Injury-ridden Canberra Raiders confident to claim fourth straight Storm win

An injury-ridden Green Machine is searching for their fourth straight win over Melbourne when they host them at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.

Only four clubs have achieved that feat since the Storm joined the NRL in 1998, including the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Brisbane Broncos, Newcastle Knights and Sydney Roosters.

All three of the Raiders' current winning streak over the competition heavyweights have come in Melbourne and they've lost their past two matches against the Storm at home.

Canberra knocked the Storm out of last year's finals series and shot to title favouritism when they beat them 22-6 in round three, a performance centre Michael Oldfield has taken confidence from.

"We've built a little bit of a battle against Melbourne. We've had a lot of tough games and had the win over them of late," Oldfield said.

"Going into this week, everyone is revved up and excited."

Melbourne sit third on the ladder and has been undefeated since their last meeting, while Canberra has won just two from five.

The Storm beat reigning two-time premiers Sydney Roosters last week without star five-eighth Cameron Munster, who could make an early return from injury this weekend.

Raiders fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad is wary of the Storms' recent form, saying they'll be tough to beat and full of confidence after a string of wins.

"We understand we got them a little underdone," Nicoll-Klokstad said.

"They have really built on their game since then and are playing really good footy.

"They're very dangerous, they have been a top-four side for a long time now and are a heavyweights of the competition.

"We won't be going into this game lightly. We understand they are a championship team and will be able to back-up from last week as well.

"We'll just be worried about what we can do and what we can control, that's how we prepare and start the game. That's what will be our focus this week."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

Raiders recruit Curtis Scott has been dropped from Ricky Stuart's 17 to play his former side, with Oldfield retaining his spot at No.4.

The 22-year-old centre was shuffled back to the bench last week and Oldfield was called in for his fourth match of the season.

Scott has failed to fire since moving to the capital, but Oldfield is confident he'll soon turn his form around and ignite his first Raiders campaign.

"We're all around him. Poor fella, he's just down in confidence at the moment," Oldfield said.

"There's no doubt in what he can bring to this club, there's no doubt he's going to turn it around and play some good footy for us."

NRL ROUND NINE

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Melbourne Storm at Canberra Stadium, 7.35pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Michael Oldfield, 5. Nick Cotric, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Kai O'Donnell, 16. Ryan Sutton, 17. Jordan Rapana. Reserves: 18. Tom Starling, 19. Matt Frawley, 20. Darby Medlyn, 21. Curtis Scott.

Storm squad: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen, 2. Marion Seve, 3. Justin Olam, 4. Paul Momirovski, 5. Josh Addo-Carr, 6. Ryley Jacks, 7. Jahrome Hughes, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Cameron Smith (c), 10. Christian Welch, 11. Felise Kaufusi, 12. Kenneath Bromwich, 13. Dale Finucane. Interchange: 14. Brandon Smith, 15. Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, 16. Tom Eisenhuth, 17. Nelson Asofa-Solomona. Reserves: 18. Darryn Schonig, 19. Cameron Munster, 20. Brenko Lee, 21. Nicholas Hynes.