Boyd, Junior Paulo and the rest of the Raiders pack did a number on the famed Cronulla forwards on the weekend and they'll again play a vital role against the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland on Sunday.

The Warriors also boast a big pack, but have lost their last five games to bow out of finals contention.

It's a different story for Canberra, who need to win all their remaining four games to have a chance of playing finals footy.

They're fresh off an emphatic victory over the reigning premiers, with their forward pack completely dominating their Sharks counterparts.

Paulo ran for 205 metres, Boyd 113m, Josh Papalii 164m and Elliott Whitehead 169m - despite it being Whitehead's first ever game at lock.

Boyd said Whitehead would be "hard to take out of that position now".

Off the back of that dominance, their backs found their dangerous best.

While they hadn't been happy with their form, Boyd said they never let their stuttering season get them down and they would take a lot of confidence out of the win over a top-four side.

"We've always been good, we haven't been down or felt out of it. It's just taken a little while to get that bit of confidence back in our game, and now we've got it we'll be hard to stop," Boyd said.

"The Sharks have got one of the best packs in the comp and they're big and aggressive. You've got [Paul Gallen] and [Andrew] Fifita and [Matt] Prior there.

"They're one of the teams to beat and I thought we did a good job on them, so we've just got to turn up and do the same job this week."

Fellow Raiders forward Luke Bateman said the win was a "massive turning point" for their chances of making the top eight.

They're still two wins behind the eighth-placed Penrith Panthers, but they play them in what's shaping as a massive clash at Canberra Stadium in two weeks.

Bateman felt a few clubs in the eight would be looking over their shoulders at the Raiders, wary of the damage they could do if they make the finals.

But he also realised they were walking a tightrope with their season on the line every game.

"We've always talked about that for the last few months. If we make it to the finals there's not going to be any team that wants to play us when we get there," Bateman said.

"It was definitely a massive turning point on the weekend towards playing finals footy.

"Anyone who doesn't think we're walking a tightrope doesn't know rugby league."

While the Warriors were struggling and their chances of playing finals gone, Bateman wasn't relishing the thought of facing them.

He'd rather come up against a team on a winning streak, rather than one that's going to be angry after a run of outs - especially when those angry blokes were big units like the Warriors.

"Definitely not, They've copped a fair bit of flack recently and I know personally at the Raiders if we're in the same situation as them [coach Ricky Stuart] would be really revving the boys up and they'd be really prepared for a massive game on the weekend," Bateman said.

"It'd probably be nice to come up against them if they'd had two or three wins in a row to be honest. I never like coming up against a team that's been losing.

"It'll be a tough one. They're a very big team and when you've got big blokes that are running hard it's never a good time."

NRL ROUND 23

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v New Zealand Warriors in Auckland, 2pm. Live on Fox League.