I think you are right, but given where they were seemingly only a few weeks ago, on the brink of mutiny and ruin, making the finals a relative success for the Raiders.That was obviously a great game last night and well done to Canberra for some finals-like intensity, but...
but...
Parramatta threw nothing at them in attack and the Raiders threw nothing at Parramatta in attack. There wasn't a point scored for 45 minutes and both sides could only muster 12 and 10 points respectively off some opportunistic plays.
Come finals time, Canberra will struggle because teams with players like Cleary, Munster, Trbo, etc. will be much more adept at breaking down that defence. With a spine of Sam Williams, Wighton and Rapana, there are not going to be a lot of points scored by the Green Machine.
I still think they'll struggle to get past week 1.
They are playing tough now, which was what made them a competitor over the last few years. So potentially a dangerous team for some of the more fancied teams (as we found out).