Canberra Raiders boss Don Furner eyes NRL's return to Canberra Stadium

Raiders chief executive Don Furner is hopeful the NRL title contenders will be back on their home turf for a round 11 clash with the South Sydney Rabbitohs on July 25.

Furner concedes the match would likely be played behind closed doors with no fans in the stands as governments and sports manage their way through the coronavirus pandemic.

A Raiders-Rabbitohs showdown in front of a crowd of zero would be in stark contrast to the last time Canberra hosted South Sydney in front of a packed house.

Their preliminary final clash last year drew 26,567 through the gates at Canberra Stadium in September in a reminder of sport at its finest.

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"We're hoping to be back home for the Rabbitohs game in round 11. It will more than likely be without crowds but you never know," Furner said.

"They had to put in strict biosecurity protocols for the governments to get the game up and running. One of them was mitigating the risk, you can't eliminate the risk.

"Part of mitigating the risk is the whole thing about players changing their shoes when they come to training and getting their temperature tested.

"Part of it was the less venues, the better. That means less venues have to be cleaned and you can contain things a bit better. Part of their thinking was not 20 different venues, only six.

"Everyone is certainly hopeful after those 10 weeks it frees up and everyone is back at home. Newcastle can play at Newcastle, Penrith can play at Penrith, and we play at [Canberra]."

For now the Raiders are content to call Campbelltown Stadium home until at least round nine with the club working with the NRL to lock in travel plans.

The match day squad and staff will take a charter flight to Bankstown on game day and a bus home after, however their round three clash with Melbourne will be a flight both ways.

"We didn't want to have them sitting on a bus for six hours on the same day because of their preparation. We did it successfully in round two," Furner said.

"They're okay to bus back because the game is finished and it's pretty much three hours from Campbelltown.

"NRL cover the travel anyway in a normal season. The charter flight works out similarly to staying in a hotel and eating three or four meals a day, so I think they get a good deal.

"It's obviously disappointing we don't get a home game, we're the only ones travelling every weekend, but that's how it panned out."