Michael Withers took a gamble coming to England but he admits it's paying off handsomely.

The 23-year-old Aussie was an established first grade player with Balmain Tigers in the toughest competition in the world.

But he left it all behind to continue his rugby league development with the Bulls and as the play-off series approaches he admits it was the best decision of his life.

"I have another year of my contract to run and, although an extension hasn't been discussed at this stage, I would love to stay on longer.

"I am very happy here and when I see Balmain finishing third from bottom in the NRL I know I made the right choice.

"There was never any chance of getting to the play-offs with them and to get there with the Bulls at the first attempt has been a great effort by everyone concerned.

"Now the aim is to capitalise on the hard work by getting to Old Trafford. I have never been but it's a stadium that is renowned worldwide and the prospect of playing in the Grand Final there is a massive incentive."

But Withers believes that tonight's opponents Leeds Rhinos are the main threat to their dream of glory on the big night of October 9.

"They have the edge 2-1 so far this season but there is real belief in the squad that we can do a job on them tonight and again in the play-offs if we have to.

"We had a bad night at Headingley when they rattled up 40 points but we had our moments early on and let it slip in the semi-final when we had dominated the first half-hour.

"They play a very physical game and then like to open up later and I think we all see them as the biggest danger although the rest of the top five are all very capable sides."

Withers goes into tonight's showdown on the top of his form after a superb four-try haul at Hull last week.

"I was pretty happy with it but to be fair the Hull defence was all over the place.

"There certainly wasn't as much room against Wigan the other week and I don't expect Leeds will be so generous either.

"The good thing about playing full-back is that it does give you the chance to spot the gaps but I'll be quite happy to hand the position back to Sprogger (Stuart Spruce)," says Withers who prefers the centre role.

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