NRL: Ricky Stuart resists resting Canberra Raiders following Brisbane Broncos' loss

Stuart watched the Broncos-St George Illawarra clash on Saturday, with the Dragons winning 22-12 at Kogarah Oval to realistically end Brisbane's finals hopes off the back of one of the tries of the year.

It meant Wests would need to beat the Green Machine by 54 points at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday for the Raiders to miss out on the top eight.

They're basically guaranteed a trip to Melbourne to face the Storm in the semi-finals - potentially on Saturday afternoon - a venue where they've won in their past four visits.

Stuart's rested players in the final round in the past, but said he hadn't even entertained the idea this week.

He said Nick Cotric (groin) would play - as would the rest of the 17 named.

"Yeah, the team's as named," Stuart said.

"No. I haven't thought of that [resting players]. Whereas in recent years I have done that - I've rested 10-12 players.

"I'm not taking this result into account ... we just have to win this game of footy.

"The boys have prepared well this week. We haven't mentioned the following week so we'll just worry about this game."

A Broncos win would've set up for a pressure-packed encounter with the Tigers, with the Raiders needing to knock off Wests - who will win the wooden spoon after Gold Coast's stunning come-from-behind victory over the New Zealand Warriors.

But Stuart said pressure was something the Green Machine had become accustomed to over the second half of the season.

After a poor start to their campaign, Stuart said they've basically been playing must-win games since round 12.

They've won eight of their past 11 games, including their past three, taking plenty of momentum into the final round.

Canberra were written off by many after losing five in a row to sit third last on the NRL ladder.

"The good thing about the pressure is we've been under this pressure for the last three months and the players have handled it very well," Stuart said.

"For us every game has been important because each two points at that stage was vital."

Despite their strong finish, he said the Raiders had underachieved this season - the top four was always their goal.

But Stuart said there'd been mitigating circumstances to their poor start - a raft of injuries meant their side didn't settle down until after the State of Origin period.

That's when halfback Jamal Fogarty (knee) finally started to play consistently with five-eighth Jack Wighton.

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They also lost Josh Hodgson (knee), Jarrod Croker (shoulder) and Harley Smith-Shields (knee) for the season very early on.

Fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad also struggled with hamstring issues, which meant the Raiders' spine changed on a weekly basis - although that did open the door for Xavier Savage to emerge as the most-exciting young fullback in the NRL.

"We've underachieved this year through a lot of bad luck - disruptions and injury - and what they've done to get to where they are is remarkable these players," Stuart said.

"But for us we want to be in the top four and that's our goal each year.

"For the boys to scrap and fight their way to where they are today they've been remarkable this season."

NRL ROUND 25

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval, 4pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Xavier Savage, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Zac Woolford, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Adam Elliott. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Corey Harawira-Naera. Reserves: 18. Albert Hopoate, 20. Matt Frawley.

Tigers squad: 1. Daine Laurie, 2. Brent Naden, 3. Starford To'a, 4. Luke Garner, 5. Ken Maumalo, 6. Adam Doueihi, 7. Jock Madden, 8. James Tamou, 9. Jake Simpkin, 10. Joe Ofahengaue, 11. Thomas Freebairn, 12. Kelma Tuilagi, 13. Fa'amanu Brown. Interchange: 14. Fonua Pole, 15. Zane Musgrove, 16. Tyrone Peachey, 17. Austin Dias. Reserves: 18. Jacob Liddle, 19. Junior Pauga.

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