If you didn't know better you could be forgiven for thinking he'd just lost. Is he injured maybe?

No. He's just enjoying the moment. The moment of beating the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne to set up a preliminary final at Canberra Stadium next Friday.

It's a win that has the Raiders faithful believing a repeat of the 1989 grand final triumph is possible.

Canberra's starting to turn green with belief - the sausages, the milk, the bread, the sights and bridges, and maybe even a tram.

But that's a belief Soliola said they've had since the very beginning. Way back at the start of the pre-season.

He's now looking to recreate the feeling Canberra had 30 years ago when the Raiders won they're very first title.

"It's one of those things right from November 1 we had to believe," he said.

"Part of the process and hard work is you have to believe that you can do the work.

"We have to believe that we're able to conduct ourselves and hold the standards we're required to and hold that really good foundation and what we need to do in order to win - not week-in, week-out, but on a day-to-day basis."

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Knocking off the minor premiers Storm 12-10 in the qualifying final last weekend certainly helped that belief.

Showing the defensive foundations the Raiders started to build almost a year ago were standing up under the biggest test possible - the finals.

Now they're 80 minutes away from Canberra's first grand final since 1994.

Soliola said that belief would also build among the raft of young players who have been an important part of the Raiders' campaign.

Corey Horsburgh has played 20 NRL games in his debut season. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad has made the No.1 jersey his own.

Bailey Simonsson was a revelation in his first final, moving into the starting line-up just seconds before kick-off after Joey Leilua copped a firework in his eye.

Emre Guler forced his way into the mix in the second half of the season.

Plus they've added a couple of new Englishmen in John Bateman and Ryan Sutton, who have brought Super League-winning experience with them.

"That was a massive hurdle for us ... you know how important momentum is," Soliola said.

"This is the start of a new competition. We're learning as we're going because we've got a fair amount of new blokes as well.

"We understand from this point on we can't afford to make any errors. Keep everything as minimal as possible and we think we've done that."

Soliola felt their preparation had allowed them to finish top four and then win a spot in the prelim.

That's especially so in the forward pack, where Raiders coach Ricky Stuart will have another tough decision to make over who he picks.

"The club's in a good state. [They] wouldn't be able to do their job if they weren't prepared," he said.

"That's' what we've done really, really well this season, is just preparing everyone just in case.

"That's the attitude, just in case, as opposed to she'll be right."

NRL PRELIMINARY FINAL

September 27: Canberra Raiders v South Sydney or Manly at Canberra Stadium, 7.50pm. Tickets available Monday (members) or Tuesday (general public).