Fellow NRL expert Jamie Soward says the next three weeks, while not season-defining, will give the Raiders a benchmark of where they're at.

The Raiders have a mouth-watering, top-four clash against the Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium next Sunday.

That's followed by a trip to Melbourne to face the Storm and then returning home to host the Manly Sea Eagles.

Both the Raiders and the Storm had emphatic wins on Friday night, the Green Machine blowing away the New Zealand Warriors before Melbourne did the same to Brisbane.

Lewis said Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has done "wonders" in bringing his team together this campaign.

So much so, he feels if they maintain their spot in the top four there's a grand final berth awaiting them.

"They're my smokeys to be honest. I really believe they can win the comp," Lewis said.

"With the team that they've got from 1-17 the world's their oyster.

"If they can get into the semi-finals unscathed and finish in the top four and win that first week, I can't see them missing out on the grand final.

"If they believe it enough I think they can win it, I really do.

"The two teams for me at the moment, the two inform teams, are Melbourne and Canberra."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

Lewis loves the balance of the Green Machine.

He said in the past the Raiders would clock off for 10-minute periods, but he felt the past two weeks - including a 30-18 victory over Penrith - had been 80-minute performances.

What do they do against the Roosters? Exactly what they did against the Warriors.

Have a high completion rate, kick to the corners and chase hard.

The Raiders' kick chase has been a feature, with five-eighth Jack Wighton leading the charge.

"They just need to take the same sort of mentality they had against the Warriors," Lewis said.

"If they focus on completing, kicking in the corners and put all their energy into plays one, two and three I think they can beat the Roosters."

St George Illawarra premiership half Soward said the Raiders would be judged over the next month rather than on their performance against the Warriors.

He also felt their win over the Panthers at Penrith was a truer guide to Canberra's form because he didn't rate the Warriors.

While the Roosters have won three of their past four games, they haven't been as convincing as the Raiders - who are on a four-game winning streak.

"It's the perfect time because the Raiders are rolling and the Roosters haven't been at their best this year - in and around Origin they've had injuries," Soward said.

"I think the Raiders will want to test themselves against one of the benchmarks of the competition over the last couple of years.

"It's not a season-defining game, but it's certainly a benchmark to see where you're at as a club because you're probably going to have to play one or two of those sides twice in the next six-seven weeks."

Soward said Hodgson's form was helping the Canberra spine to shine.

Hodgson leads the Raiders for try assists (eight), which took the pressure off the other three having to come up with big plays.

He was outstanding against the Warriors in his 100^th NRL game and the Raiders will be looking to do the same for co-captain Jarrod Croker in his 250^th next weekend.

The Green Machine will welcome Nick Cotric back from a three-game suspension for a dangerous throw, potentially coming into the centres for Michael Oldfield to make them even stronger.

"Cameron Smith's the greatest of all time in any position in the game and [Hodgson's] going to be England's best No.9 ever," Soward said.

NRL ROUND 21

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium, 2pm.