Canberra players have vowed to continue to defy critics as the undermanned Raiders adopt a backs-to-the-wall approach to Sunday's elimination final against the Knights in Newcastle.
After sitting in fourth place at the end of Round 20, the Raiders won just two of their last seven matches to finish eighth, but captain Jarrod Croker said few people outside of Canberra had given them much chance of playing finals at all.
"People seem shocked that we are there, but we have pretty much been in the top eight for the past 10 or 12 weeks," Croker said.
"We have played in four of...