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Raiders halfback Sam Williams.

Canberra Raiders playmaker Sam Williams says the side cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves as they look to turn around their season after two losses to start the season.  

The Raiders sit in 12th place on the Telstra Premiership ladder despite scoring the second-most points in the NRL with 56.

However it is the side's work without the ball which has drawn the most criticism, with the Green Machine giving up 60 points in the first fortnight.

"In the end it doesn't really matter what your performance is at this time of the year, you just want to be winning games," Williams said.

"At the moment it's close by not good enough so we've got to make sure we're not dragging our lip around and being miserable about it.

"We need to look at what we can work on and what we can turn around, so we can start winning games and we can put it behind us."

There were positives for the Raiders in the loss with prop Shannon Boyd laying an excellent platform for the side in the first half.

Blake Austin's running game was as dangerous as ever, with the 27-year-old a threat to split the Knights defence every time he took the ball forward.

Williams praised Austin's form which saw him average 9.4 metres per carry on Sunday night.

Inside the NRL - Episode 2

"It's no secret that Blake is a very damaging ball-runner," Williams said.

"If he can't complicate things for himself and take the ball to the line he's either going to create for the outside of make something happen for himself.

"But he makes my job really simple in trying to get them quality ball and I thought Blake was really good tonight."

Aidan Sezer continues to grow into the role of utility while, Jack Wighton carried the ball for 181 metres and Dunamis Lui got through plenty of work against Newcastle in his second game back from an ACL injury.

"The continuity in attack hasn't been too bad, we're scoring points but we're not stopping enough, so that's where the issue is," Williams said.

"We've got make sure we're better defensively as a whole and if we are, 28 points should be more than enough to win you games."

The task doesn't get any easier for the Raiders, who now face a six-day turnaround and a New Zealand Warriors side that has surprised many in the first two weeks.

Twelve-point winners over South Sydney in round one, Stephen Kearney's men proved it was no fluke with a 20-8 win over the Gold Coast Titans in round two.

"They're a team on the rise and they'll come out here with a bit of an attitude, but we've got to be better than them and get the two points," Williams said.

"It's not panic stations, but we need to start winning."

Match Highlights: Raiders v Knights - Round 2; 2018

Acknowledgement of Country

Canberra Raiders respect and honour the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on.