Milestone curse: Why do the Raiders lose 66 per cent of celebration games?

Raiders enforcer Joe Tapine will play his 200^th NRL game - against the Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

The 30-year-old will not only be playing for himself, his teammates and the Green Machine, but his family as well - given it's Indigenous round and the New Zealand international's wife Kirsten and daughter Ilua are both Indigenous.

Canberra have struggled in milestone games in recent years, winning five of 15 in the past six seasons.

They struggled in Canberra coach Ricky Stuart's 500^th as an NRL coach - losing 40-0 to Cronulla in round eight.

They also lost to the Warriors in Jarrod Croker's 300^th last season.

There's been a mixed bag of results for other Raiders milestones they've tried to honour since 2019 - for the likes of captain Elliott Whitehead, Jordan Rapana, Jack Wighton, Josh Papali'i, Sia Soliola and Hudson Young.

It will be something that burns the Green Machine - given how much importance they place on honouring their own.

Tapine felt controlling their passion could be the key to turning that around.

He'll look to bring his steely-eyed best against the highly vaunted Roosters forward pack and the NRL team with the best attack in the competition.

Tapine said these milestones gave him the opportunity to reflect on his career - which has included playing for his country on the world stage and winning back-to-back Mal Meninga Medals.

The goal going forward was a clear one - chasing that elusive premiership.

They'll have the Raiders' biggest home crowd of the season behind them, with about 20,000 expected on Saturday.

"I can't really pinpoint anything on why we lost those [milestone] games," Tapine said.

"I know we go out with so much passion, I think we probably have to control that a bit and get back to playing our football.

"Probably don't overthink the day - just play football."

And he'll be playing that footy for his family.

"It's huge representing my daughter and my wife. I try to do that every week, but especially this week," Tapine said.

"I'll be running out with them [onto the ground] this week as well."

With Papali'i suspended, Tapine's front-row partner against the Roosters will again be Emre Guler.

He knows they've got big shoes to fill in the absence of Papali'i - even though the Canberra big bopper's been starting on the bench in recent weeks.

It will be up to the likes of Guler, Trey Mooney, Ata Mariota and Peter Hola to help fill the void.

Both Tapine and Guler backed Hola to come in and do the job.

It will be just his 15th NRL game and his first of 2024, but the 25-year-old drew praise for the way he's been playing in NSW Cup this season.

He's averaged 141 run metres per game in second grade, with a tackle efficiency of almost 96 per cent.

"Petey's been a gun, he's been massive in Cup so I think he'll bring plenty of energy off the bench," Guler said.

"His carries are really good. I think he's pretty underrated with how well he's going, but I'll let him do the talking on the weekend."

NRL ROUND 12

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium, 3pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Jordan Rapana, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Ethan Strange, 7. Kaeo Weekes, 8. Emre Guler, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Morgan Smithies. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Ata Mariota, 16. Trey Mooney, 17. Peter Hola. Reserves: 18. Albert Hopoate, 19. Zac Woolford, 20. Simi Sasagi, 21. Michael Asomua, 22. Hohepa Puru.

Roosters squad: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 4. Joseph Manu, 5. Dominic Young, 6. Luke Keary, 7. Sam Walker, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Brandon Smith, 10. Lindsay Collins, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Victor Radley, 13. Naufahu Whyte. Interchange: 14. Sandon Smith, 15. Egan Butcher, 16. Spencer Leniu, 17. Terrell May. Reserves: 18. Fetalaiga Pauga, 19. Nat Butcher, 20. Siua Wong, 21. Zach Dockar-Clay, 22. Ethan King.