It means less worry in the Canberra Raiders co-captain and his teammates' lives.

But on the other, he felt for the Greater Sydney-based players, who still don't know if their families will be able to join them in Queensland over the next month.

The Queensland government's decision to backflip on allowing those Sydney clubs' families to fly up on Saturday even caught out South Sydney veteran Benji Marshall, who was still in Sydney with his wife Zoe after the recent birth of his second child.

Marshall was due to fly up on Saturday, but those plans were in disarray.

Fortunately for the Raiders players, their families started to fly up on Friday - with Josh Papalii's already in Queensland - with the added good news they might not even need to quarantine for two weeks as originally thought.

Given Canberra still has zero COVID-19 cases, they could be able to move about freely - although they wouldn't be able to visit the Raiders players because they'll be in their own NRL bubble for the next two weeks.

Croker was excited by the prospect.

"Very happy mate, but I also feel really sorry for those Sydney boys," he said.

"We thought of how hard it's going to be without our families so I do feel for them, it's a bit tough on them, but hopefully they can work out something.

"It's no different to anyone else in life - everyone needs their family there. You guys need your families as much as we do - it's not just footballers.

"It's a support network, but being away from them you sit there and worry about them.

"You worry if things are alright at home, the kids are OK, the partner's doing OK. It can be really hard at times.

"I've only got one kid, but some boys have got three or four kids and leaving their partners at home just to look after three or four kids - it's hard enough with one one-year-old."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

Croker said both of their returning State of Origin stars, Josh Papalii and Jack Wighton, had pulled up well and were set to run out against the Cronulla Sharks on the Gold Coast on Saturday.

It's a crucial game for the Green Machine's NRL finals hopes.

They've beaten the Sharks the past five times they've played and a win would draw them level with eighth-placed Cronulla on 16 premiership points.

But Croker said every game was a big one for the Raiders, given the position they find themselves in - 11^th on the ladder after a horror three months.

"They're all massive games from here on in, especially for us, but just the way the competition's going every side between 7^th and 13^th have got that do-or-die mentality from here on in," he said.

"Coming up here you really narrow that focus of what you're up here for, we're up here to win games and try and make a late surge for that eight."

It will be the 30-year-old's third game back after shoulder and knee injuries kept him on the sidelines for 10 weeks.

His boot has come back in good form - kicking six from six from the goal-kicking tee - and he was hoping to hit his straps in the run home to the finals.

Croker and winger Jordan Rapana were the elder statesmen of the Raiders' backline, with the other members of the back five - Xavier Savage, Semi Valemei and Sebastian Kris - boasting an average age of just 21.

"It's good to get a couple of games under my belt. My body's pulled up really well," Croker said.

"It's the best I've felt for a while to be honest. Hopefully hit my straps [Saturday] night and keep getting better each week and getting the speed of the game back."

NRL ROUND 18

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Cronulla Sharks at the Gold Coast, 3pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Xavier Savage, 2. Semi Valemei, 3. Jarrod Croker, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Sam Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Emre Guler, 11. Corey Harawira-Naera, 12. Hudson Young, 13. Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Joseph Tapine, 16. Iosia Soliola, 17. Ryan James. Reserves: 18. Matthew Timoko, 19. Trey Mooney, 20. Matt Frawley, 21. Harley Smith-Shields.

Sharks squad: 1. Will Kennedy, 2. Sione Katoa, 3. Connor Tracey, 4. Jesse Ramien, 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo, 6. Braydon Trindall, 7. Shaun Johnson, 8. Aiden Tolman, 9. Blayke Brailey, 10. Aaron Woods, 11. Briton Nikora, 12. Teig Wilton, 13. Toby Rudolf. Interchange: 14. Mawene Hiroti, 15. Siosifa Talakai, 16. Jack Williams, 17. Braden Hamlin-Uele. Reserves: 18. Billy Magoulias, 19. Royce Hunt, 20. Andrew Fifita, 21. Luke Metcalf.

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