Cross-town rivals the Queanbeyan Blues firmed as Canberra Raiders Cup premiership favourites at Seiffert Oval last weekend when they destroyed the Kangaroos 43-10, despite conceding the first try.

Blues skipper and half Marc Herbert was praised by Macey, and he said the Kangaroos had a lot of work to do if they wanted to repeat last season where they lost to the Blues in the major semi-final but beat them in the grand final.

"They'll [Blues] be premiership favourites now...we've got a lot of work to do to just try and compete with them," said Macey.

"For us to bounce back and even get close, we've got to try and make up 40 points in one week, and that starts with beating Goulburn this week."

Macey said coach Aaron Gorrell was disappointed with his men's effort, but backed them to regroup for the weeks ahead and fix their defensive issues, which Macey said was what let them down.

"Our defence was terrible around the edges, and like I said, they [Blues] were just on fire. We couldn't contain them," said Macey.

He said this weekend's grand final qualifier against Goulburn would be tough with their speedy out-side backs, and waved away suggestions that his side's comeback to win the grand final last year would be their confidence boost heading into the game.

"At the moment we're all pretty down, so we've just got to work hard for each other to get the win this week," he said.

"If we win we'll re-address what we've got to do the following week."

"A win will be what we need to get confidence back so we can give the Blues a run for their money in the grand final."