Meanwhile the man Cotric squeezed out of the team, Sebastian Kris, will be forced into COVID isolation for the next seven days after being exposed to the virus. It's the second time this season Kris has been sidelined despite not actually contracting the illness.

The rest of the starting lineup is unchanged, with skipper Jarrod Croker missing out again.

"He's a massive boost for us," teammate Jordan Rapana said of Cotric.

"He brings a lot of energy, bounces around, gets his nose through the line and breaks tackles, and it's definitely something we've lacked in the past, even when he went to the Bulldogs - we missed him last year as well.

"So I'm excited too for him to be back and he'll add a lot of spark to our attack."

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Young halfback Brad Schneider will be looking to build on his chemistry with five-eighth Jack Wighton, and may need to settle any nerves playing against fellow Queenslander and No. 7 Daly Cherry-Evans, whom he looked up to as a kid.

"I idolised him when I was younger," Schneider said. "It's a bit surreal playing him, but we'll go out there and do our job.

"When you come up against a few big names like that, you look at it and go 'Hooley dooley, it is actually you'. You actually have to pinch yourself a bit, but I love it."

Schneider said it gave him a huge confidence boost to hear coach Ricky Stuart so keen to get the playmaker back in the squad after he sat out round two with COVID-19, albeit asymptomatic.

With Wighton, the 21-year-old guided a massive second-half comeback against the Titans last week, setting up Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad's sensational try off a grubber kick, and despite earlier misses he kept his cool to nail the game-winning conversion.

"There was a fair bit of pressure," Schneider said. "It was a good moment, but we shouldn't have really been there to be honest if I made the ones before.

"It was a bit rusty, missed a couple, but I have just got to keep practising and it'll come back."

The Raiders narrowly defeated the Sea Eagles in their pre-season trial match 18-16, but Manly has won four of its past five regular-season games against Canberra.

Keeping Blues star and last year's Dally M winner Tom Trbojevic quiet will be the toughest task.

"Tommy is obviously a good player, but we've got our plans and they've got their plans, but as much we can, we'll try shutting him down," Schneider said.

No-one knows this better than Rapana who will be expecting plenty of traffic coming his way.

Rapana and the team have been studying video clips of the Raiders' defensive processes from the side's trial win over Manly as a framework of what to do this Saturday.

"We let go of last week. It was a good win, but we've got a big job ahead of in Manly," he said.

"We know the threat that they have out the back with Turbo and Cherry-Evans and some of their players, they're a very quality side so we've just got to make sure that we're on our game.

"If we defend like we did in that trial game, we'll go good.

"Tommy Turbo is a key focus for us. If we shut him down, we know he plays a big part in their team and their success."

NRL ROUND FOUR

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Manly Sea-Eagles at Glen Willow Oval, Mudgee, 5.30pm

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matthew Timoko, 4. Semi Valemei, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Brad Schneider, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Corey Harawira-Naera, 13. Elliott Whitehead. (C) Interchange: 14. Matt Frawley, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Adam Elliott, 17. Corey Horsburgh. Reserves: 18. Xavier Savage, 19. Ryan Sutton, 20. Adrian Trevilyan, 21. James Schiller 22. Sam Williams, 23. Trey Mooney, 24. Peter Hola

Sea Eagles squad: 1. Tom Trbojevic, 2. Jason Saab, 3. Brad Parker, 4. Morgan Harper, 5. Reuben Garrick, 6. Kieran Foran, 7. Daly Cherry-Evans, 8. Sean Keppie, 9. Lachlan Croker, 10. Martin Taupau, 11. Haumole Olakau'atu, 12. Andrew Davey, 13. Jake Trbojevic, 14. Dylan Walker, 15. Karl Lawton, 16. Ethan Bullemor, 17. Taniela Paseka, 18. Toafofoa Sipley, 19. Josh Aloiai, 20. Tolutau Koula, 21. Jorge Taufua, 22. Kurt De Luis, 23. Christian Tuipulotu, 24. Alec Tuitavake.

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