Cotric has one more chance to push for State of Origin selection when the Raiders host the North Queensland Cowboys at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

It is understood the rising Raiders star has been touted as an option at right centre or on the wing by the NSW Blues' brains trust for June 5's series opener.

Stuart has long been convinced Cotric will be a representative player in the future on account of the simple fact "he is what we call a football player".

Cotric showed glimpses of his scintillating best in his move to right centre in the absence of Raiders star Joey Leilua - a man Stuart expects would have been wearing sky blue if not for a serious neck injury.

That ability to cover multiple positions in the backline combined with the fact Cotric seems to be flustered by so little has him in calculations for a Blues jersey.

"Having that utility value in Nick covering BJ's position, who I thought would have been picked for Origin with the form he was displaying, is great as a coach," Stuart said.

"Nick has played fullback for us before, he has played wing, he has played centre.

"He has got natural talent, his work improves those qualities. There are areas of his game he is still working on, but he has got natural talent.

"He has a very, very good feel for the game in regards to when he is getting the ball, how he is getting the ball, instinctively he has good feel defensively.

"When you're in those positions as a centre or winger, you've got some of the toughest decisions to make as a defender, and yet Nick will make more right decisions than wrong.

"No centre or winger is going to get it right 100 per cent of the time, but Nick has got a high percentage of getting it right."

Cotric has not missed a match since making his NRL debut throughout his 59-game NRL career having set a remarkably high benchmark for a 20-year-old.

The Raiders flyer has averaged upwards of 111 metres per game but scored just two tries to leave some believing he is out of form.

Put simply, Stuart finds that talk quite strange.

"I find it amusing people have been saying Nick has been off this year. He has set such a high benchmark for himself, he is not going to get to that benchmark every game," Stuart said.

"He is one player who is consistent every week in regards to contribution. Some weeks obviously he gets to that benchmark he sets for himself, and he does some exciting and awesome individual pieces of play, both defensively and in attack.

"He has handled the change [to right centre] extremely well, given he has had two training sessions there before he played last week. For a quick transition, he did a wonderful job for us.

"For a young bloke, he has got a very cool nature. That's Nick off the field, you've got to understand that. I have said before, if it's not this year, it will happen. He will be a representative player at some stage in his career."