His sole focus is on slaying the St George Illawarra Dragons at Wollongong on Saturday.

Stuart met with Dufty last week to discuss a potential move to the Green Machine after Dragons coach Anthony Griffin informed the fullback he wouldn't be renewing his contract.

But the Raiders were yet to make an offer to the Dragons custodian, who they come up against this round.

Dufty's one of the most dangerous attacking No.1s in the NRL - highlighted by his efforts against the Brisbane Broncos two weeks ago, scoring two tries and setting up another five - but there were concerns over the defensive side of his game.

There's another reason Stuart won't be focussed on the 25-year-old - he's under an injury cloud and might not play due to a shoulder problem.

The Raiders were desperate to make it back-to-back wins, having knocked off the Broncos last weekend, which could send them back into the top eight.

They're outside of the finals berths on for-and-against alone with 12 points - the same as the eighth-placed Dragons.

The Raiders have won their past three against the Dragons - including their past two at Wollongong.

Stuart said the game wouldn't decide whether they recruited Dufty.

"No it doesn't. It's more an important role for us to play well and try and win," he said on Friday.

"That's second to the priorities at the moment. Our priority is our performance on Saturday.

"Nothing's eventuated so far. We've just sat back after our coffee and got on with football.

"There hasn't been too much discussion. We'll just sit back and when it's the time to go forward, and or talk to his manager again we will."

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Equally, Stuart said Raiders fullback Bailey Simonsson's performance was important for their hopes of winning.

Simonsson was excellent in the No.1 jersey in the win over the Broncos, setting up two tries and running for 253 metres.

He switched from the wing to fullback in the absence of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who's had season-ending neck surgery.

The Raiders coach was asked whether Simonsson's performances as the custodian would play a role in their attempts to recruit Dufty.

"It plays a big role in our team. Bailey had some really good input last week to the whole win and the thing about Bailey is he's excited about playing one," Stuart said.

"He wants to get involved. He's always talking to me when he's playing wing, 'How do I get more involved in the game?'

"He didn't have to ask last week. He went out and did it and did a great job. His role is important to our overall team performance."

It wasn't just Simonsson's efforts that impressed Stuart - it was his whole back five.

Wingers Semi Valemei (193m) and Jordan Rapana (147m) got through plenty of work, with Valemei also scoring a try.

Raiders centres Matt Timoko (113m) and Sebastian Kris (90m) were also strong, with Timoko setting up a Sam Williams try and Kris scoring one himself.

The back five also got through a mountain of work defensively, with 62 tackles between the five of them.

"We haven't had that contribution all year from our back five. It's very important," Stuart said.

"Your middles don't have to go back as far to get back onto the football and then all of a sudden coming out of a defensive set you go back 70 metres more so than 40 or 50.

"It's a big difference, a big change to the momentum of a footy team and that's what the game's about today - it's creating momentum and keeping it.

"It's hard to get back at times in this game when there's a fair bit more speed."

NRL ROUND 15

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v St George Illawarra Dragons at Wollongong, 5.30pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Bailey Simonsson, 2. Semi Valemei, 3. Sebastian Kris, 4. Matt Timoko, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Sam Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. Corey Harawira-Naera, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Sia Soliola, 17. Joe Tapine. Reserves: 18. Xavier Savage, 19. Hudson Young, 20. Matt Frawley, 21. Ryan James.

Dragons squad: 1. Matthew Dufty, 2. Cody Ramsey, 3. Brayden Wiliame, 4. Gerard Beale, 5. Mikaele Ravalawa, 6. Corey Norman, 7. Ben Hunt, 8. Blake Lawrie, 9. Andrew McCullough, 10. Paul Vaughan, 11. Tariq Sims, 12. Jack Bird, 13. Jackson Ford. Interchange: 14. Talatau Amone, 15. Josh Kerr, 16. Daniel Alvaro, 17. Jack de Belin. Reserves: 8. Adam Clune, 19. Poasa Faamausili, 20. Tyrell Sloan, 21. Zac Lomax.