Canberra coach David Furner is, at least on the surface, a composed man.

You wouldn't know from talking to him week in, week out, that his struggling NRL side has only managed to string together two wins this year.

Speaking ahead of the round 11 clash against the Warriors at Canberra Stadium on Sunday, Furner admitted he was frustrated by the Raiders' lacklustre start to the season.

But he remains optimistic, despite the fact that the Green Machine are staring down the barrell of a fifth straight defeat if they don't morph from a group with plenty of potential into a team capable of taming its opponents.

"The frustration is knowing what the side is capable of," Furner said.

"Knowing that the side deserves better and unfortunately we couldn't turn that around.

"What we have got is a lot more games, a lot more rounds, starting with the Warriors this week.

"I'm a person that doesn't take losses too lightly but I think the players need to have that composure."

Following Canberra's humiliating 46-6 drubbing at the hands of Melbourne on Monday night, Furner said the side was keen to put the loss behind them.

The Warriors, too, are backing up after being rocked 34-12 at home by North Queensland.

Furner said the Kiwi side, guided by captain Steve Price and veteran halfback Stacey Jones and bolstered by fullback Wade McKinnon and winger Manu Vatuvei, would be a handful.

"They've got a very good, strong and aggressive forward pack matched with ... some fairly handy backs," he said.

"We know that they'll bring a fairly physical power game ... but we need to be over our game-plan and make sure we execute it. It's about us."

It won't help that the Raiders are likely to be without captain Alan Tongue (thumb) and young gun Justin Carney (sternum).

Furner said while both remained under "a pretty heavy cloud", he was confident the likes of Trevor Thurling, Nigel Plum and Josh Miller would step up off the bench.

At the end of the day, there was no point putting pressure on the side or himself, the rookie coach said.

"For the team and for the coaching staff our results are driven by success and by wins," Furner said.

"I think you've just got to work harder and keep doing it until you achieve what you want to achieve.

"We'll work pretty hard to get that win and we've been doing it all season and we're not going to stop here."

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