And legendary halfback Ricky Stuart couldn't be happier.

The Raiders coach loved the efforts of his playmakers, who drove the team to run down the Cronulla Sharks at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

The 32-20 victory sets up a grand final rematch against the Sydney Roosters at the SCG on Friday.

And Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton goes into it in Clive Churchill Medal form, scoring two tries and setting up another for his halfback George Williams.

The Raiders again proved to be the kings of the second half as they ran over the top of the Sharks with 22 unanswered points before the Sharks scored a consolation try.

It was the perfect tonic for the mostly Raiders fans in the crowd of 9602 - the biggest crowd at Canberra Stadium since the coronavirus lockdown.

Wighton sparked them into life in a stunning three minutes that snapped a spirited Sharks performance.

He took a quick tap to catch out the Sharks and then leapt high for a Williams kick to break the Sharks' back.

The Raiders five-eighth did it in front of NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler to ensure he'll be in Blue again in the post-season State of Origin series.

Williams scored a crucial try just before half-time - an intercept before racing 65 metres to give the Green Machine a sniff at 14-10 down.

"I think the two halves got us right back into that," Stuart said.

"They both played extremely well and I commended them on their performance to the boys downstairs.

"And I don't usually single out people, but Jack with that quick tap, George with a couple of his tries - they really threw the team on their shoulders and basically took us forward.

"I love that in halves who say, 'C'mon, follow me.' That's what both Jack and George did and I was very impressed with both their efforts."

Cronulla started better, with an early repeat set and they almost scored the opening try only for halfback Chad Townsend to fumble his own kick chase in goal.

But it was Raiders lock Joe Tapine's footwork that produced the opening try.

His dancing through the middle has been a highlight of the Raiders' season and he took five Sharks with him to score under the posts.

The Raiders have now won all eight games where they've scored the opening four-pointer.

But a tough four minutes for Raiders centre Jordan Rapana had the visitors putting their noses back in front.

Sharks prop Toby Rudolf stripped him of the ball and Cronulla went straight up with winger Ronaldo Mulitalo crossing in the corner.

Rapana then put the restart out on the full and the Sharks went up the field and another penalty goal had them in front.

The usually reliable Raiders second-rower Elliott Whitehead fumbled inside the Raiders' own 10 metres and Sharks hooker Blayke Brailey swooped to score.

But Brailey injured his ankle in the process and was forced off with a syndesmosis injury, with ex-Raider Scott Sorensen jumping into dummy half - before also being forced off with hamstring and groin injuries.

READ MORE: No limit to Wighton wizardry in win

Things weren't looking good for the Green Machine, as the Sharks repeatedly earned themselves repeat sets and had the home side struggling to get out of their own half.

But some timely opportunism from Williams had them back in the contest on the stroke of half-time.

They then completely dominated the second half - something they've made a habit of doing this year.

"Only good teams can do that. I think we made over 200 tackles to 111 in the first half and ... I think they had 70 per cent of the footy," Stuart said.

"It's not the way you want to start the game, but sometimes games start that are very unpredictable and totally against the run of play.

"That was through good play - they played really well in first half. They had a lot of football with a lot of repeat sets of six.

"I was quite amazed it was only 14-10 at half-time because the amount of possession they had was a wonderful advantage for them."

It was a different Green Machine that emerged from the sheds.

They had more energy in defence and they broke the Sharks' back in the space of three minutes.

A costly mistake by Mulitalo led to the Wighton explosion.

His quick tap - after Sharks prop Andrew Fifita firstly had a six-again call against him, followed by a penalty - left the Sharks trying to challenge a ruck infringement, which you can't do.

Wighton turned provider for Williams off the back of a Hudson Young break, putting his halves partner over for his second.

Young had an excellent second half as he continues to emerge as a serious NRL talent after his troubles of 2019.

Whitehead got on the end of a Croker grubber to atone for his first-half mistake.

Sharks winger Sione Katoa scored a consolation intercept try as the clock wound down.

AT A GLANCE

CANBERRA RAIDERS 32 (Jack Wighton 2, George Williams 2, Joe Tapine, Elliott Whitehead tries; Jarrod Croker 4 goals) bt CRONULLA SHARKS 20 (Ronaldo Mulitalo, Blayke Brailey, Sione Katoa tries; Chad Townsend 4 goals) at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Grant Atkins. Crowd: 9602.