Canberra skipper Alan Tongue has confidently predicted his young side are ready to make their premiership dreams a reality in the upcoming NRL finals series.
The Green Machine won eight of their last nine regular-season matches to storm into the post-season as arguably the form team of the competition.
And while they'll have to make history to win the title from seventh spot, Tongue says his team-mates genuinely believe they can end the club's 20-year premiership drought this season.
"You always dream, that's what footballers do," Tongue said at the annual NRL Captains' call at the SFS on Monday.
"That's why we train so hard from November 1 in pre-season, you dream all the time, that's what it's all about."
"Now it's about making those dreams a reality and knowing the processes that you have to do to get there. I think our squad, although we're confident there's no cockiness about us whatsoever, everybody knows that we all need to work hard and play our role to make sure we get the result at the end of the night."
"We're confident against any side but we know that we need to stick to the strengths that have been working for us."
"We've made it a goal to get there (the finals) and half way through the year I suppose not many people expected us to do that, and I think it's galvanised the group at the moment."
But before they can complete their lap of honour on the first Sunday in October, the Raiders must first beat an in-form Penrith line-up at CUA Stadium on Saturday night.
And Tongue, who remains in doubt for the must-win clash with a calf injury, knows the Panthers will be tough to beat.
"You only have to see their performance on the weekend (against Cronulla) putting 50 points on a team (despite) missing three or four key individuals," he said.
"They're a team that's playing with plenty of confidence as well and they love playing at CUA Stadium, so we know they're going to be a tough ask."
"They've relied heavily on their kicking game so we worked hard on that when we beat them down in Canberra only a few weeks ago (in Round 21)."
While the Panthers are expected to welcome back Luke Lewis (calf), Luke Walsh (ankle) and Lachlan Coote (groin) for the clash, suspended skipper Petero Civoniceva will be forced to watch from the sidelines.
And the Panthers captain admits the Raiders will be a major handful at the foot of the mountains this weekend.
"I think they are the form side going into the semi-final series," Civoniceva said.
"They are playing with a tremendous amount of confidence and playing with no fear."
"It’s based around one of the best forward packs going around in the competition and there are some huge challenges across the park for us."
"They have that ability to throw anything at you. Terry Campese is leading the way. (He’s) a great playmaker and he’s going to take some stopping,
"Defensively there’s going to be some good challenges and it’s an exceptional forward pack and has destroyed pretty much anyone they’ve come up against the last couple of months."