The Green Machine is rolling towards the finals as the Canberra Raiders look to end a 25-year premiership drought.

Crowds are at their highest point since those glory days and before long the tower atop Black Mountain will likely be lit up in green.

Could a packed house and a thunderous viking clap at a clash between two of the NRL's form sides finally hand the club the final piece of the puzzle?

The Raiders will play on free-to-air television for the fifth time this year when they host the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

Canberra supremos are yearning for more exposure on free-to-air station Channel Nine having been almost exclusive to Fox Sports for more than a decade.

The Raiders have traditionally had the least amount of free-to-air games of the NRL's 15 Australian clubs, which has a major effect on the club's ability to generate sponsorship dollars.

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

But the emergence of the Raiders as a premiership contender could lay the foundations for an increased presence on free-to-air television next season.

To put the numbers into perspective, the Brisbane Broncos have played more than 200 games on free-to-air television since 2008. The Raiders have barely eclipsed 40 since the league's centenary season.

The only side with less airtime for the punters without pay television is the New Zealand Warriors. The club above Canberra is Newcastle, who sit more than 20 games clear of the Green Machine.

No wonder Raiders chief executive Don Furner feels like a broken record when he pushes for more free-to-air games.

Things could be about to change - and the chance to play on free-to-air television in their return to the finals will give Canberra a chance to prove they have the numbers to warrant increased exposure.

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart can feel the buzz around town - and just as much as he wants to win a title for the players, he wants to do it for the fans.

"It's great. When we're thriving and doing well, it's a credit to the players," Stuart said.

"We talk about it a lot, we're a community club, we support the community as much as we possible can behind the scenes and with what the boys do privately.

"We want the community to support us and they do. Our community appreciate us being competitive.

"Everybody loves a winner, but they just know every time we take to the field, the boys are competitive.

"Canberra is a better place when we're thriving, playing well and winning games of footy.

"It's definitely better than struggling and losing close games where we have been over the past two years.

"We like to think we definitely want to play for our crowd and our members, and we want to win for them as much as we want to win for our members."

The Raiders are banking of a crowd of 18,000 against Manly, and a good walk-up could tip them over the 20,000-mark in a regular season game for the first time since 2010.

NRL ROUND 23

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Manly Warringah Sea Eagles at Canberra Stadium, 4.05pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker, 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Sia Soliola, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14. Bailey Simonsson, 15. Dunamis Lui, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Hudson Young, 18. Sam Williams, 19. Siliva Havili.

Sea Eagles squad: 1. Tom Trbojevic, 2. Jorge Taufua, 3. Brendan Elliott, 4. Moses Suli, 5. Reuben Garrick, 6. Dylan Walker, 7. Daly Cherry-Evans, 8. Addin Fonua-Blake, 9. Apisai Koroisau, 10. Martin Taupau, 11. Joel Thompson, 12. Jack Gosiewski, 13. Jake Trbojevic. Interchange: 14. Manase Fainu, 15. Corey Waddell, 16. Morgan Boyle, 17. Taniela Paseka, 18. Lachlan Croker, 19. Tevita Funa.