Referee Ben Cummins to Canberra to help Raiders after NRL grand final gaffe

Croker also revealed they'd had Cummins down to Canberra to help them during the pre-season, which will help dispel any tension there could've been between the Green Machine and the official following last year's grand final.

Cummins infamously called "six again" only to change his mind and order Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton to hand the ball over to the Sydney Roosters as Canberra attacked.

It sparked outrage, especially since the decider was so close.

Cummins will take the whistle for a Raiders game for the first time this season as the Green Machine travels to Townsville to take on the North Queensland Cowboys on Saturday.

The "six again" call has become a regular during the 2020 season, after the NRL tweaked the rules to give referees the licence to use it instead of awarding a penalty in certain situations.

It means Cummins will make the call several times during the Raiders-Cowboys clash.

Croker joked especially since Canberra was prone to giving them away.

"I can't say we won't hear it because we've been getting a few every week," he said.

"We're pretty good at giving them away at the moment.

"I honestly hadn't thought about that and saw last night on Twitter it was the first time we've had him this year.

"But we had Ben down in the pre-season doing a bit of stuff with us. I'll probably have a chuckle the first one I hear."

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The Raiders will fly out of Canberra about 10.30am on game day, but because they'll be on a chartered flight it will only take three hours to get to Townsville.

That means it will be similar to taking the bus to Sydney, which they've done repeatedly this season.

"Every other team has had to do it. Teams have gone up there and won so there's no excuses for any of that," Croker said.

"It's a bit comfier on the plane they've given us to take up there so it's a bit easier than the bus trip.

"We've done plenty of travel this year. The high performance staff have been really good with all the little one-per-centers that might improve us so I'm sure they'll have plenty for us on the plane as well."

Raiders hooker Siliva Havili said they enjoyed the travel because it meant they spent more time together.

"One good thing about our team is we'll play wherever we need to play," he said.

"We enjoy our time together so time together is always good for us."

NRL ROUND 12

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v North Queensland Cowboys at Townsville, 5.30pm.

Raiders team list: 1. Jordan Rapana, 2. Semi Valemei, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Nick Cotric, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Siliva Havili, 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Hudson Young. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Joe Tapine, 16. Ryan Sutton, 17. Corey Harawira-Naera. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams, 19. Harley Smith-Shields, 20. Kai O'Donnell, 21. Matt Frawley.

Cowboys team list: 1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, 2. Kyle Feldt, 3. Justin O'Neill, 4. Connelly Lemuelu, 5. Murray Taulagi, 6. Daejarn Asi, 7. Jake Clifford, 8. Josh McGuire, 9. Reece Robson, 10. Jordan McLean, 11. Shane Wright, 12. Coen Hess, 13. Jason Taumalolo (c). Interchange: 14. Mitch Dunn, 15. Tom Gilbert,16. Gavin Cooper, 17. Francis Molo. Reserves: 18. John Asiata, 19. Ben Hampton, 20. Esan Marsters, 21. Jake Granville.