The Raiders are in danger of missing the finals after losing eight games by six points or less this season.

They need to topple Brown's Knights and the Melbourne Storm in the last two rounds and then rely on favourable results to be any hope of making the top eight.

But Brown is on alert for the Raiders to fire, adamant they could easily be in the top four had the bounce of the ball gone their way this season.

Brown pointed to a golden-point loss against the North Queensland Cowboys in the opening round of the season as the result that summed up Canberra's year.

In that game, Cowboys superstar Johnathan Thurston hit the crossbar with a field-goal attempt and the ball stayed in play for Gavin Cooper to score a golden try.

Three of Canberra's losses have been in golden point and their season has been a story of "what if".

The Raiders have won just two of 10 games decided by six points or less and Brown said that highlighted the NRL tightrope that can ruin a premiership dream.

"They've had eight or nine by less than six points. If five or six of those they have a bit of luck and they get the result they're up in the top four again and everyone's singing a totally different tune," he said.

"That's just how fine a line the NRL can be between that top four and eighth or ninth.

"I've seen them up by 10 and two minutes to go and lose, and I've seen them in a golden point when the other side hit the crossbar and bounce in and they've scored. And I've seen Canberra hit the post.

"They've had their real share of misfortune. I don't think by any means they've had a bad year, they've just had some times where it just hasn't happened for them.

"It's such a fine line between where they could be and where they are."

Brown said Knights fullback Nathan Ross (back) was a "certain starter", provided he didn't pull up sore from training during the week.

He said they "lost a few troopers" from their loss to Melbourne, with co-captain Sione Mata'utia left out due to concussion.

Brown was hopeful they could repeat their 34-20 win over the Raiders in Newcastle earlier in the season, but he said Canberra had played good footy over the last "five or six weeks".

He said their changes with the halves switching sides of the field, and Joe Tapine going to the edge and Elliott Whitehead moving into the middle had all paid dividends.

"We've certainly had some good contests in the past 18 months. The Raiders' form's been good," Brown said.

"They've had a lot of unlucky losses earlier in the year and the last five or six weeks they've played some really good footy."

While the Raiders have lost a lot of close games, they've also been their own worst enemy on occasions.

Errors proved costly throughout the season and when they cut them out then they went on a three-game winning streak over the last month.

But they've committed the fourth-most amount of errors in the NRL, behind just the Sydney Roosters, Cronulla and Penrith.

Those errors proved costly in the first half of the 26-22 loss to the Panthers last weekend, when Penrith set up what proved to be a match-winning 10-point lead.

Raiders second-rower Joe Tapine agreed the season had been one of missed opportunities, but had also been a valuable learning curve that would help them in the future.

"It's a learning curve for us, a couple of close games we could've or should've won and we'd be up there in the eight," he said.

"There's still a lot of young guys in the team and we'll all learn from it and next year we'll be better."

NRL ROUND 25

Friday: Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights at Canberra Stadium, 6pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.

Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton, 2. Nick Cotric, 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. Joe Tapine, 13. Elliott Whitehead. Interchange: 14. Kurt Baptiste, 15. Clay Priest, 16. Dave Taylor, 17. Luke Bateman. Reserves: 18. Jeff Lima, 19. Erin Clark, 20. Royce Hunt, 21. Michael Oldfield.

Knights: 1. Nathan Ross, 2. Ken Sio, 3. Dane Gagai, 4. Peter Mata'utia, 5. Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 6. Jack Cogger, 7. Trent Hodkinson, 8. Daniel Saifiti, 9. Daniel Levi, 10. Josh King, 11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12. Jamie Buhrer, 13. Mitch Barnett. Interchange: 14. Joe Wardle, 15. Mickey Paea, 16. Sam Stone, 17. Jacob Saifiti. Reserves: 18. Brendan Elliot, 19. Pat Mata'utia, 20. Jaelen Feeney, 21. Jack Stockwell.