Canberra Raiders captain Jarrod Croker eyes fairytale NRL finish

Time is running out for a pair of Raiders greats to win a premiership in Canberra with Croker set to retire and Jack Wighton to join South Sydney.

But the club's first premiership since 1994 seems a world away after the Raiders were thrashed 48-2 in Melbourne over the weekend, when a win would have sent Canberra into the top four.

Now the Raiders are fighting to secure a place in the top eight, sitting sixth - two points clear of ninth-placed North Queensland - with a points differential of -120 threatening to dash their finals ambitions.

Croker is confident the Raiders can reverse their fortunes against the Canterbury Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium on Sunday, with the veteran centre to come back into the frame after a hamstring injury ruled him out of the Storm loss.

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"We're all hurting, coaches, staff, players, players that didn't play, fans hurt. It's a tough one," Croker said.

"We've got to get in and address it. I've just got to get back, make sure my body is right, my head is right, get back in there on Wednesday and try to lift the boys and get them going again because we know what we're capable of.

"We know if we show up and play our best football, then we can beat any team. It's as simple as that. We've just got to make sure we're getting our head and our mind right, working on things we need to work on, and get to that game ready to go.

"We've got two home games left in the regular season, we need to be getting a big crowd out there and we need to be winning them."

Croker has buried any lasting doubt about the hamstring injury which has ruled him out of Canberra's past two outings.

A return at centre would likely come at the expense of Ethan Strange, the 18-year-old prodigy given a taste of the top grade against the Storm.

"I'm pretty confident I can run at top speed, which is probably not as quick as it was five years ago," Croker grinned.

"I'll get top speed out and put my hand up for selection and be right to go again this weekend and finish off, bring a bit of energy in and go as deep as we can."

The spotlight on Croker and Wighton gets bigger with every passing week as the Raiders look to mount a finals charge.

They have been vital cogs in the Green Machine for more than a decade and are still chasing the high of another grand final appearance after the heartbreak of the 2019 decider.

Croker says the chance to finish his career - which has spanned 305 games to date - alongside Rabbitohs-bound Wighton was among a host of reasons for deciding to retire.

"I turn 33 in a couple of weeks, that's probably one of them," Croker said.

"The game is getting quicker, training is hard, pre-season is hard, the body cops more knocks than usual and it takes longer to recover.

"It's been a long time. Once the body starts feeling it a little bit, I think your mind starts thinking that as well. I had to ask myself if I was going to miss it, of course I'm going to miss it, it's human nature. It had to happen at some point. The timing is right.

"Going out with Jacko was another one."

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