Raiders second-rower Elliott Whitehead says it's getting close to a do-or-die scenario as the 11th-placed Green Machine stare down the barrel of finals oblivion.

But the English international says their dream run to September last year that ended one game short of a grand final is proof of what they are capable of.

The Raiders need to win at least six of their final eight games to have a chance at playing finals football and it's their stunning form of last year that is keeping many pundits from writing them off completely.

It starts with a clash against the St George Illawarra Dragons - who are looking to lock up a top eight spot - on Friday night at Canberra Stadium.

"It is [do or die] in a way, there's only eight games left and we know we have to win the majority of them," Whitehead said.

"We're just taking it week by week and we've got St George this week. All we can do is try and get the win against them and then we move on from there.

"I don't like to talk about last year, but we showed last year what we are capable of. We've showed this year in patches what we're capable of.

"We all believe in each other. We just need to hold on to the ball. I'm sure if we have a bit more possession then that will help us a lot."

Whitehead says the bye came at the perfect time for the Green Machine as they look to snap a four-game losing streak.

Dropped ball has killed the Raiders, who are ranked 15th in the competition for completion rates with just 73 per cent.

They've also committed the fifth most errors, are 14th for forced drop outs, and 13th for being tackled inside the opposition's 20 metre zone.

Whitehead can't quite put his finger on how they can stop the problem because they've been trying to address it every single week.

"It's definitely tough. We want to go out there and win games, unfortunately it hasn't worked out that way in the last couple of games for us," Whitehead said.

"To get away and have a bit of time to ourselves, and just refresh and take your head away from training and everything, everyone has come in and everyone is bouncing around and happy to see each other.

"We need to keep hold of the ball a lot more than what we're doing at the moment. For some reason we're saying it every week and at the moment we're not doing that.

"We need to change that this week and we feel like if we do that then we're definitely in for getting the two points."

Raiders wrecking ball Joe Tapine says the Green Machine is beginning to realise they "don't have any room for error" in the next two months of football.

The Dragons are ahead of the Raiders on the ladder and a win in Canberra would give them some breathing space in the top eight.

"All the games, especially the last couple, have been crucial ones we have to win to try and make the finals and we're going to take this one as seriously as the other ones," Tapine said.

"All the teams we're coming up against are strong teams and have been going good this year so we'll definitely have to step up to the challenge."

NRL ROUND 19

Friday: Canberra Raiders v St George Ilawarra Dragons at Canberra Stadium, 7.50pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.