In a poll of the captains at the SFS yesterday, Panthers captain Petero Civoniceva and St George Illawarra Dragons skipper Ben Hornby nominated Tongue's Green Machine as the biggest title threat.

Only the Dragons were more fancied, securing five out of the eight votes, including from Tongue.

Hornby's selection confirmed what many suspected, that the minor premier Dragons were mighty relieved the Raiders secured seventh place and thus drew the second-placed Panthers. St George has won only once in its past 13 meetings with Canberra.

''Canberra's the biggest challenger at the moment,'' Hornby said.

''They've won eight of the last nine - they're playing the best footy at the moment.''

Civoniceva, who won't play due to suspension, admitted to The Canberra Times the Panthers were hoping to have avoided red-hot Canberra.

''They're unbelievable their form at the moment, they're just playing with no fear and they're playing some great footy,'' Civoniceva said.

''It's going to be a huge challenge for us on Saturday night. They throw everything at you and I think right across the park they've got some real dangerous players.

''They're most definitely the form team leading into the semi-finals."

Victory on Saturday would grant Civoniceva's team passage to the preliminary final, while a loss would send the second-placed club into a sudden-death clash next weekend.

Canberra meanwhile will be eliminated if it loses at CUA Stadium, but victory over the Panthers will secure a home semi-final next weekend.

For more on this story, including Civoniceva's assessment of the Raiders forward pack's role in the team's turnaround, see the print edition of today's Canberra Times.