No matter which way you cut it, the 2025 premiership is there for the Raiders.

There are two provisos – they need to hold their nerve and hope Penrith stay out of the top four.

It’s a non-negotiable that they continue to play the exciting way that has taken them to the top of the table. And keep it up all the way through September and the first Sunday of October.

There can be no bottling it and switching to traditional “finals-style” football when they get there. Otherwise, they’ll be ground out of it.

If this modern version of the Raiders are anything, they are the reincarnation of the golden-era team led by Mal Meninga, Ricky Stuart, Laurie Daley, Gary Belcher and Brad Clyde – and they have to keep playing with that late 1980s, early 1990s flair.

Sunday’s victory over the Knights showed the importance of sticking to their guns. A tied scoreline at the interval held the potential for a damaging home defeat. But the Raiders came out firing, ran in four tries and kept the visitors scoreless in the second period.

Tom Starling looks to spark another attack in the Raiders’ win over Newcastle yesterday.Credit: Getty Images

Let’s deal first with the Raiders’ three rivals in the top four – all of whom now have major question marks in the halves.

Jahrome Hughes, the reigning Dally M winner, will be out for about six weeks, possibly longer, with a dislocated shoulder suffered in Thursday’s brave shootout win over the Roosters. He has avoided surgery, but the........

© The Age