Mathematically possible. The Raiders are now in the realms of those two dirty words for any finals aspirants.
Their four-point loss to the Penrith Panthers at Canberra Stadium on Sunday means they now need to beat both the Newcastle Knights and the Melbourne Storm in their final two games, as well as hope a string of results go their way.
The Knights have become something of a bogey team for the Raiders, winning their last encounter earlier in the season to go with a draw and a golden-point loss last year as well, while the Storm are clearly the best team in the NRL.
With Canterbury knocking off Manly on Sunday, it means the Green Machine need two of the Sea Eagles, St George Illawarra and North Queensland to lose their remaining games for them to sneak into the eight.
That looks unlikely, with those three clubs all having winnable games over the next two weeks.
The Cowboys' injury woes make them the most likely to drop their last two - against Wests Tigers at Campbelltown on Friday and then the Brisbane Broncos in Townsville the following week.
Manly should beat the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland this weekend, but then they should have beaten the Bulldogs as well.
They then have a tough one against the Panthers at Brookvale in the final round.
Penrith can help out the Raiders by knocking off the Dragons on Sunday, but then St George face the struggling Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium in round 26 - a game they should win, but given they're just one win in front of the Raiders they can potentially still win one game and finish below the Green Machine.
That means next weekend the Raiders fans need to jump on board the Tigers, Warriors and Panthers to help their team get home.
Canberra sits one win behind St George and two behind Manly and the Cowboys, and needs to get above at least two of them to make the finals, with for-and-against to play a crucial role if everything goes their way.
NRL ROUND 25
Friday: Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights at Canberra Stadium, 6pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.
