NRL: Canberra Raiders' Josh Papali'i confident of Newcastle Knights return

The Green Machine enforcer told fellow prop Emre Guler he would likely return from his calf injury to play his first game of the NRL season.

Papali'i was out doing extra fitness work on Monday morning, having been struck down with a calf strain on the eve of the season.

It'll be a big boost for a Raiders forward pack already ticking over nicely - up against a weakened Newcastle middle without both Saifiti brothers.

Joe Tapine almost went unnoticed in the Raiders' ninth-straight win over Cronulla, despite running for 177 metres, making a tackle bust and 38 tackles in his 46 minutes.

Corey Horsburgh scored two tries - the second of which came after a run-in with Sharks prop Royce Hunt that then led to the former Raider getting sent to the sin bin.

Elliott Whitehead was excellent in a 70-minute stint at lock, running for 116m, while Pasami Saulo was also good off the bench.

Papali'i's return would likely see young prop Trey Mooney make way for the Knights game.

Newcastle is already without Jacob Saifiti (suspended), but has also lost his brother Daniel (shoulder) - leaving the Knights short on middles in a situation coach Adam O'Brien labelled as "dire".

"It would be massive. I was having a chat to 'Papa' yesterday - I think he feels pretty confident [of playing]," Guler said on Monday.

"We'll see how he goes and it would be a big lift for the team if he's back in."

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart was also positive his Queensland State of Origin enforcer would be back to face the Knights.

"I'm really hopeful Papa is back," he said.

"But we've got a couple of wounded in there again ... it hit us last year, too - early-season injuries.

"That's why you get excited about wins [like against the Sharks] when your troops are down, these boys get their opportunity and they jump up and take it with both hands."

Papali'i's return will only ramp up competition for spots in a Raiders engine room that's already highly competitive.

He'd likely get the old front-row band back together in his usual starting partnership with Tapine - although Papali'i does occasionally opt to start on the bench if he thinks it would benefit the team.

Stuart switched Guler from the bench into a starting role against the Sharks, with Saulo coming off the pine instead - giving the Canberra mentor a range of options to take on the embattled Knights.

"Yeah, that's always been something here at the Raiders - we've been pretty thick through the middle there with competition," Guler said.

"Obviously Papa's one of the best forwards to ever play, so it will be good competition and also something that we can all bounce off."

The Raiders pack has the perfect situation to assert themselves against their Knights counterparts, who will be without their main two driving forces.

They've won their past two encounters against Newcastle, which included some last-minute heroics from Hudson Young at Canberra Stadium last year - and a massive second-half comeback in Newcastle where their season appeared to be over trailing 22-8 at half-time.

Guler was mindful of the opportunity for the Raiders forwards to lay a solid foundation on Sunday.

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Stuart has been looking to his middles to not only do that, but be try-scoring threats as well.

Horsburgh is the Raiders' equal-leading try scorer with Jack Wighton with two at this early stage of the season, while their middle third has scored almost half of their tries thanks to Guler and Tom Starling's four-pointers in the opening round.

Guler revealed they'd gone out with the intent to get off to a good start against the Sharks - his first NRL start since round 22 last year.

"I spoke to 'Stick' and we tried to start fast and match their big boys," he said.

"He wanted to go with me, [Whitehead] and 'Taps' there and I think that worked out for us - to match their big boys. It was good. We needed to start fast. They've got a lot of experience. That helped out.

"Obviously coming from the bench trying to bring a lot impact - to start with that definitely helped."

NRL ROUND FOUR

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights at Newcastle, 4.05pm.

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