By Sebastian Tan in Canberra

Coach Ricky Stuart insists alarm bells aren’t ringing inside Canberra’s camp yet, despite their early-season fall from grace.

The Raiders have the worst start (1-3) for a team that has won the NRL minor premiership the previous year since the Sydney Roosters went 0-4 in 2016.

Their attack has struggled to fire in 2026, scoring just 16.8 points per game as compared to their 26.7 average last season.

It’s a big reason why Canberra sit 15th on the NRL ladder, with their only win coming courtesy of a golden-point field goal by Ethan Sanders in a 29-28 victory over Manly in round one.

Stuart also lamented his side was “self-destructive” in his post-match press conference after going down 34-22 to Cronulla last Sunday, where they coughed up 13 errors, countless penalties and a crucial early sin bin to Corey Horsburgh.

Despite their troubles, the coach says his team’s attitude hasn’t shifted.

“I’ve been in worse positions than this. We’ll get through it because they’re a resilient bunch. There’s probably more panic outside than there is inside,” Stuart said on Saturday.

“It’s round five. It’s not going to be the only difficult period that we go through this year.

“The guys obviously don’t like this situation of losing three in a row, but … they just put their heads down and keep working hard to try and turn it around.

“That’s the only thing you can do.”

The Raiders are turning their attention to Newcastle, who they’ll play in front of an expected sold-out McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.

Canberra will welcome back inspirational captain Josh Papali’i from suspension, as the enforcer looks to string some appearances together after a stop-start beginning to the season.

“He’s an important part of the team. That little bit of experience is always beneficial, especially through a difficult period like we’re in at the moment,” Stuart said.

Newcastle (3-1) will still be without their roughly $3-million duo Kalyn Ponga and Dylan Brown, but will look to build on their early-season momentum after beating Canterbury 24-16 last round.

Prop Trey Mooney returns from suspension, while hooker Harrison Graham has been promoted to the bench.

“We can never be satisfied with how we’re going because, as a great man once said to me, if you pat yourself on the back too much you fall asleep,” Knights centre Dane Gagai said.

“We’re going to have to be good this weekend because we’re coming up against a pretty formidable forward pack.”