Despite starting that season with a 4-0 win-loss record, the Green Machine finished second last and added just five more wins for the rest of the campaign.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart knows his team is still a work in progress and maintains they've still "done nothing" despite their 3-1 start to 2019.

He's shutting out the noise ahead of a testing encounter against a resurgent Parramatta at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

But there's still plenty to like about the way the Raiders have begun their season.

They've shown clear improvement in the areas that plagued them in recent years - defence and game management.

Their depth has improved. Their halves options are starting to take shape. And their trimmed down forward pack has the makings of being one of the best in the competition following the addition of a couple of extra Poms.

Not to mention the depth that's forming with the development of the youngsters coming through.

Plus, there's signs "Leipana" could be back to their blistering best - about six weeks before Jordan Rapana was even meant to be back playing following his shoulder reconstruction.

After a couple of seasons in the NRL wilderness, the expectations are growing around the Green Machine.

Could they be back to their form of 2016? When they lit up the competition and fell just a couple of points short of the grand final.

If the players needed a reality check, they only need look back to their Melbourne Storm game a couple of weeks ago.

They were soundly beaten by the perennial NRL benchmarks - albeit in a 30-minute blitzkrieg at the start of the game.

The Green Machine were able to work their way back into the contest in the second half.

They could also look back to 2005 when Canberra flew out of the blocks to sit top of the NRL with four straight wins - only to struggle after that and slide towards the cellar.

"I don't read the negative crap and I don't the read the positive hype, and I don't expect my players to read it because I know the knives will be thrown at us again if we take our eye off the ball," Stuart said.

"We've just got to keep working hard and taking each day as it comes. It's a long, long season."

It's been their mantra of the pre-season. Defence. Defence. Defence. And it's working.

The Raiders have conceded just 44 points so far this season - an average of 11 per game.

While the Storm are the only team of note they've played, the fact you have to go back to 2000 to find a better defensive start to a Canberra campaign says a lot.

That year they'd given up just 40 points after four games.

Any players having thoughts of taking their eyes off the tackle? Stuart's got a clear message - there's guys hungry for your spot.

Bailey Simonsson, Jack Murchie, Emre Guler, Royce Hunt, Luke Bateman and JJ Collins are all waiting in the wings.

"We've now got some depth again and if anybody takes their eye off the ball or relaxes they won't be playing first grade," Stuart said.

"I've got a lot of energy and enthusiasm with players who are playing Mounties at the moment who are ready to play NRL.

"I'm proud the players don't listen to it. They've got too much pressure from underneath to start listening to that type of hype."

These blokes. They're a couple of anti-tempering machines. They get your heart racing every time they go near the ball.

If you don't know who I'm talking about, it's the dynamic right-edge duo of Jordan Rapana and Joey Leilua.

They lit up Townsville on Saturday night, with three tries between them to celebrate Rapana's 100th NRL game - including one that was pure Leipana insanity.

The pair will be an important factor against the Eels, who have started the 2019 season on a similar upward trajectory to the Green Machine.

He's already a crucial cog in the Eels' machine after just four games, the metre-eater Blake Ferguson.

The controversial winger's only played three games at Canberra Stadium since he left the Raiders, but he's enjoyed his time back in the city of make-shift roof-top bars.

He's scored one try in two games for the Sydney Roosters and one for Australia against the Kiwis as well.

But Ferguson's more known for his hard carries at the start of the sets.

The 29-year-old led the NRL for run metres and post-contact metres on Sunday, and he's second in runs.

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