After a gruelling, grinding and ugly slog against the Brisbane Broncos last night, the Raiders are still alive in the race for the NRL title.

The Raiders cemented their place in the top eight and a spot in the finals next week with a gutsy 18-16 win at Suncorp Stadium.

It definitely wasn't pretty.

The Raiders were forced to scramble and scrounge their way to the toughest win of their season.

But in the end it was all worth it, so bring on the finals.

The players embraced a small pocket of Canberra fans in the crowd afterwards.

However, the steely determination and the subdued celebration spoke volumes for an emerging NRL powerhouse.

However, the job's not finished.

They don't want to be in the finals to make up the numbers.

The Raiders believe they can make it all the way to the grand final and lift the trophy at the end of the season.

Beating the Broncos was just another step along the way.

Now they can focus on ramping up their bid to break a 16-year premiership drought.

They will meet either the Wests Tigers or St George Illawarra Dragons in the first week of the finals. And after their intense match in Brisbane, every other team ahead of them on the ladder will be trying to avoid the rampaging Green Machine .

The two-point win caps off a remarkable end-of-season run for the Raiders.

They have won their past five games and only lost once in the past nine rounds. In the process they have knocked the Broncos out of premiership contention before the finals for the first time in 19 years.

They had to wait until the dying seconds to knock Brisbane out.

Despite the Raiders' constant efforts, Brisbane kept fighting back into the match.

Jharal Yow Yeh and Matt Gillett scored tries just four minutes apart and closed the margin to two points with time running out.

But the Raiders desperation is what won them the game.

Every time the Broncos made a break, star fullback Josh Dugan was there.

Every time the Broncos threatened the line, a swarm of defenders would scramble to protect the line.

For more on this story, see the print edition of today's Canberra Times