Raiders winger Jordan Rapana insists his combination with mid-season recruit Joey Leilua will fire and spark a late-season surge to the finals.
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Leilua will start his second game for the Raiders in the centres when he lines up alongside Rapana in Sunday's crucial encounter against the Penrith Panthers at Pepper Stadium.
Leilua joined the Raiders before the June 30 deadline from the Newcastle Knights, debuting off the bench against the New Zealand Warriors.
He wasn't allowed to face his old team the following week as part of the terms of his release, but started in the centres in last weekend's heart-breaking 21-20 loss to the Cronulla Sharks.
Leilua made a couple of errors with the ball, but Rapana is confident their partnership will get stronger as they get used to playing alongside each other.
"Having Joey in the centres is new for me, but he's a great player and a very good defender," Rapana said.
"The more we play together, the more we become unified.
"Defensively I thought we were really good, I feel really comfortable defending outside him.
"Hopefully this week we get a lot more ball and show the fans and the club what we can do together."
Leilua made his NRL debut with the Sydney Roosters as an 18-year-old in 2010.
He spent three seasons with the Roosters and was named 19th man for the NSW State of Origin team in 2012 before joining the Knights in 2013.
Leilua performed strongly with Samoa in last year's Four Nations tournament, but fell out with Knights coach Rick Stone.
The Raiders have the second-best attack in the NRL this season, but have the fourth-worst defensive record.
"We do leak a lot of tries," Rapana said.
"That's been something all year we've been trying to fix.
"In saying that as well, we've changed playing around in different positions.
"It's all about gelling and trusting each other.
"I like to think we're a lot better than we were at the start of the year."
Both teams are on 18 competition points with a 7-10 win-loss record and must win to stay in touch with the top eight.
The Raiders will need to win at least five of their remaining seven games to reach the finals.
"I've got no doubt we can make the top eight," Rapana said.
"We need to win this week, but I'm confident if we play the way we have been playing, that we can make the top eight."
