Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has questioned the performance of "individuals" after his side gave up a 12-0 half-time lead to North Queensland on Thursday night.

The Raiders would go scoreless in the second half of the match in front of their home fans in the nation's capital, with the Cowboys piling on 18 points after the break to snatch a six-point victory.

Converted tries from Heilum Luki, Valentine Holmes and Jeremiah Nanai saw the Queensland club breeze past the Green Machine in the last 40 minutes, leaving Stuart to question particular performances from his playing group.

“The way we started that second half was pathetic," Stuart said post-game.

“There were some individuals that didn’t start with the way they should have to get us back onto the front foot.

“I’ll deal with that when we get back to work, but it is not on and I’m sick of it.”

The defeat places the Raiders among the bottom four on the ladder and could fall as low as 15th by the end of the week after collecting their fourth loss from six games.

Raiders star Jack Wighton stated after the 12-18 defeat that "people (are) taking naps", with Stuart echoing his playmaker's choice words.

“I didn’t know Jack said that and he is 100 per cent right,” Stuart added.

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“Elliott (Whitehead) has been strong with his players, but he is 100 per cent correct.

“There is some individuals who have got to look at themselves because it is not up to NRL standard.

“That is not the standard that we want from our football team.

“We showed what we could do in the first 40 minutes and we were let down by our performance in the second half.

“Blokes have got to have a good hard look at it.”

The Raiders' second half was littered with errors as they attempted to hold onto their fading lead, with young winger Xavier Savage suffering a notable setback for his side's hopes of securing premiership points.

With just over 12 minutes remaining in the game, Savage was forced into touch after trying to break lines out wide for Canberra, with the turnover soon seeing North Queensland score their match-winning try as a result of the change in possession.

With senior flyer Jordan Rapana's name coming into question for the incident after handing the ball off to Savage and opting not to take a hit, Stuart defended his veteran fullback while expressing his anguish in Savage's decision-making.

"Xavier Savage should have stepped inside,” Stuart said.

“That’s why Xavier Savage is not playing first grade because he is still learning the game.

“So many of you people want X-factor. So many people want Xavier out there.

“That is why Xavier hasn’t been playing because he is still learning the awareness of the game.

“But I’m only a dumb coach. Everybody else wants X-factor. Well we haven’t got X-factor at the moment.

“We are still teaching young people how to play footy at an NRL standard. If you are an experienced player you take the inside there. That has got nothing to do with Jordan Rapana.”

The Raiders will be looking to snap their three-game losing streak when they travel to Penrith next week, with matches against the Warriors, Bulldogs and Sharks to follow.