Canberra winger Nick Cotric is confident the new-look Raiders' right edge won't take long to click into gear.
In the wake of the off-season departures of Jordan Rapana and Joey Leilua and with John Bateman still recovering from shoulder surgery, Ricky Stuart is set to name an inexperienced right side for Friday's home clash against the Titans.
Corey Horsburgh is set to start in place of Bateman with new No.7 George Williams and Curtis Scott to play along with Cotric on the right edge.
Despite the lack of time together on the field, Cotric said his new teammates' individual experience will make up for any short-fall in cohesion in the opening rounds.
"It's been great getting Georgie Williams over and Curtis, they're great players and we’re just working on our combinations," Cotric said.
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"He [Scott] is a great player, he's played in a grand final and he fits into that role perfectly and he's a strong ball-runner and he talks ... he's a great communicator."
Canberra enters week one not only missing Bateman but also Ryan Sutton and Hudson Young (both suspension).
Meanwhile, Joe Tapine is confident a combination of the forward depth nurtured last season and an array of veteran leaders will come to the fore in the opening round.
"We've got a couple of boys out with guys like John [Bateman] out on the edge, but it's not long until he's back," Tapine said.
"Otherwise we're all good, Corey [Horsburgh] has been training there all year and he looked comfortable in the trial.
"We've got some great players in the middle with Sia [Soliola] and Papps [Josh Papalii] so I don't feel any extra pressure to try any harder."
Tapine said he wasn't buying into any talk about the Titans top-eight chances.
"They'll come motivated but every game in the NRL is tough and even though people might have put them down, they've still got a good squad," he said.
"Watching their trial, we saw nothing different so we're going to prepare as hard as we can and try and get that W."
Jack Wighton backed himself and new halves partner George Williams to defy a sluggish start to the season.
The 2019 Clive Churchill Medallist has welcomed the target that will be on the Raiders' back this year.
"It's another year so you never know what's going to happen but I'm definitely confident," Wighton said about playing five-eighth.
"Every team this year is going to be tough, we're going to be one of the hunted teams because we had that bit of luck and success last year and it’s going to start this week."
