'We nearly lost him': Canberra Raiders rookie Corey Horsburgh fights on

That is why no task seems too daunting for the rookie Canberra Raiders forward. That is why he will not back down when he stands toe-to-toe with NRL superstar Sam Burgess.

Because put simply, Horsburgh's father Rick says his youngest child is lucky to be alive.

It makes the Raiders cult hero's path to an NRL preliminary final clash with the South Sydney Rabbitohs at a sold-out Canberra Stadium on Friday night all the more remarkable.

"Mate, we nearly lost him when he was 18 months old," Rick says as he loads a mattress into the back of the car for the 15-hour trip from Caboolture to Canberra to watch his son play.

"He picked up some infection. They tried to get a helicopter in to escort him from Caboolture to Brisbane, we ended up getting a police escort.

"He was not real good at all, he was in a medical coma for a few weeks and he was in hospital for about a month because they didn't know what was wrong with him.

"From then on, until he was eight or nine, they said he wouldn't get his immune system back. Having three older brothers and sisters, every time they got sick he would spend a night in hospital.

"So about once a month he was in hospital for a night, because he wouldn't really take oral antibiotics, they had to put him on a drip to get the antibiotics into him.

"After he got over that, he was full steam ahead."

Full steam ahead, heading straight towards the biggest NRL game Canberra has ever hosted.

Horsburgh knows this is right where he wants to be with a spot in the grand final up for grabs.

"So if I can match it with Sam Burgess I can match it with anyone," Horsburgh said.

"[First grade] is where I want to be. I felt comfortable after that game [against Souths earlier this year].

"They've probably got one of the biggest packs in the comp so it's going to be a tough fight through the middle, but I think we have got the pack to do it."

He has been competing for as long as he can remember. Horsburgh was running around in nappies at Caboolture's Little Athletics meets.

He would get too restless sitting at home - so off he went playing cricket, rugby union, Australian rules, anything he could find.

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But rugby league was always the game he was drawn to. He would go on to earn his first Queensland jersey as a 12-year-old before being snubbed from local representative teams soon after.

It would not deter him - he was back in maroon the year he turned 18. Just like his father had done before him.

"I made the Queensland under 18s squad with Langer, Walters and O'Doherty. I don't know [what happened then], I just drank piss I suppose. I didn't have the family support [I needed]," Rick said.

"That's a lot of the reason why my wife and I always give our kids all the support. We've taken him everywhere and done whatever we need to do with him."

Perhaps that is why Horsburgh managed to hold his place in the Queensland side for consecutive years at under 20s level before forcing his way into the Junior Kangaroos side.

That was never a huge surprise for his family. Horsburgh had always seemed destined to achieve something special.

"I remember my oldest boy's coach, I think he was in under 7s, Corey was only four," Rick said.

"They were at training doing tackling drills. The coach pulled me aside and said 'mate, who is the only kid doing tackling drills and leaving the ground? It's Corey. He is the only one driving his body into tackles'.

"He was a wrecking ball when he was young."

Even so, Horsburgh laughs was "a bit of a sooky, angry kid, but dad is the same so I blame him".

Horsburgh thinks the temper might come from his old man - a kickboxer and boxer back in his day.

Rick admits he didn't train too much. He was something of a journeyman answering calls from promoters looking to plug gaps on a card.

So he would "work all week and get $500, then I'd go get a headache on a Friday night and get $800".

While Raiders fans love it, Canberra coach Ricky Stuart was quick to pull Horsburgh aside in a bid to help the youngster rein in the aggression which can often be counter-productive.

So the rookie forward began using breathing techniques in a bid to harness the hate - but he admits the lure of the niggle is still there.

"I just had to get the stupid stuff out of my game like Ricky wanted me to. I feel like I have done that, it has helped me grow as a player and that's probably what helped me the most," Horsburgh said.

"He was just telling me if I get it out of my game, I will be a better player. I just made it my focus and set goals every week to just play football and not get into the niggle.

"I feel like he is just trying to get the best out of me. Sometimes I want to, but I just try to look the other way now. It's fun, I enjoy talking smack to other players. It brings out the best in me.

"[Just little sledges like] 'you smell' or something. It's funny after the game, we have a good laugh.

"People like Sia [Soliola], [Josh] Papalii, Dunamis [Lui], they all help.

"They get us off to a big start and I just feed off them."

NRL PRELIMINARY FINAL

Friday: Canberra Raiders v South Sydney at Canberra Stadium, 7.50pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Sia Soliola, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Bailey Simonsson, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Dunamis Lui. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams, 19. Ryan Sutton, 20. Siliva Havili, 21. Sebastian Kris.

Rabbitohs squad: 1. Adam Doueihi, 2. Alex Johnston, 3. James Roberts, 4. Dane Gagai, 5. Campbell Graham, 6. Cody Walker, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Thomas Burgess, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Liam Knight, 11. John Sutton, 12. Sam Burgess (c), 13. Cameron Murray. Interchange: 14. George Burgess, 15. Junior Tatola, 16. Ethan Lowe, 17. Mark Nicholls. Reserves: 18. Jaydn Su'A, 19. Corey Allan, 20. Dean Britt, 21. Mawene Hiroti.