Ricky Stuart was right - the Canberra Raiders players were poor.
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But they've vowed to repay the faith shown by their coach against the Parramatta Eels at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.
Stuart named a largely unchanged side to face the Eels, giving them the chance to atone for their poor performance against Cronulla last weekend.
The Green Machine blew an 18-point lead to go down 36-22 to the Sharks.
Stuart labelled the performance embarrassing and dismal, with every player below par.
Raiders hooker Tom Starling took the criticism on the chin, backing his coach's assessment.
![Raiders prop Josh Papali'i says the players need to repay the faith coach Ricky Stuart has shown in them this week. Picture by Gary Ramage Raiders prop Josh Papali'i says the players need to repay the faith coach Ricky Stuart has shown in them this week. Picture by Gary Ramage](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/reqbnGrLXyZFax2TwSi3Na/bd36548e-c66d-45b7-afd8-9881d1a799c2.jpg/r0_0_4486_2689_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It's seen Canberra's win-loss record slip to 2-2 and a loss against the Eels would give them their third loss in a row.
But Starling said they weren't panicking and were working on fixing the errors that plagued their loss to the Sharks.
The Raiders had a completion rate of 90.1 per cent across their two wins to open the season, but that dropped to 75.6 per cent against the Sharks.
"Stick's very honest in his press conferences and towards us, and rightfully so. We were poor," Starling said.
"We're not hitting the panic button - we know we're better than that. We'll correct that this week with our performance this weekend.
"I'm confident in this group that we can do that. Stick said it how it is and rightfully so, but we'll bounce back."
Stuart only made the one forced change to his 17 with Simi Sasagi coming in for Zac Hosking (concussion).
Raiders prop Josh Papali'i said they needed to repay that faith with a much-improved effort against Parramatta.
The Green Machine have put a big emphasis on turning Canberra Stadium back into a fortress this year after winning six of their 11 games there last season.
They've won their only home game this campaign, thrashing Wests Tigers 32-12.
![Raiders hooker Tom Starling says they were poor last weekend, but they're not panicking. Picture by Keegan Carroll Raiders hooker Tom Starling says they were poor last weekend, but they're not panicking. Picture by Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/reqbnGrLXyZFax2TwSi3Na/6955f081-6455-44e1-a136-8c4a84dbd07b.jpg/r101_335_4135_2537_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The Raiders also have a good record at Canberra Stadium against the Eels - winning 19 of their 25 games against them there.
"We've made a massive deal about having a good home record and it starts again on Sunday against Parra," Papali'i said.
"They're looking pretty classy as well and up front they're looking as good as ever. We're going to have to be on our best game.
"Sticky's stuck with sort of the same team and we just have to repay Sticky and play well this Sunday."
Papali'i said it was up to the senior players in the squad to stand up and lead the way for the young players.
The Green Machine's got plenty of youth throughout the side, especially in the backline, which can make consistency harder to achieve.
Papali'i said he's been through everything during his 286 NRL games and it was up to him to use that to help the youngsters in the side bounce back.
He's started the week training alongside Joe Tapine as part of the starting middle rotation, but said he'd be happy to come off the bench if that's what Stuart wanted.
Papali'i's switched to a bench role in the past to help the Green Machine maintain momentum when Tapine went off for a rest.
"I've been in this position many times before over my playing career," he said.
"The biggest thing is just being there for the younger boys who haven't experienced back-to-back losses like this.
"We started 2-0 and now we could be facing three losses in a row.
"You've got to be there for the younger boys and be that senior player they need."
NRL ROUND FIVE
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels at Canberra Stadium, 6.15pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Jordan Rapana, 2. James Schiller, 3. Matthew Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Ethan Strange, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Josh Papali'i, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Joseph Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Ata Mariota, 13. Morgan Smithies. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Corey Horsburgh, 16. Simi Sasagi, 17. Pasami Saulo. Reserves: 18. Kaeo Weekes, 19. Nick Cotric, 20. Trey Mooney, 21. Zac Woolford, 22. Emre Guler.
Eels squad: 1. Clinton Gutherson, 2. Maika Sivo, 3. Viliami Penisini, 4. Bailey Simonsson, 5. Sean Russell, 6. Blaize Talagi, 7. Dylan Brown, 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 9. Joey Lussick, 10. Junior Paulo, 11. Shaun Lane, 12. Ryan Matterson, 13. J'maine Hopgood. Interchange: 14. Luca Moretti, 15. Wiremu Greig, 16. Joe Ofahengaue, 17. Kelma Tuilagi. Reserves: 18. Ofahiki Ogden, 19. Daejarn Asi, 20. Brendan Hands, 21. Makahesi Makatoa, 22. Morgan Harper.