Wighton felt the Green Machine hadn't quite clicked into gear yet this season, but he thought a crucial game against fellow top-four aspirants Parramatta in front of what's shaping as a big crowd at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night might help change that.

The Raiders are expecting more than 16,000 to flood through the gates as they look to return to the winners list after going down to Penrith last weekend.

Wighton felt they'd shown signs so far this year, but were yet to hit their straps.

Their defence was the key in wins against the Gold Coast Titans and Cronulla Sharks.

"We've been a bit clunky over a few of the weeks, but that's just early rounds," Wighton said.

"It's just as a team, the cohesion. We've been getting a couple of tight wins and not playing our best, but we'll keep working on it.

"We've been getting great crowds all year and we love our supporters for it. We always try to put our best foot forward for them.

"It's one of those games where we have to stand up and it's going to be a good one."

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The Eels will be without five-eighth Dylan Brown, who's suspended for a crusher tackle.

But Wighton was wary of Parramatta lifting to cover his loss - like the Raiders did last year when they lost world-class hooker Josh Hodgson to a season-ending knee injury.

They still have halfback Mitchell Moses and a forward pack that's been on the front foot at the start of the campaign.

"It goes both ways. Sometimes when a key player goes down the attack becomes even better and everybody steps up a little bit," Wighton said.

"You've just got to expect the unexpected and take it as it comes."

The Raiders are looking to end a two-game losing streak against the Eels and keep their spot in the top eight in the process.

Both sides are looking to bounce back from a loss last weekend, with Parramatta getting upset by St George Illawarra.

Wighton felt it would give them another indication of where they sat in the NRL pecking order.

"We're both in the same boat you know. No one likes losing two in a row so we'll both go in with our best foot forward and it's going to be great," he said.

"They're a team you can see where you're sitting within the comp and where we're kind of rating. They're going to be a tough opposition."

NRL ROUND SIX

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels at Canberra Raiders, 7.35pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Caleb Aekins, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Sia Soliola, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Ryan Sutton, 16. Siliva Havili, 17. Emre Guler. Reserves: 18. Sebastian Kris, 19. Matt Frawley, 20. Corey Harawira-Naera, 21. Dunamis Lui.

Eels squad: 1. Clinton Gutherson (c), 2. Maika Sivo, 3. Tom Opacic, 4. Marata Niukore, 5. Blake Ferguson, 6. Will Smith, 7. Mitchell Moses, 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 9. Reed Mahoney, 10. Junior Paulo, 11. Shaun Lane, 12. Ryan Matterson, 13. Nathan Brown. Interchange: 14. Oregon Kaufusi, 15. Isaiah Papali'i, 16. Keegan Hipgrave, 17. Bryce Cartwright. Reserves: 18. Joey Lussick, 19. Haze Dunster, 20. Wiremu Greig, 21. Jordan Rankin.