The green machine won the 1990 minor premiership and the only other time they secured a top two finish was in 1995, the only team above them that year was the Manly Sea Eagles.

Coincidentally, Canberra’s top two hopes hinge on this weekend’s trip to Brookvale to play Manly, although they do need the Cronulla Sharks to slip-up in the last two rounds as well.

The Raiders are two points behind the Sharks on the ladder but have a superior for and against record.

If the Raiders win both of their remaining games against Manly and the Wests Tigers and the Sharks stutter against the Sydney Roosters or Melbourne, Canberra will rise into the top two.

It's uncharted territory for a team that was given little hope of making the finals at the start of the year.

The Raiders have secured a top-four spot for the first time since 2003 and will make their finals return after a three-season absence.

Despite winning their last eight games and boasting bucketloads of momentum, Raiders back-rower Josh Papalii said his side won’t take their foot off the gas.

"It's important for us not to get too comfortable. We're secured in the top four but we still have to play [well] going into the finals," Papalii said.

"It's important not to get caught in the hype and hopefully the boys understand the opportunity we have to get a home final [by finishing second].

"Manly is going to come out firing, they've got a few players retiring and it's going to be a tough one."

Wighton will be looking to keep his remarkable recent form going against the Sea Eagles from fullback, a position he’s worked his way into brilliantly this season.

Canberra will be without Blake Austin though, after having surgery on his hand on Thursday the boom five-eighth is facing the prospect of not playing a part in the Raiders’ finals campaign at all.

Sam Williams will be injected to cover Austin's loss, playing his first game in almost four months.

"I genuinely feel for Blake. I'm disappointed and upset for him because he's such a big part of the team," Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said.

"For this to happen to anyone at this stage of the season, it's gutting. He's had a great bit of continuity over the last 10 weeks or so and it's been really good.

"But now we've got to come together for the challenge ahead of us. We've all got to buy in and pick up the slack to meet the challenge."

The Raiders have built their NRL revival on developing players and not relying on superstars to lift them out of trouble.

Austin has been a key cog in turning the club around on the field.

Williams hasn't played in the NRL since the Raiders beat the Wests Tigers 60-6 in April, but Stuart was confident he could slot straight back into the line-up.

Williams is also weighing up a new contract offer to stay in Canberra beyond the end of the season.

"The boys enjoy playing with Sam, he's a first-grader and a quality first-grader. We're very fortunate in that regard with the depth," Stuart said.

"That's the way we've structured our roster over the last few years.

"Sam and Blake are different styles of players. We train with Sam and Aidan [Sezer], we train with Blake and Sam to handle this type of adversity.

"This situation is in front of us now and we've just got to push through it. It was never, ever going to be plain sailing at the back-end of a season.

"Sometimes luck is a huge part of teams at the back-end of the year. But who knows what is there for any team going forward, we just have to handle any hurdle thrown at us and keep moving forward."