St George Illawarra superstar Mark Gasnier says he is ready to fire when the Dragons chase their eighth straight win against the Canberra Raiders this Sunday at WIN Stadium.

The dynamic centre has missed his club's last two outings and was forced to withdraw from the Blues side for State of Origin III with a back injury.

But Gasnier said he was more worried about fitting back into the team than he was about the persistent back injury that's kept him off the park.

"I'm very confident I'm 100 per cent fit going into this week," he said.

"I'm just keen to get back and fit in and pull my weight as far as the way the team is going.

"I think winning seven in a row shows how we've been going ... the guys have been playing consistent and going really, really well."

Although frustrated at being sidelined, the Test centre has been conscious of not rushing back from the painful disc injury too early.

Gasnier said he had taken into account the situation of former NSW team-mate Anthony Minichiello's unsuccessful return from back surgery.

"That's one of the hardest decisions - whether you really push it and you can end up like, say for instance, Anthony Minichiello did, or you can give it time and settle it down," he said.

"As tough as it was to miss Origin III and to miss a couple of the Saints games, for your long-term future it's a lot better."

St George Illawarra are the form team of the NRL, firming in betting markets from over 50-to-one earlier in the season to be $13 fifth-favourite to win this year's premiership.

While a top-four spot and home semi-final beckons for the fifth placed Dragons, Gasnier said he wasn't getting his hopes up.

"The way that top four seem to be going, they really seem to be edging away and making it tougher each time," he said.

"(But) if you asked us eight or nine weeks ago whether we'd take the top eight - we'd take the top eight - so we're definitely not complaining about where we are at the moment."