed extra focus.

''I'm playing some good footy,'' said Ferguson, who started the match ranked the 22nd best winger/centre in the Dream Team competition. ''I'm just frustrated by some errors that are making my game look stupid. I'll be [working on] rectifying those this week.''

Indeed, while Ferguson tormented Cronulla supporters early in the match when he swooped on a loose ball and sprinted 40 metres to score his 11th try of the season, he also made two first-half errors that resulted in tries to Cronulla.

Ferguson's message that he would strive to eliminate the mistakes from his game should inspire those Dream Team coaches, who have him in their team with some hope he might ignite during Canberra's desperate race for a berth in the finals. He is a player of undoubted potential and has the ability to yield more fantasy points. After starting the season valued at $92,500 he started round 18 worth $116,400, which represented a 25.8 per cent price change.

Raiders skipper Alan Tongue said Ferguson's overall performance against Cronulla proved he could absorb pressure. ''They were ribbing him all game,'' he said. ''Blake prepared well, he knew what he was going to cop and they put a little bit more attention into him in every tackle … he scored a good try, he ran the ball hard and did all he could.'' Ferguson wasn't the only Raider to make howlers against the Sharks, as their coach David Furner lamented. ''Rubbish,'' he said of Canberra's mistake-riddled first half. ''There were times there where we showed we have that little bit of inexperience … and ball control is No.1.''

On a brighter note, Canberra workhorse Shaun Fensom had the highest Dream Team score - without taking last night's match into account - with 65 points after pipping Parramatta's skipper Nathan Hindmarsh by a point.

GOLD ADVICE

How many Dream Team coaches took Wayne Goldsmith's fearless tip as reported in this column last week and traded the likes of Cronulla and NSW skipper Paul Gallen after a tough State of Origin series?

Goldsmith, one of the nation's most respected high performance consultants who has worked for Olympic committees, NRL teams and Super Rugby franchises, warned last week that the likes of Gallen and Melbourne's Billy Slater could be running on empty after the adrenaline charged interstate series. Gallen, who spent some time off the field to have a shoulder and arm injury treated on Saturday night, confessed not only was his body tired but he needed a break.

''They're unquestionably all great players, but they're also only human,'' Goldsmith said of the Origin warriors.

''The reason I suggested Dream Team coaches trade them out was because the players can't keep punishing their bodies the way they've had to over the last few weeks.''