They have a five-day turnaround for their game against the North Queensland Cowboys at Canberra Stadium on Thursday night.

Ball retention was again the Green Machine's biggest problem as they slumped to a second-straight defeat and their fifth in a row against the Melbourne Storm - 30-16 in Wagga Wagga on Saturday.

They stretched the Storm defence, but they made 13 errors - a lot of them when they were pressing - which let Melbourne off the hook.

It left Raiders coach Ricky Stuart bemoaning the fact his team couldn't build any pressure on their opponent.

Sutton said it was something the players weren't happy about and were desperate to change.

"That's the frustrating thing is we're not helping ourselves. We're the first people to tell you we're filthy with that performance," he said.

"First half we were in the game and then error on error, and first-tackle errors, and penalties.

"You can never win a game when you've not got the ball and you've not got the completion rate. It's just rugby league.

"We've just got to make sure we're hard on ourselves. We can't make those mistakes through games because at the back end of games it bites you in the foot. We've got to learn - quick."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

It was Sutton's first NRL game this year, starting the season in the NSW Cup.

He was brought in for Hudson Young (toe), who was unable to train last week and it was unclear when he would return.

The 26-year-old started at lock and while he was happy to be back, he was left frustrated by the performance.

They were tackled inside the Storm's defensive 20-metres 32 times - compared with Melbourne's 23 - but completed their sets at just 67 per cent.

That was highlighted by having just 12 kicks for 281m, in contrast to the Storm's 18 for 457m.

And it lead to them making 64 more tackles than their opponents.

Sutton had his sights set on being part of the 17 looking for redemption against the Cowboys.

He showed his versatility by slotting into the second row when co-captain Elliott Whitehead was off for a head injury assessment.

Sutton said it had been tough biding his time in the reserves, but he'd taken on a leadership role to help develop the next crop of Raiders forwards - including fellow Englishman Harry Rushton.

He said the reserves had struggled early in the season, but had been able to turn things around - and now he wanted the NRL side to do the same.

"It's been pretty tough, but at the same time it's on me to make sure I put myself in the position to be in the squad," Sutton said.

"I've learnt a lot about myself playing for the Cup side. I've taken a little bit of a leadership role with those young boys, taking them under my wing a little bit.

"It showed again [Saturday], they were really good. Harry was really good and the middles were outstanding.

"The future's bright, especially considering the first few games against the [Newtown] Jets and the Bulldogs were a bit off, but we learnt there.

"We've just got to make sure we do it in the first grade."

NRL ROUND SIX

Thursday: Canberra Raiders v North Queensland Cowboys at Canberra Stadium, 7.50pm.