Jordan Rapana ready to cover centres for Canberra Raiders

Coach Ricky Stuart is facing a selection dilemma for Saturday's clash with the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Canberra Stadium, with outside back Michael Oldfield ruled out with a hamstring injury for two to three weeks.

The Raiders are also monitoring Curtis Scott after he missed last week's win over the Sydney Roosters with an arm infection.

Winger Rapana moved to right centre to help cover Oldfield when he came off injured at half-time. He could share the centre duties again this week if Scott is unavailable to play.

"[I'm ready] for sure. It doesn't matter where I play, I'm just happy to be part of the team," Rapana said.

"I think I speak on behalf of the other boys, too, that we can cover wherever Ricky needs us. It's an attitude thing, we'll put our hand up and play that position as well as we can. I definitely have my hand up.

"It was pretty tough coming up against Josh Morris, he's a strong fella. I had a bit of a job to do there and he got me a few times ... hopefully Oldfield isn't too bad."

Oldfield joins Josh Hodgson (knee), John Bateman (shoulder), Sia Soliola (facial fracture), Corey Horsburgh (foot), Bailey Simonsson (shoulder) and Emre Guler (ankle) on the casualty list.

It could see Semi Valemei make his run-on debut against South Sydney, although Scott will likely be injected into the starting side if available.

The 21-year-old Fijian played the entire second half in the win over the Roosters and faced Brett Morris on the right edge. He made a tackle bust and ran for 39 metres in six runs, leaving Rapana impressed by his debut performance.

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"I thought [Semi] went well. He's pretty tough to understand but I spoke for him," Rapana said.

"I wish we could have given a little bit more ball to him but winning that game made his milestone quite memorable, so it was good to get the win for him.

"Everyone who comes into this club brings something, so we want to make the milestone memorable for that player.

"Everyone was pretty stoked about [winning], we lost to them in last year's grand final so it was good to get one back on them. I think I'll be sour for the rest of my life losing that."

The Rabbitohs will have their own point to prove when they head down the Hume Highway on Saturday for the first time since last year's preliminary final. Canberra beat Wayne Bennett's side 16-10 at home to reach their first NRL grand final in 25 years.

But it's backs against the wall for South Sydney as they hunt for revenge, with star centre James Roberts (pectoral) and Ethan Lowe (neck) ruled out with injury.

They're already without fullback Latrell Mitchell, who is serving a two-match ban for striking Wests Tigers pivot Josh Reynolds.

Rapana remains wary of the depleted Rabbitohs side, given they'll be eager to bounce back from their two-point loss to the Newcastle Knights.

"Sometimes when you come up against teams who are coming off a loss, you have to be prepared and ready because they'll be fired up," Rapana said.

"I know Wayne Bennett will have them fired up for this game, so we have to make sure we're on."

NRL ROUND 11

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs at Canberra Stadium, 7.35pm.