Raiders to face brutal NRL season review

Aug 25, 2017 - 5:32 PM Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has promised a "brutal" review into the Raiders' season, regardless of whether they scrape into the NRL finals.

A 46-28 victory over Newcastle on Friday night kept Canberra's faint play-off hopes alive.

But after North Queensland shored up their spot in the top eight with a come-from-behind win over Wests Tigers, the situation is even more precarious for the Green Machine.

If Manly beat the Warriors Canberra's season will end on Sunday, while ninth-placed St George Illawarra can regain their one-game buffer by upsetting Penrith.

After starting the year as premiership hopefuls, the Raiders failed to replicate the form which took them to a preliminary final in 2016.

"We lost our way too much at the start of the season and I'm to blame too," Stuart said.

"I blame myself for a lot of it.

"That's why it's going to be very much a brutal review in regards to wherever we end up with our season."

Even if other results go their way this week, Canberra will still need to upset premiership favourites Melbourne at AAMI Park next Saturday.

But Stuart doesn't believe they need to find another gear to knock off the Storm.

"Whether we're playing for our lives or not, we'll go down there to win," he said.

Tight losses have played a major factor in Canberra's decline with eight matches decided by six points or less this season.

It's a statistic which Knights coach Nathan Brown says makes the Raiders the NRL's hard-luck story of 2017.

"I'm a lot more brutal than that in regards to my attitude towards those close losses," Stuart said.

"The common denominator is us. In every one of those games in regards to close losses and we need to fix it and fix it fast."

THE SCRAMBLE FOR THE TOP EIGHT

7. North Queensland - 30 points, +34 - Brisbane (h)

8. Manly* - 28 points, +23 - Warriors (a), Penrith (h)

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9. St George Illawarra* - 26 points, +87 - Penrith (a), Canterbury (h)

10. Canberra - 26 points, +87 - Melbourne (a)

* = still to play on Sunday

Source: AAP