Canberra coach David Furner says stars Alan Tongue and Josh Dugan could return to help arrest the side's five-match NRL losing streak against Newcastle on Sunday.

The Raiders lost their fifth straight match to North Queensland Townsville on Saturday to leave the ACT side bottom of the ladder.

Pundits had tipped the Raiders as one of the contenders for the 2011 title after the side made the finals last season.

But their momentum has stalled since their thumping win over Cronulla in round one.

Furner said captain Tongue (shoulder) and fullback Dugan (calf) need to have a full week of training before they will be considered, but he's hopeful the pair can pull through.

"There would be some changes there, you are looking at quality coming back, we just need to see how they pull up," Furner said.

"It is seeing the players coming through the heavy training schedule at the start of the week."

Dugan reinjured his left calf against the Titans on April 2 but he had progressed well in the past week, Furner said.

"He is still with rehab running at this stage but I believe he did run well on Friday," he said.

"His type of injury needs a full training, full contact so that he is confident he can perform. (And we won't) be in a situation of being down a man during a game."

Halfback Matt Orford could also return depending on his recovery from a back injury suffered two weekends ago at Penrith.

"It is a matter of putting him into full team training and not just rehab training," Furner said.

Raiders co-captain Bronson Harrison said the prospect of several top-guns returning would lift the side.

"Any inclusions from the injury list would be good," he said.

"It would give us a big boost.

"We are working hard on a lot of things and they are just not working at the moment."

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