But Wagga Brothers junior league president Ben Howard said the experience will make the youngster's dream of making the elite level more realistic as the Canberra Raiders look to build on their Riverina footprint.

Under-eights players from Junee Diesels, Wagga Magpies, Wagga Kangaroos Red and Wagga Brothers will play at half-time of the Raiders' home clash with Penrith, the second NRL match in Wagga and the first in 21 years.

"A lot of the kids probably travel to Canberra (to watch NRL games) a bit, but now they have the chance to do it in their own backyard.

"One thing we'll be saying to our kids is they've got a chance where it could be them one day, it's good they can see the first graders playing here," Howard said.

Wagga Magpies junior Angel Krause, seven, will be showing off her skills.

"I'm going to tackle lots and gets lots of tries," she said.

Junee Diesels player Joe Bradley is also excited by the chance to play in front of a big crowd.

"It's going to be real fun because you don't get to do it every day. I've been practising my passing," he said.

Meanwhile, Canberra Raiders captain Jarrod Croker has lauded his team's improved mental strength in defence when closing out games as a major reason behind the club's strong start to the NRL season.

The Raiders had developed a reputation for throwing away leads, which cruelled any hope of making finals the past two seasons.

But the signs are strong they've cracked the code to solve their late match jitters, which has culminated in their best start to a season since 2005.

The Raiders are 3-1 after outclassing North Queensland 30-12 in Townsville on Saturday, but had to withstand a second half rally from the hosts after they got within six points.

It was a similar scenario the week before against Newcastle, where the Knights pressed hard late before Canberra closed out the match.

Sitting pretty in third spot a year on, they have an ideal chance to set up their campaign with home games against Parramatta this Sunday night, and Brisbane next weekend.

"We've had a lot of scenario-based training where we've been put under pressure in those types of situations (defending a lead late in games), and so far it's worked," Croker said.

"We're going to lose close games at some stage of the year, but being really composed in games is a positive so far.

"We've spoken about being in a more positive mindset in defence when we're on the back foot, to be more aggressive than passive."