Back the Raiders to go deep into NRL finals | Thebigtip

Every NRL club will now be asking for the secret recipe behind the Canberra Raiders constant ability to upstage arguably the most methodical side in the competition for the past two seasons.

Coming off terrific victories against the Sydney Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles, the Dragons yet again hit a brick wall against the Green Machine, losing 32-16 after leading 4-0 at halftime.

Canberra’s win continues their ominous record against the Red V, with yesterday’s triumph their eighth successive victory at home against Wayne Bennett’s men.

With this victory, the Raiders now find themselves just a win away from claiming a top eight spot, thus emulating the feats of 2009 Grand Finalists, the Parramatta Eels during the same time last season.

The Eels only secured their finals place last year with one round remaining, and it appears likely the Raiders will do the same if they can defeat a lowly Cowboys side missing key talisman Johnathon Thurston next week.

Having experienced another below par beginning to their season, the Raiders have now won six of their past seven matches, and are arguably the form team in the NRL at the moment.

This time last year, the Eels also ended up winning seven straight matches to progress to the finals in eighth position.

Much of the Green Machine’s success has a lot to do with a roster that now possesses the right balance of youth and experience.

Young superstars Josh Dugan, Jarrod Croker and Daniel Vidot head a list of a superbly talented Raiders backline now bristling with confidence.

Indeed both Dugan and Vidot each scored crucial tries against the Dragons, with the fullback’s effort in particular another exclamation mark in a career heading north very quickly.

Add the ever reliable experience of representative stars David Shillington, Tom Learoyd-Lars, Bronson Harrison, Joel Monaghan, Terry Campese and Adam Mogg - and it is easy to understand why the Raiders are finally beginning to fulfil their potential.

In past seasons, Canberra have had the unfortunate knack of losing key players to either injury or suspension.

This season alone saw the Raiders make do without inspirational figure Alan Tongue for an extended period, with the captain just making his return to the side two weeks ago.

Now with a full roster at their disposal, the Raiders are capable of anything, and really should make the finals given the momentum they are currently riding.

And if they happen to meet the Dragons again during the first week of the playoffs, one wouldn’t be surprised to see Canberra emulate the very result Parramatta inflicted on the Red V that allowed them to march on to the most unlikely of Grand Final births.