Raiders chief executive Don Furner says cities approach often approach clubs about the prospect of shifting games to regional areas but he is desperate to find a balance to reward Canberra-based fans.

Canberra will host the Penrith Panthers in Wagga Wagga on May 4 in the first step of a deal designed to strengthen the Raiders' relationship with the Riverina that could also have major implications on the club's stadium deal.

The club's 10-year deal with the ACT government to play its home games at Canberra Stadium expires at the end of 2019 and Furner will sit down with officials to nut out a new deal that may feature no clause about playing all 12 in the capital, however he would prefer to keep at least 11 games in the capital.

The Canberra Raiders Performance Fee Agreement - Canberra Stadium agreement states the club will pay the government $150,000 in damages for every home game played away from Canberra Stadium - however that fee could be waived this season.

Support from Wagga was part of a wider plan by the Raiders to secure funding for their new $19 million centre of excellence in Braddon, with the club also exploring the prospect of linking its Jersey Flegg side with the Riverina region to strengthen its reputation as the country region's team.

"Our agreement expires at the end of 2019 and currently there is a clause in there and we are talking to the government about that," Furner said.

"They are conscious that the NSW government invested a lot of money into Canberra in the cross-border agreement and without their support we wouldn’t have got the funding for Braddon.

"We’re playing two games in Wagga, so 2020 will be a completely new deal. We’ll sit down and work out a new hiring agreement, it might not have any clause like that in there.

"It’s always a fine balance. You don’t want to give away the home ground advantage. We do have to balance that with the commercial outcome of having a game that maybe makes a loss at the gate."

The Raiders will play four of their first six matches at Canberra Stadium - but they will meet this year's grand finalists in the Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters twice.

However Furner is refusing to cry foul as fans across the league debate whether or not they have a "good" or "bad" draw.

"Nowadays you don’t sit down and look at the draw and pick out easy games either, they’re all hard," Furner said.

"It’s not as if you sit down and go ‘well that’s good, we’ve got them there and we’ve got them here’. It’s a very even competition. We’re happy with the draw and I think the fans will be too.

"The NRL have listened to us over the last couple of years and they have done their best to schedule what we’ve asked for, which is fewer games during the winter, more home games at the start of the year and some afternoon games in winter which is also good."

The NRL has scheduled just two Raiders home games in an 11-week period during winter in what Furner dubs a reward for "the toughest" fans in the competition.

The club boasts one of the best game day atmospheres in the league with the famed Viking Clap even earning praise from rival players, but Furner says "winning is the big thing" when it comes to retaining and boosting crowds, as well as forcing their way onto free-to-air television more than five times.

"We always want more but there were years gone by when we got one or two," Furner said.

"It’s an increase, obviously we’ve got to play better and make the semi-finals, then that five will be eight and in future years it grows.

"Five is good, we’d like a few more but it’s still good recognition. Since the NRL took back control of the scheduling it’s been spread a little bit more evenly."

CANBERRA RAIDERS 2019 DRAW (home games in bold)

March 17: Gold Coast Titans v Canberra Raiders at Gold Coast, 6.30pm (Fox Sports).

March 22: Canberra Raiders v Melbourne Storm at Canberra Stadium, 6pm (Fox Sports).

March 29: Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights at Canberra Stadium, 6pm (Fox Sports).

April 6: North Queensland Cowboys v Canberra Raiders at Townsville, 4.30pm (Fox Sports).

April 14: Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels at Canberra Stadium, 6.10pm (Fox Sports).

April 21: Canberra Raiders v Brisbane Broncos at Canberra Stadium, 4.05pm (Channel Nine).

April 28: Manly Sea Eagles v Canberra Raiders at Brookvale, 2pm (Fox Sports).

May 4: Canberra Raiders v Penrith Panthers at Wagga, 3pm (Fox Sports).

May 12: Sydney Roosters v Canberra Raiders at Suncorp Stadium, 2pm (Fox Sports).

May 18: Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs at Canberra Stadium, 7.30pm (Fox Sports).

May 25: Canberra Raiders v North Queensland Cowboys at Canberra Stadium, 3pm (Fox Sports).

June 1: Canterbury Bulldogs v Canberra Raiders at ANZ Stadium, 7.35pm (Fox Sports).

June 7: Wests Tigers v Canberra Raiders at Western Sydney Stadium, 7.55pm (Channel Nine).

June 13: Canberra Raiders v Cronulla Sharks at Canberra Stadium, 7.50pm (Channel Nine).

June 20: BYE

June 29: Parramatta Eels v Canberra Raiders at Darwin, 7.35pm (Fox Sports).

July 6: BYE

July 14: St George Dragons v Canberra Raiders at Wollongong, 6.10pm (Fox Sports).

July 20: Canberra Raiders v Wests Tigers at Canberra Stadium, 5.30pm (Fox Sports).

July 28: Penrith Panthers v Canberra Raiders at Penrith Stadium, 4.05pm (Channel Nine).

August 2: New Zealand Warriors v Canberra Raiders at Mt Smart Stadium, 8pm (Fox Sports).

August 11: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium, 2pm (Fox Sports).

August 17: Melbourne Storm v Canberra Raiders at AAMI Park, 5.30pm (Fox Sports).

August 25: Canberra Raiders v Manly Sea Eagles at Canberra Stadium, 4.05pm (Channel Nine).

September 1: Cronulla Sharks v Canberra Raiders at Southern Cross Stadium, 2pm (Fox Sports).

September 7: Canberra Raiders v New Zealand Warriors at Canberra Stadium, 3pm (Fox Sports).