Pre-season wooden spoon favourites Canberra shunned talk of a favourable run home after firming as NRL finals fancies following impressive back-to-back wins.

The Raiders' stunning 34-12 win over top four contenders Sydney Roosters on Sunday propelled them into ninth place and just one win outside the top eight.

They host seventh-placed Gold Coast at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night when a win of 15 points of more will ensure they return to the eight for the first time since round five.

And with a run to the finals which also includes fifth-placed Brisbane (away), Penrith (8th, home), Newcastle (12th, home), South Sydney (14th, away), North Queensland (16th, away) and Bulldogs (15th, home) the Raiders are now expected to be among the top eight at the end of the year.

It's widely believed that 28 points - three more wins for the Raiders - will be enough to make the final eight.

But despite commanding wins over St George Illawarra and the Roosters in the past two weekends, coach Neil Henry is demanding his players stick to their game at a time script, pointing to the spate of surprise results in the competition.

"The enthusiasm is good, the confidence levels have come up (but) we're a one game at a time sort of team and we talk about that each week," Henry said.

"We don't talk about games any further than next week, we never do."

Asked if he was looking at the maths behind a finals berth, Henry said all he knew was that his side was in the mix.

"You can try and predict and look at who other teams above you have got to play and say by rights we've got an easier run in but realistically when you look at the results over the last two weeks you've got some of the top five teams being beaten," he said.

In form five-eighth Terry Campese said the key to the Raiders change in on-field performance has been the renewed enthusiasm and enjoyment for the game.

"No matter what we did yesterday it just paid off," Campese said.

"We're a tight bunch of blokes, to win football against a top four team makes it a whole lot better."

But the news isn't all rosy for the Raiders with prop Josh Miller to undergo an MRI scan on his knee after slipping in a tackle on Roosters forward Willie Mason.

While Miller will have to wait until Tuesday for the results of his scans, he remains confident he will be fit to face the Titans on Saturday.

"Early signs are hopefully it's only a grade one," Miller said.

"It doesn't feel too bad, it's not very painful in any way."

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