Things heat up as young Canberra Raiders stake their NRL claim

But the Raiders winger says it's "all in good blood" and a direct result of the competition that's driving him to be his best.

Simonsson's leading the charge to play left wing for the Green Machine, with fellow young gun Nick Cotric set to play on the right.

But the 21-year-old said there was plenty of competition driving the outside backs in the countdown to their season opener against the Gold Coast Titans at Canberra Stadium on March 13.

The Raiders also have veteran Michael Oldfield, as well as youngsters Harley Smith-Shields and Matthew Timoko staking their claims.

That can lead to the odd temper getting flared out on the training track.

"Everyone knows how good a player Oldie is," Simonsson said.

"There's a few young boys in there too - young Harley and Matty Timoko, and a few boys in there that are class players too.

"You can see in those younger boys, like myself, we're all just real hungry and sometimes it gets a bit heated out there.

"But it's all in good blood and everyone's just working to better themselves and better each other. The more competition the better."

Competition, especially from young bucks, was one of the keys to the Raiders' push to last year's NRL grand final.

It's why Simonsson was confident he'll be able to avoid the dreaded second-year syndrome.

He burst onto the scene in 2019, making his debut in round one before going on to play 21 games for the season - including the grand final.

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Struggling in their second season is a common theme across players and sports, but Simonsson was confident his work ethic would ensure he didn't suffer the same fate.

"You hear people say that stuff, but all I've ever based myself on is working and ticking those one per cent boxes each week and doing my role," he said.

"As long as I keep working hard and doing my role in the team there's no reason why there'll be any second-year syndrome."

This year that role looks like being on the left wing outside co-captain Jarrod Croker.

It's a position the former All Blacks Sevens player has spent most of his time in, but he's filled a range of roles in his short career.

He's also played on the right, at fullback and filled the utility role off the bench.

Simonsson has relished the chance to work on his combinations with Croker, labelling the Raiders record-breaker as "freakish".

He's got the chance to have a more settled role following the departure of Jordan Rapana to Japanese rugby union.

"Last year was quite a crazy year in terms of swapping left to right to the bench, different roles, being a fullback and stuff," he said.

"It was more playing my part in the team and playing where [Raiders coach Ricky Stuart] and the coaching staff needed me to play.

"Obviously as anyone does they want to nail down a role they can focus on each week and cement in the team.

"This pre-season I've been working hard to try and cement a spot there.

"With 'Rapa' going there's an opportunity to nail down a wing spot there so I'll be putting my best foot forward the rest of the pre-season and hopefully I get the nod round one."