Raiders setting high benchmark in bubble behaviour despite gruelling draw

And after navigating a physically taxing and mentally draining month of match-day travel to away games against the competition's best sides, the injury-ravaged Raiders are are set to reap the benefits with three of their next four games at Canberra Stadium starting Saturday against the embattled Brisbane Broncos.

The Raiders will be wearing Black Dog Institute jerseys this round, which are to be auctioned off to raise money for the charity.

Black Dog is a globally recognised leader in helping identify, prevent and treat mental illness and a recent study revealed a staggering 78 per cent of people believe their mental health has worsened since the coronavirus outbreak.

For injured Raiders that means even less contact than usual with the main squad while for fully fit players, it means obeying the Project Apollo rules to a tee.

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"We've been really strict on each other, keeping each other accountable," Raiders forward Joe Tapine said.

"It's kind of embedded now, everyone knows what you can do and what you can't do, there's not much to do in Canberra anyway I just go home and chill out, that's my usual routine during the year.

"I just try to keep my mind busy. A lot of Facetime to mates back home too, you've got a lot of time so you start catching up a bit more.

"The [training] facility's great you don't have to travel, you can get food easily delivered. It's easy for us as a team."

While the Raiders are leading the way on bubble discipline, Saturday's opponents Brisbane have flouted the rules several times since the season resumption.

It emerged on Wednesday that up to 10 Broncos players were seen at a Brisbane pub last month, another blow to the club already dealing with Tevita Pangai Junior's barber shop debacle.

Brisbane have won just once since the season restart, but Tapine was wary of an ambush this weekend.

"It's something that's going to happen I think everyone's wants to really do the right thing but it's hard when they're trying to live life as well," Tapine said when asked about Pangai.

"You've got to remember...their players on paper, they've got some outstanding players in there.

"It's going to be tough they're going through a rough patch. We've got to start good, the stats are saying their starts are one of the best in the comp even though they're not playing that well this year."

Tapine said being back at home was a huge positive.

"I like a little routine on game day...I usually have a nice little nap so I'm looking forward to a home game," Tapine said.

"We've got to try and fight for that top eight spot and get some wins in the next couple of weeks. It's the NRL all games are hard even if the perception of teams isn't good as well, they're always good teams. We've just got to keep our standards up."

NRL ROUND 14

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Brisbane Broncos at Canberra Stadium, 7.35pm

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Jordan Rapana, 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. Michael Oldfield, 20. Kai O'Donnell, 21. Matt Frawley.

Broncos squad: 1. Darius Boyd, 2. Richard Kennar, 3. Kotoni Staggs, 4. Herbie Farnworth, 5. Xavier Coates, 6. Brodie Croft, 7. Tom Dearden, 8. Thomas Flegler, 9. Jake Turpin, 10. Payne Haas, 11. David Fifita, 12. Ben Te'o, 13. Patrick Carrigan. Interchange: 14. Cory Paix, 15. Jordan Riki, 16. Joe Ofahengaue, 17. Matthew Lodge.Reserves: 18. Issac Luke, 19. Ethan Bullemor, 20. Rhys Kennedy, 21. Jesse Arthars.