The match will be played on May 5 during the NRL's bye round after Fairfax Media revealed in November Canberra Stadium was in line to host the annual fixture, before it is scrapped to fit in with the NRL's new broadcast deal.

The fixture will be the marquee event on Canberra's rugby league calendar in 2017, with the capital set to host three rugby league World Cup games involving Australia, France, Lebanon, Fiji and Italy between October 29 and November 10.

The clash could kick off a bumper year of international football in the capital, with the ACT government nearing an announcement that will see the Wallabies host Argentina in the Rugby Championship at Canberra Stadium on September 11.

The Test will be the highlight of a three-match spectacle, with the Jillaroos taking on the Kiwi Ferns in a women's match after an under 20's international.

A host of Canberra Raiders players will be in contention for selection after the green machine emerged as an NRL premiership contender last season.

Front rower Shannon Boyd has been backed by rugby league legend Glenn Lazarus to play a role for the Kangaroos long into the future after he tasted Four Nations success last year.

Boyd says if Canberra can start like they finished last year, "there'll be a few players that [selectors] will have to look at".

Raiders skipper Jarrod Croker, Joey Leilua, and Junior Paulo are all pressing claims for Australian duties, where they could link up with Boyd and Josh Papalii.

Canberra winger Jordan Rapana and Joseph Tapine played for New Zealand in last year's Four Nations and could be joined by veteran Sia Soliola, who is eligible for the Kiwis and Samoa.

"Everyone's performance towards the back end of the year was outstanding so if everyone can go into this year with the same form, I can't see why they can't be picked," Boyd said.

Rapana joked he hopes the entire Raiders squad will be playing in the Test, but there is one he would love to play against more than other - his best mate Joey Leilua.

"I'd love to play against Joey, I tell him all the time," Rapana said.

"I'd love to ruffle up his feathers and give it to him, seeing as though I play alongside him."

A sell-out crowd of 25,628 packed into Canberra Stadium to watch the Kangaroos beat the Kiwis 32-12 in 2013, a match scheduled as part of Canberra's centenary celebrations.

ACT Sports Minister Yvette Berry says the success of Canberra's 2013 Anzac Test gives the government "a real chance" to lobby for international games.

While the desire for more rugby league in the capital soars, the same cannot be said for the A-League with doubts clouding the competition's immediate future in Canberra.

Berry says investing in the Central Coast Mariners' return to Canberra next season is not sustainable for the government, and it is understood the club took a loss by shifting two games to the capital.

"I don't think there's enough work that's been done by the Mariners in particular, and the FFA as well," Berry said.

"We wouldn't want to have a team come to the ACT without making sure that all of that due diligence had been done around whether or not it was going to be successful or not."

The ACT government struck a 10-year, $23-million deal with the government to play four AFL games per season in Canberra with the Greater Western Sydney Giants in 2010.

Crowd figures for AFL's new kids on the block in Canberra have exploded, and Berry says the difference is the level of support for GWS in the capital was always "very clear."