And back-up hooker Kurt Baptiste confirmed he's close to re-signing with the NRL club for 2017.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart brought prop Shannon Boyd and fullback Jack Wighton straight back into his starting side to face the Gold Coast Titans at Cbus Super Stadium on Sunday, after the pair served one-game suspensions.

​Hardworking lock Shaun Fensom was named on an extended bench as cover for Josh Papalii, who will play for the Queensland Maroons against the NSW Blues in Origin II on Wednesday night.

Emerging loose forward Luke Bateman will start in the No.13 jersey, which means second-rower Soliola drops to the bench along with prop Paul Vaughan.

Clay Priest and Zac Santo were omitted and have been named for NSW Cup side Mounties.

Edrick Lee injured his hamstring scoring a try against the Canterbury Bulldogs three weeks ago, but he'd hoped to be fit to play the Manly Sea Eagles just five days later.

Now he could be on the sideline until round 20, although the Raiders were hopeful he'll be fit to face the Newcastle Knights at Canberra Stadium Sunday week.

Canberra prop Jeff Lima (hip) is also expected to return for the round 20 clash against the New Zealand Warriors.

Soliola felt Brenko Lee, who's off contract at the end of the season and has been linked with several clubs, would again deputise well for his cousin.

"At this stage we need Eddie to be healthy, as much as we'd like to have him on the field," he said.

"It hurts the experience, but we have a lot of trust in Brenko and what he brings to the table. It's a bit unfortunate for Eddie, but we have a lot of faith in Brenko."

It's a massive clash for both clubs, who sit seventh and eighth on the NRL ladder.

The Titans have won four of their past five, while the Raiders lost their last game – against the Brisbane Broncos – after three straight wins.

Soliola said Gold Coast were one of the most consistent teams in the NRL across the full 80 minutes.

"It's been great watching them progress, especially after the drama they've hard throughout the start of the year and they've bounced back," he said.

"It shows a lot of their resilience. They've been the most competitive team throughout the whole 80 minutes this year.

"It's not only Gold Coast, the Warriors are starting to find some good form and a lot of the teams that are beneath us are starting to find their straps so we need to start stringing a few games before the next bye."

Baptiste was looking forward to coming up against Nathan Peats, who moved to the Titans in the wake of the Parramatta salary cap scandal.

Peats made his first start for the Titans in their comprehensive victory over Manly on Monday night and Baptiste said he was "really good defensively".

While Peats was forced to move from the Eels, Baptiste is hoping to stay in Canberra.

"Hopefully get something sorted soon, I'll leave that up to my manager. Hopefully I stay, if all goes well I'll be here next year," Baptiste said.

"I'm thinking maybe a one-year deal, we'll see what happens."

NRL ROUND 16

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans at Cbus Super Stadium, 2pm.

Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton, 2. Brenko Lee, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Blake Austin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Junior Paulo, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Josh Papalii, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Luke Bateman. Bench: 14. Kurt Baptiste, 15. Sia Soliola, 16. Paul Vaughan, 17. Joe Tapine, 18. Shaun Fensom.