Papalii says he was shifted back to the bench by Raiders coach Ricky Stuart so as to avoid "taking the brunt of the game, and obviously form".

Now Stuart could make futher changes to cope with a short turnaround leading into a clash with the third-placed Rabbitohs at Canberra Stadium on Thursday night.

Sia Soliola, Joe Tapine and Dunamis Lui were all missing from the side that lost in Townsville last week, with Emre Guler getting a start and Corey Horsburgh returning on the bench.

Papalii says the prospect of a rotation in the forward pack and the emergence of younger players is keeping veterans on their toes as he looks to build on what he dubs a slow start to the year.

MORE SPORT

"Hopefully [it] sparks something in my game. I still need to pick my form up," Papalii said.

"I know I'm starting to get on as well. I'm getting a bit older and these young boys are pushing for positions. It's only healthy for the club, and the rotation, we can do that because we've got so many class forwards at the club.

"It doesn't matter who is starting or who is coming off the bench or who is missing out, we're always going to fill that void.

"The short turnaround helps us a bit. We're straight back in. Everyone is keen to scrap that game from Townsville and jump back on the horse, and hopefully kickstart our season again against the Rabbits and hopefully string a few wins together."

Horsburgh's NRL return over the weekend was almost 10 months in the making after a foot injury derailed his 2020 campaign and a drink-driving incident saw him start the year in NSW Cup.

But the 23-year-old is relishing a return to "doing what I love", and hopes to build on his first outing after last year's Lisfranc injury left him sidelined for months and facing a long road to recovery.

"I kind of had to learn how to walk again in a funny sense. There were a lot of hiccups and hard times but I got through it, and I'm back doing what I love," Horsburgh said.

"It was a bit quicker, but it's just going to take footy to get used to that. I'll build on that each week and I will get better. I just needed to get footy under my belt and get my mojo back.

"The game is about momentum now so we just need to find a way to get that momentum back when we lose it. That's something we've got to work on, so it comes down to attitude.

"We've just got to address that in the game and we've got to take the game back."

NRL ROUND EIGHT

Thursday: Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs at Canberra Stadium, 7.50pm. Tickets from Ticketek. Broadcast: Live on Channel Nine and Fox League.