Canberra Raider Corey Horsburgh's two tries were all talk

And it turns out the fiery Canberra Raiders prop has the prophetic wisdom of youth to thank for it.

The Raiders posted footage of Horsburgh's pre-game exchange with one young Green Machine fan on social media.

Horsburgh was signing autographs for kids in the Canberra Stadium tunnel - ahead of their 24-20 victory over Cronulla.

"You going to score a try today?" the young fan asked.

"Hopefully, I haven't got a good try-[scoring] record," Horsburgh replied.

"Maybe today's the day," the budding Nostradamus fired back.

Lightning didn't strike once, but twice, as Horsburgh crashed over for a double - both from passes from Canberra hooker Tom Starling.

And Horsburgh revealed it wasn't just the young fan who'd been talking the Big Red into crossing for four-pointers, but Starling as well.

"We've been talking a few times throughout the week about getting me a try," he said.

"The first one we locked eyes so that one was meant to be, but I'll shout him a few beers."

The brace doubled Horsburgh's career tally to four NRL tries, but scoring wasn't the only different role the 25-year-old took on.

He was also a lot more involved as a link-up player, in a role not too dissimilar to the one Isaah Yeo plays for Penrith.

Horsburgh ran for 85 metres, made five tackle busts and 27 tackles - but he also passed the ball on seven of his 16 possessions.

"I feel like my passing game is pretty solid so whenever I can I kind of link up," he said.

"When I have to take the tough carry, I take the tough carry. But I just kind of play off the cuff.

"I get in trouble sometimes if I pass too much. I felt like I got it right [against Cronulla] - passing and running."

And you can't talk about Horsburgh without a bit of niggle - the fiery redhead sucked his former Raiders NSW Cup teammate Royce Hunt into a bit of argie bargie.

Horsburgh pushed Hunt to the ground after a scrum, with Hunt foolishly retaliating by throwing a punch to earn himself 10 minutes in the sin bin.

The Queenslander's an emotional character - traits he shared with coach Ricky Stuart - but felt he was getting better at controlling them.

"It was just two front rowers going at it. It was just all good. I love that," Horsburgh said.

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"That's how I like to play my footy - aggressive and tempers sometimes get the better of you. But it was good fun. Nothing really in it.

"I feel like it comes with age. Since my first year I'm getting better - I kind of just move on from things a lot quicker.

"When I was a young fella I'd kind of dwell on it. If I made an error I'd do something stupid after it too.

"I feel like it just comes with age and something everyone picks up. I just had to learn a bit quicker."

The Raiders travel to Newcastle to take on the undermanned Knights, who will be without both Saifiti brothers due to injury and suspension.

Canberra's win over the Sharks on Sunday was their first of the season and Horsburgh said they were focussed on turning into a series of wins.

"We lost two in a row so it would be nice to win a few in a row now just to get on a nice roll," he said.

"We've shown we can go on a roll once we get a bit of confidence. Hopefully we can get a few wins strung together."

NRL ROUND FOUR

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights at Newcastle, 4.05pm.

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