Mitchell Moses points to Wests Tigers' thrashing at the hands of Canberra as the game that turned the joint venture's NRL season around.
As the Tigers continue their hunt for an unlikely finals spot, they face the Raiders in the final round on Sunday for the first time since they were thumped 60-6 in April.
The Tigers need Gold Coast to lose to North Queensland on Saturday night to have a chance to snare the last playoffs spot.
If that happens, the Tigers have a shot at the ultimate redemption against Canberra.
"It wasn't us that last game and we learnt so much from it," Moses said.
"It was massive for us, that loss. From then we have won nine games. It was something we needed."
It was the Raiders' biggest-ever win over the Tigers, but Wests turned things around the following week by defeating South Sydney and snapping a six-game losing streak.
Sunday's come-from-behind win over the Warriors in Auckland kept the Tigers' finals hopes alive.
The Tigers could have dropped their bundle when James Tedesco was ruled out with a broken jaw two weeks ago.
That they haven't shows the strength of belief in Jason Taylor's side.
"We could have fallen away because Teddy is a massive loss for us, just having his presence there," Moses said.
"But (David) Nofoaluma was great for us on the weekend. He really helped take the ball out of own half to help our forwards."
Tedesco is unlikely to return unless the Tigers progress to at least the second week of the finals.
Moses was hopeful Cowboys playmaker Johnathan Thurston would do the right thing by the Tigers on Saturday night in Townsville.
"It will be a tough trip up to North Queensland for the Titans to play that game. Hopefully Thurston and the boys will really put on a show," he said.
