Walters said Raiders dummy halves Tom Starling and Siliva Havili were making an important contribution in the absence of England international Josh Hodgson (knee).

He was also expecting lime green to get a 50-50 split of the crowd in Canberra's preliminary final against the Melbourne Storm at Suncorp Stadium on Friday.

Starling and Havili have had to shoulder the hooker duties since Hodgson tore his anterior cruciate ligament against the Storm in round nine.

Walters said the pair, like the rest of the team, had lifted to ensure the Raiders were within one win of replicating last year's grand-final appearance.

He said the pair's youthful energy was the weapon they brought against Smith's guile and experience.

It could be Smith's last game, with the Storm captain reportedly set to retire at the end of the season.

"What a great thing, particularly for young Starling, to get the chance to play against Cameron," Walters said.

"He's certainly in good form still and obviously the main man at the Storm so it will be a big challenge for our fellas.

"But when you're in the finals every week everyone's got good quality players in every position so every week they'll play someone really good and he's certainly at the top of the tree.

"I've got no doubt they're really looking forward to that."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

Walters is one of a number of Raiders greats who hail from Queensland, along with Mal Meninga and Gary Belcher.

It means there's plenty of support for the Green Machine in Brisbane.

But Walters said it was similar for the Storm, who have had Queensland stars Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk in their ranks.

With the Queensland border open to Canberrans, they can also now make the journey north to further swell the Raiders crowd.

"I'd love that, but I don't know. With all the Queensland players at the Storm they're in a similar position," Walters said.

"They've got a pretty good following up here too. I think it'll be a great atmosphere though.

"There's plenty of Raiders supporters up this way ... we'll hold our own though. Plenty of green people there."

NRL PRELIMINARY FINAL

Friday: Canberra Raiders v Melbourne Storm at Suncorp Stadium, 7.50pm.