Forget Canberra’s NRL heroics of the past six weeks.

Halfback Sam Williams said they blew it all with one miserable outing to ANZ Stadium.

The Raiders were chucked unceremoniously from the finals race on Saturday after succumbing 38-16 to a dominant South Sydney in their sudden-death semi-final.

Nothing seemed to go right for the Raiders, who were rattled early and managed to gift the ball to the Rabbitohs time and again with some basic errors.

It’s a bitter pill for the young squad, who pulled off the biggest Lazarus act of the season by vaulting themselves into the finals with five straight wins.

Midway through the year, they’d just been trying to avoid the wooden spoon.

But Williams, one of the few Raiders to stand up against Souths, said the winning streak – which finished at six – counted for naught after the Rabbitohs loss.

“It’s just hugely disappointing,” he told AAP.

“We had a really big high this weekend (after winning 34-16 against Cronulla in finals week one), but we just didn’t back it up.

“We probably do take a bit of confidence out of the last seven or eight weeks, but the thing that sticks in your mind is the last game.

“And we weren’t so good.”

Coach David Furner said afterwards his players didn’t deserve a loss like that, but Williams argued it sent a message to the team about what finals football is all about.

“It’s going to be pretty fresh in our minds,” he said.

“Now we know we’ve got to work hard and go further.”

Williams said there was no reason the Raiders – buoyed by youngsters such as Jack Wighton, Josh Papalii and Mark Nicholls – can’t make a grand final within a few years.

His own spot isn’t guaranteed, despite another solid year deputising in the halves for injured captain Terry Campese.

But Williams welcomed the competition.

“That’s football,” the 21-year-old said.

“That competition for positions just makes players work harder.”