The Canberra Raiders' flu crew will be given until the captain's run to prove their fitness for their crunch game against the South Sydney Rabbitohs - which also doubles as Josh Papalii's 250th NRL game.
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Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has been forced to split his squad up into those who have influenza and those who don't, and adjust training accordingly as they prepare to take on the Rabbits in Dubbo on Sunday.
They'll be given until Saturday's captain's run to prove their fitness, with between six and eight players training away from main squad to try and stop the spread.
Adam Elliott was a late withdrawal for last week's gutsy win over Cronulla due to the flu, opening the door for Zac Woolford to make his Raiders debut.
The Green Machine will fly to Dubbo following their captain's run - similar to what they did for the Magic Round victory over the Sharks.
"I'll give them until tomorrow morning. I'll go to the captain's run and give them the opportunity to be fit enough to play," Stuart said on Friday.
"It's been quite a disrupted week, but we've made good of what we could do on the field.
"One session we didn't have any type of meetings or gathering inside - we just had an outdoor field session.
"[Thursday] the players who were without any flu symptoms had a gym and a field [session].
"The boys that are ill at the moment had a training session together so it didn't affect anybody else.
"We've got a number of players there we'll test [on Saturday]. I'm hoping we don't get too disjointed, but two or three popped up in one day.
"We hope the process we've taken over the last 48 hours where we've secluded the guys with the bug, I hope that's going to be a big part of working for us and give us the opportunity to play the team we've named."
Stuart said those that get through will run out alongside one of the Raiders' greatest ever players in Papalii.
It's a big milestone for the loveable prop, who will go down in Canberra history alongside the likes of Glenn Lazarus.
With another two-and-a-half years remaining on his current deal - with an option for 2025 - Stuart felt he could be headed for an even bigger milestone.
"It's a massive achievement. He's nowhere near finished his career, but the legacy he's going to leave as a football player - as one of the greatest to have ever played for the Raiders - to a person we see as a very famous character," Stuart said.
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"A person we all love dearly. I don't know too many people that don't respect Josh Papalii. He's an enormous character in the club.
"He's got the potential to play 300 and over at this club. He's a character that the boys all love having around. He's a guy that instils confidence ... a leader that leads by example.
"When Papa talks, he's listened to. He doesn't talk a lot, but when he does speak the respect and regard he's held in is very much a one off. Papa's very much a leader of action."
NRL ROUND 11
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs at Dubbo, 2pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Matt Frawley, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Zac Woolford, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Corey Harawira-Naera. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Ryan Sutton, 16. Xavier Savage, 17. Corey Horsburgh. Reserves: 18. Adam Elliott, 19. Brad Schneider, 20. Harry Rushton, 21. Adrian Trevilyan, 22. James Schiller, 23. Emre Guler, 24. Trey Mooney.
Rabbitohs squad: 1. Blake Taaffe, 2. Alex Johnston, 3. Jaxson Paulo, 4. Campbell Graham, 5. Taane Milne, 6. Cody Walker, 7. Lachlan Ilias, 8. Tevita Tatola, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Thomas Burgess, 11. Keaon Koloamatangi, 12. Trent Peoples, 13. Jai Arrow. Interchange: 14. Kodi Nikorima, 15. Davvy Moale, 16. Siliva Havili, 17. Liam Knight. Reserves: 18. Peter Mamouzelos, 19. Isaiah Tass, 20. Josh Mansour, 21. Shaq Mitchell, 22. Dean Hawkins, 23. Richard Kennar, 24. Hame Sele.
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