Those four simple words could be the key to victory for the Canberra Raiders when they meet Ponga's Newcastle Knights at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.

The 20-year-old is still finding his feet at five-eighth but Raiders winger Jordan Rapana says Canberra can't sit back and hope Ponga produces a mixed bag - they need to be in his face for 80 minutes.

Canberra could be without Joe Tapine as he awaits an update on his hand injury while Newcastle could lose a key back-rower of their own in Lachlan Fitzgibbon with a calf complaint when teams are named on Tuesday.

One Raiders star whose injury demons are behind him is Rapana. To prove it he levelled Will Chambers in his comeback game, joking "I think it’s the only shot I’ve ever put on. I definitely tested her out that’s for sure".

He may well need to find something similar in a bid to silence Ponga on Newcastle's left edge.

"We’ve got to be on our A-game. Obviously with Kalyn Ponga moving to half, he’ll be on our edge. He’s a quality player so we’ve been doing a lot of homework on him," Rapana said.

"It’s going to be massive, it’s going to be huge for us to [shut him down]. We all know the type of player he is and what he brings to that Newcastle side. We’ve got a big job and I’m looking forward to the challenge."

Rapana says Ponga isn't the only threat Canberra's right-edge has to keep quiet - when he looks up he will be greeted by a former teammate in Edrick Lee.

"I’m up against big Edrick Lee. My whole time when he was here, he was always on the left wing until Nicky [Cotric] came along. I never really played against him, but playing alongside him I know what we can do," Rapana said.

"He’s going through a bit of a hot streak at the moment, so I’ve got a big job to do there. I’m looking forward to it. I’m sure there will be a little bit of banter and he will probably rub a few elbows into me, but I’ll take it and I’m looking forward to the challenge."

On Canberra's other edge will be Cotric, who is looking to bounce back from a forgettable day opposite Suliasi Vunivalu in a clash with seasoned campaigner Shaun Kenny-Dowall.

Cotric was found out on the edge a couple of times against Melbourne in his 50th NRL game but remains confident he will be able to iron out any mistakes he makes, echoing the belief of Canberra coach Ricky Stuart.

The Raiders mentor believes Canberra were the victims of their own inexperience early on against Melbourne before battling their way back into the contest last week, adamant they are not far off the benchmark teams.

It is a fair assessment given Cotric is still 20 years old - a fact his feats in the top grade make easy to forget. And the rising star believes he still has plenty of room to improve.

"Still plenty, just on the little things. You can always find little bits you need to improve," Cotric said.

"I just can’t believe how quickly it has gone already, far out, I remember my first season like it was yesterday. I’ve just got to get better and better each week.

"Pretty proud [to have played 50 games], a bit disappointed with the game on the weekend but what can you do? We’ll just keep practicing the little things and look forward to round three.

"We’ve addressed the problems we made and fix it at training over the next couple of days."

NRL ROUND THREE

Friday: Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights at Canberra Stadium, 6pm. Tickets from Ticketek.