While the Knights' 26-4 win ensured Raiders highlights were thin on the ground, Rapana took full advantage of his final chance to impress coach Ricky Stuart with a standout performance.

Rapana played three games at fullback last year in his NRL return after six years out for a Mormon mission and a failed foray into rugby union.

Before his debut he also nearly quit the game to pursue a career in the police force, but was urged not to by Canberra officials.

Rapana began the match on the bench, with Stuart opting to start former Junior Kiwi Jeremy Hawkins on the right wing.

But after centre Jarrod Croker exited early with a head knock Rapana pounced on his chance, delivering energy to the Raiders attack with his power-based game.

The 25-year-old has stacked on four kilograms of muscle, is decidedly quicker than last season and came off his flank looking for work.

The question is whether he's done enough to overtake Hawkins and secure a spot in the round-one team against Cronulla on March 8.

"He was good, he's a strong runner of the footy, Jordan," Stuart said. "He's a bit more comfortable [second year back in the NRL] but we've got to become more comfortable as a unit.

"The only way we're going to get that is by playing games of footy, we can train as much as we want."

Rapana was one of Canberra's best but played down his effort, pointing to the 26-4 loss as evidence the Raiders have plenty of work to do.

"Not really [that happy], if you look at the scoreboard it shows that but it's only a trial game," Rapana said.

"We can take the positives out of it and just keep building.

"Hawko and I are good mates, as the whole team is, but you have to play the best you can and hopefully get a crack.

"It [speed and strength] is something I've worked on and I've got the results."

Stuart rotated 30 players, including a number of youngsters, throughout the match but said it showed his revamped team is still a work in progress.

"We're a new football team and we've still got work to do," he said. "That's the best thing, we get a realistic point of view from that.

"It's a trial and that's the way we saw it, but it still doesn't defeat the purpose we were poor with holding the football. When you do that you lose field position and it's too hard to defend all the time."

Stuart kept his cards close to his chest when asked his thoughts on the halfback battle between Sam Williams and Mitch Cornish.

Cornish was solid starting the match, but Williams laid on Canberra's only try to Shaun Fensom when he came on late.

"It was a good try, he's very composed Sammy," Stuart said.  "Mitch has got a good little kicking game and Blake [Austin] is finding his feet with new combinations.

"I thought Hodgo [Josh Hodgson] was good for the first 30 minutes, he's getting used to playing at NRL level."