It's the tale of the past three weeks as the Green Machine have struggled to come out of the sheds after the break.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said they've spoken about fixing a few issues that were affecting their second 40s ahead of their crucial clash against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Canberra Stadium on Thursday night.

He dismissed fitness as one of them, but wouldn't be drawn on what reasons they've uncovered for the second-half slumps.

They've scored just four points after half-time in their past three games - against North Queensland, Parramatta and Penrith - and none since a Jarrod Croker try in the 60^th minute against the Panthers in round five.

The Raiders weren't conceding that much more over the same period (letting in 42 points in opening stanzas and 49 in the second).

Their run metres were about the same in each half (716m and 714m per game), as were completion rates (69 per cent and 70).

Errors actually went down (24 and 18), as did six agains conceded (nine and three), while penalties went up from two to seven.

But, according to Champion Data, the most noticeable difference was in missed tackles - with the Green Machine averaging 15 in the first half, but 26 in the second.

That could be forcing the Raiders to start their sets from deeper in their own half, depleting their energy and having the side effect of making it harder to get into field position to attack.

"Yeah, I've identified areas of the matches we've played in where it's got away from us and we've spoken about that," Stuart said on Wednesday.

"It's not a fatigue thing. Sometimes games don't go your way. A couple of the games we were beaten by a couple of better teams.

"A few games - the Warriors, the Cowboys - the flow of the game was completely different to the first half.

"We've identified a lot of those areas in the second halves why we fell away."

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Stuart said their defence was an area where they could create their own energy.

That will be crucial against a Rabbitohs side that's the second-most-potent attack and boasting threats like Benji Marshall, Cody Walker, Damien Cook and Alex Johnstone, with halfback Adam Reynolds pulling the strings.

Souths coach Wayne Bennett has named Walker at fullback, in the absence of the suspended Latrell Mitchell, with Marshall remaining in the halves alongside Reynolds.

The Raiders were looking to break a three-game losing streak, with the third-placed Rabbits having only won twice in Canberra in their past eight visits.

"We've got to provide our own unpredictability in attack too," Stuart said.

"They're a good football team [Souths]. No doubt, they wouldn't be where they are on the table if they weren't.

"They've got some very smart individuals and players there that are unpredictable in attack.

"Benji Marshall's in some really fine form and those guys are the key to their attack and players we've got to be very focused on in regards to defence."

Stuart said while it was important to get back to the winners' list they needed to avoid putting too much pressure on themselves.

They needed to get back to enjoying their football - like they were over the past two seasons when they were top-four contenders.

Stuart felt they'd shown what they were capable of in patches over the past three weeks, but needed to put those together for longer if they were going to turn things around and return to winning ways.

"It's important we don't put too much pressure on ourselves," he said.

"We've got to still try and enjoy the football that makes us a good football team.

"Sometimes you get into this position and you feel as though you can get nervous or tense.

"We can't. We've got to make sure we go about our business, play a good game of football.

"The three games we've been beaten in there have been some good periods of play so it's a matter of that being longer periods of play and trying to get a win.

"You get a win and it cures a lot of anguish."

NRL ROUND EIGHT

Thursday: Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs at GIO Stadium, 7.50pm

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

Rabbitohs squad: 1. Cody Walker, 2. Alex Johnston, 3. Dane Gagai, 4. Campbell Graham, 5. Jaxson Paulo, 6. Benji Marshall, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Thomas Burgess, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Tevita Tatola, 11. Keaon Koloamatangi, 12. Jaydn Su'A, 13. Cameron Murray. Interchange: 14. Mark Nicholls, 15. Liam Knight, 16. Jacob Host, 17. Jai Arrow. Reserves: 18. Steven Marsters, 19. Hame Sele, 20. Patrick Mago, 21. Dean Hawkins.