It was only weeks ago that Ryan Sutton was eyeing a comeback from injury and Hudson Young saw out his suspension. Tom Starling's season didn't look too bright either with the NSW Cup suspended.

But now, all three have been named in Ricky Stuart's 17 to meet the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

The trio have only played two NRL games together, including last week's Roosters clash and Canberra's round-12 win over Canterbury last year.

"A few months ago there was none of us playing. We said we'd work hard to get back into the side and the minute we did that, we would never take it for granted," Sutton said.

"Now all the roomies are playing together. Playing with people you live with is really good, you build that camaraderie with each other... and it's an added extra when you get the two points."

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The wounded Raiders proved the doubters wrong with their gutsy 24-20 win over the two-time reigning premiers.

Many had written off Canberra's season with their mounting injury toll but Sutton always knew they had the depth to give it a red-hot crack.

His roommate Starling came off the bench to cover hooker and played an impressive 48 minutes in only his fifth NRL match.

Stuart has named Starling on the interchange bench for Saturday's clash with South Sydney, with the 22-year-old to share the dummy-half duties with Siliva Havili.

"He's worked so hard and because we haven't had any reserves games... he's been knocking on the door for a long time," Sutton said.

"He hit the ground running as soon as he got onto the field last week, he's a really good asset for the team.

"They probably looked at him and thought a small player in the middle of the field is going to be a spot. But Tom definitely backs up in defence and we rally around him, I was really happy for him."

The eight-placed Rabbitohs will be heading down the Hume Highway with a point to prove after losing last year's preliminary final in Canberra.

Saturday's clash will be the first time they've met since September and Sutton is expecting a real confrontation.

He's been named to start on the bench to cover Kai O'Donnell and could face NSW lock Cameron Murray when called on.

"Cameron is a real quality player and is playing really well at the moment with [Tom] Burgess," Sutton said.

"I'm trying to make sure when I get on the field I do the little things right and play to the best of my ability, and not take those few minutes to get into the game.

"It's not only going to be a good challenge for me but for the full side also. We have to be on our A-game straight away, we're expecting a real confrontation."

NRL ROUND 11

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs at Canberra Stadium, 7.35pm.

RAIDERS TEAM LIST: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker (C), 4. Jordan Rapana, 5. Semi Valemei, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Siliva Havili, 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead,13. Kai O'Donnell. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Joe Tapine, 16. Ryan Sutton, 17. Harley Smith-Shields. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams, 19. Darby Medlyn, 20. Matt Frawley, 21. John Bateman