Canberra Raiders in the NRL top eight with Manly Sea Eagles thrashing

But co-captain Elliott Whitehead said it will mean nothing if they don't back it up against the Wests Tigers next week.

The Raiders thrashed a hapless Manly Sea Eagles 48-6 at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

It propelled them into the top eight - for the first time since round three - and put them within touching distance of playing NRL finals with just one round remaining.

The big win also gave them a crucial points differential boost and a 43-point gap on the ninth-placed Brisbane Broncos.

A win over the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval next Sunday will all-but assure them of a spot in the finals - although the Broncos do play St George Illawarra in their final-round encounter.

It was an emphatic dismissal of the Raiders' struggles against Manly in recent years with their biggest win over the Sea Eagles.

Hudson Young was again brilliant for Canberra, scoring two tries, as part of a Canberra left edge that completely dominated their Manly opponents.

The first was being in the right place for a Sebastian Kris bat-back and the second showed the raw power he has to go with his bucket loads of skill.

He's scored 11 tries so far this campaign, with seven of those coming in the past nine games.

It's no wonder Australia coach Mal Meninga's got his eye on him for the World Cup.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart had the luxury of giving him a rest for the final 26 minutes with the result already in hand.

Kris also scored a try, as did winger Jordan Rapana, as they all made metres and line breaks at will.

Rapana scored from a lovely Jack Wighton cut-out pass and also turned creator with a grubber that was impossible for Kieran Foran to handle - bouncing straight into Jamal Fogarty's arms for him to score.

But Whitehead was already looking to the Tigers to ensure they solidify their spot in the eight.

"It was very pleasing, our biggest scoring margin this year. But we've still got to win next week," he said.

"We're not there yet, we've still got to win so we'll just focus on Tigers next week.

"It helped with [Brisbane] getting the points put on them the other night, but we still had to win tonight.

"We did that and we did it impressively so we've got to take that going forward into the Tigers.

"We're full of confidence, but we've got a job to do next week to make sure we're in the top eight."

The Raiders had contributors across the park.

In the front row, Joe Tapine (179 metres) and Josh Papalii (138m) were their usual selves.

Their back-ups off the bench, Emre Guler (158m) and Corey Horsburgh (110m), kept the momentum going.

And versatile forward Corey Harawira-Naera provided a nice cameo off the bench coming on for Young - scoring a try and setting one up for Kris.

It was that total contribution that most pleased Stuart.

"It was probably our best performance for the longest period," he said.

"Every individual contributed to that performance and it was a high standard of footy from the boys.

"Everybody contributed. At the back end of the season, fighting for a spot in the eight it's exactly what we need. Everybody weighing in."

AT A GLANCE

CANBERRA RAIDERS 48 (Hudson Young 2, Jordan Rapana, Xavier Savage, Tom Starling, Jamal Fogarty, Albert Hopoate, Sebastian Kris, Corey Harawira-Naera tries; Fogarty 6 goals) bt MANLY SEA EAGLES 6 (Ethan Bullemor try; Daly Cherry-Evans) at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Ashley Klein. Crowd: 16,697.