Raiders won't be shy at business end of season

CANBERRA will spend little time contemplating what is required to secure their spot in the top eight with coach David Furner saying the club had effectively been playing finals football for the past month anyway.
The Raiders moved into the box seat for what appears to be the last spot in the post-season with their 48-4 thrashing of North Queensland in Canberra on Saturday night and will play struggling Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium in a final-round match on Friday. But with seven wins from their last eight matches the Raiders aren't looking to change the script despite the importance of the fixture.
''We've probably been playing finals football for the last three or four weeks,'' Furner said. ''We've had some really good performances, the confidence is there, the belief is there. It's an exciting time, regardless of what happens next week. It's a time when the players are in a position to play semi-finals football.''
The scenario is simple enough for Canberra (eighth, 28 points, +4 points differential) with a win in Brisbane for the first time since 2004 securing them a spot in the eight regardless of other results.
With Saturday night's hefty win bolstering their for-and-against they could also sneak through with a loss given the Broncos (10th, 26 points, -25 differential) have slid so badly in recent weeks with three comprehensive losses.
South Sydney (ninth, 26 points, +31 differential) are the likely X-factor for the Raiders, an upset win for the Rabbitohs over St George Illawarra on Sunday night expected to be enough for them to claim a finals berth should Canberra lose. For the Broncos much will hinge on injured captain Darren Lockyer, who is considering taking a pain-killing jab so he can return from a rib cartilage injury to play in the vital match.
Halfback Peter Wallace is also not expected to play after injuring his shoulder in the club's 36-4 demolition by the Warriors as the Broncos stare down the barrel of not making the finals for the first time since 1991. The Raiders have some injury concerns of their own with inspirational captain Alan Tongue already ruled out with a possible season ending calf injury suffered against the Cowboys. Second-rower Joe Picker might still be available despite hyper-extending elbow on Saturday night.
Canberra were behind the Broncos' most humiliating NRL moment just last year when they handed them a record 56-0 thrashing in the nation's capital. The Broncos did, however, turn that around with a victory in Brisbane later in the year, the win part of a five-match winning run at home over the Raiders.
North Queensland coach Neil Henry, a former Raiders mentor, liked what he saw of Canberra on Saturday and said they could be a smoky in the finals. ''I think they are a real dark horse,'' he said. ''Their defence is quite solid, they've got a lot of attack about them.''