But the Canberra Raiders have evolved and now boast multiple attacking weapons capable of leading them to a win as they face the biggest game of the season - a grand-final rematch against the Sydney Roosters in the NRL semi-final at the SCG on Friday night.

The Raiders are one of only three teams who have beaten the Roosters on the hallowed turf over the past two years and it was in that famous victory that Canberra prop Josh Papalii - aka Papa Bear - got mad and then got even after copping an elbow in the face, for which he was bizarrely penalised. Papalii scored a stunning try to get an undermanned Green Machine across the line.

But Raiders halves Jack Wighton and George Williams have shown they're capable of being match winners as well, with Raiders coach Ricky Stuart heaping praise on the duo following their second-half demolition of the Cronulla Sharks in last weekend's elimination final.

It had Stuart proud of the evolution of his team since their last visit to the SCG.

"Jack and George probably carried the boys last week. The fortunate thing we've got is consistency in our game - even when we feel we haven't played to the standard we're happy with we've won games this year," he said.

"That's a positive. And having a number of guys there - and not just relying on the one - that can have that performance that can get you over the line.

"Jack's shown [that] this year, a number of our middles have shown it this year, Georgey Williams has been very consistent. You call upon those types of efforts."

Such is the strike of the Green Machine, Stuart's confident if they bring their best game then it doesn't matter who they face.

That includes the Roosters, who are gunning for their third straight premiership.

"What keeps me up is making sure we can get to our best," Stuart said.

"I've said it all along, and it's no disrespect to anybody, that my biggest fear is us.

"If we turn up and play our best game of football we're going to be in the fight. If we don't turn up and have individuals playing their best game of footy we won't win any game let alone a final."

Given it's Canberra lock Joe Tapine's 100^th NRL game in lime green since switching from Newcastle, it's a fair bet the Raiders will turn up.

They've made a habit of lifting for milestone matches due to the close-knit culture Stuart's created in the ACT.

Tapine's also in career-best form and benefiting from being able to string games together. Injury and suspension have hindered him over the past two seasons.

"Taps and Papa have probably been targeted a lot this year by opposition middles and it'll be no different for the rest of the season, but they're tough enough and good enough to handle it," Stuart said.