But his dad and one of his sisters will be there when he runs out against South Sydney for the preliminary final at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.

Anyone who saw the video of Guler's mum Derya presenting him his jersey for his NRL debut last year will know how close they are.

But she's on holiday in Turkey and not due back for another month so will miss the pointy end of the season.

Guler has only played nine games this year - after playing the final three rounds of 2018 - but two of them have been the last two, including the gutsy qualifying final win over the Melbourne Storm.

He was a late inclusion for the Storm game, coming in at the expense of Ryan Sutton.

Raiders co-captain Jarrod Croker expected there wouldn't be any late changes to the Green Machine, meaning Guler will keep his spot on the bench.

But it looks like his mum will have to watch on from afar.

"She asked me early on in the year, 'If you guys make finals will you be upset if I'm not there?' "Guler said.

"' 'Naa ... just go and enjoy yourself.' That's the chat we had. Maybe she regrets it now," he added with a laugh.

Guler was understandably excited about being just 80 minutes away from the grand final - which would be Canberra's first appearance on the big stage since 1994.

The 21-year-old credited assistant coach Brett White with helping him develop his game throughout the season as he bided his time.

He'll be up against his old club, where he's mates with Campbell Graham, Cameron Murray, Adam Doueihi and ex-Raider Liam Knight.

"It doesn't really matter who it is, whether it's old club or not," Guler said.

"We've just got to get the win."

NRL PRELIMINARY FINAL

Friday: Canberra Raiders v South Sydney at Canberra Stadium, 7.50pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Sia Soliola, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Bailey Simonsson, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Dunamis Lui. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams, 19. Ryan Sutton, 20. Siliva Havili, 21. Sebastian Kris.

Rabbitohs squad: 1. Adam Doueihi, 2. Alex Johnston, 3. James Roberts, 4. Dane Gagai, 5. Campbell Graham, 6. Cody Walker, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Thomas Burgess, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Liam Knight, 11. John Sutton, 12. Sam Burgess (c), 13. Cameron Murray. Interchange: 14. George Burgess, 15. Junior Tatola, 16. Ethan Lowe, 17. Mark Nicholls. Reserves: 18. Jaydn Su'A, 19. Corey Allan, 20. Dean Britt, 21. Mawene Hiroti.