Canberra Raiders entering make or break territory to save NRL season

The Raiders are one win behind eighth-placed Cronulla but a points differential of -104 has seen them slump to 13^th on the NRL table.

While a run to the grand final two years ago was built on stoic defence - the third best of any team in the competition - recent results have marked an unwanted turnaround.

The Raiders have conceded 30 points or more seven times this season, the most they have hit that mark since 2013.

Now they are about to run into a Manly Sea Eagles side which has amassed 172 points in its past three outings.

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Of Canberra's nine remaining matches, seven come against sides currently sitting inside the top eight, with ninth-placed Newcastle and 12th-placed New Zealand the only outliers in the mix.

"We're the most competitive bunch of people you will ever meet in your life here at the Raiders," Sutton said.

"We know the position we're in at the minute, we know we're not playing well, and it's upsetting us. If anything, it's probably getting too much on us.

"We're looking at it too much like we're on a downhill run at the minute but it only takes one game to get back on that run, one or two games. We've just got to make sure we really knuckle down."

Manly will be without Tom Trbojevic on Thursday night, with the Sea Eagles sensation in NSW Blues camp with Jack Wighton.

The Raiders will be without both Wighton and Queensland front-rower Josh Papalii, who led the way against the Gold Coast.

"Our D was pretty average at best, so we'll be looking at that and try to fix that," Canberra forward Joe Tapine said.

"It's going to be tough, especially without Paps. He was huge for us on the weekend, especially in the first 20 minutes, he really carried us."

NRL ROUND 17

Thursday: Manly Warringah Sea Eagles v Canberra Raiders at Brookvale Oval, 7.50pm.

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