Don't be fooled when Canberra coach Matthew Elliott announces his team to take on the New Zealand Warriors in Saturday's National Rugby League semi-final.

Names like Brad Drew, Clinton Schifcofske, Mark McLinden and Sean Rutgerson will be there but there's no guarantee they'll be in the line up on the weekend.

The Raiders have been hit with a host of injuries and illness over the past few weeks and while Elliott says things are improving, he admits fitness remains a problem.

Halfback Drew, who was sorely missed during the Raiders' 30-18 loss to Melbourne on Friday because of a hamstring injury, resumed light training on Monday.

But while the rest of the squad carried out a tough and lengthy session, Drew was relegated to running up the sidelines and won't attempt to train with his teammates until Thursday.

Fellow playmaker McLinden made it through his first full training session in more than a week after struggling to overcome a cold and virus.

He tried to keep quiet about his illness during the past few weeks but he wasn't at his best on Friday, when for most of game he was the only specialist half on the field.

"I'm coping a lot better with the flu than I was a week ago," McLinden said.

"I'm not over it completely, I'm still coughing and spluttering but I feel a lot better.

"I trained today and I'm actually looking forward to training this week which is a bit of a change from the last few weeks."

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