Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown and captain Jeremy Smith spoke to the media following Sunday afternoon's loss in Canberra.
"We should feel disappointed because our effort was really good," Brown said after the match.
"We just have to keep working hard and keep building on that."
"I think the disapointing thing is that we put ourselves in a position to win which is the first time since the Tigers game. I thought our effort to try and win the game was good.
"They are a good team Canberra, they are big, powerful and have plenty of footy in them.
"The fact we really tested them, we should get some confidence out of that.
"We had some good footy there and a lot of people contributed which was good."
Finding a positive in the loss, Brown acknowledged a number of stand out performers.
"A lot of our forwards did well and contributed well through the middle part of the field," he said.
"Sione (Mata'utia) had his first game in the back row and was great for us.
"(Mitch) Barnett was great, these are young kids who are improving who haven't got much experience.
"Some things will take formation and will help us with how we need to recruit to move forward.
"There we a number of things we could have controlled a lot better and that's where the guys should get some good lessons out of."
Meanwhile, Smith was pleased with the way the Knights handled the beginning of the match against the Raiders.
"We started well and like we wanted to start, but in the second half, we couldn't get the momentum back," he said.
"We kept turning up and got put under the pump a fair few times. We just kept turning up, rolling our sleeves up and getting out of trouble.
"It's always tough losing but there are some good things to come out of the game."
Tyler Randell suffered a rib injury in the loss.
The team has a bye in Round 18 before returning in Round 19 to host the Melbourne Storm at Hunter Stadium.
