Schneider made his NRL debut last year and has been named at five-eighth for the Raiders trial against the Sydney Roosters at Leichhardt Oval on Friday night.

He'll partner Sam Williams in the halves, with Matt Frawley named at hooker.

With the threat of COVID-19 hanging over the NRL season, squad depth is going to be more important than ever.

It means Schneider could find himself thrust back into the NRL mix at a moment's notice.

Stuart backed the 21-year-old to take the next step.

The Raiders mentor also made it clear the next two weeks - including the Raiders' second trial against Manly at Gosford next Friday - would determine who faced Cronulla at Canberra Stadium in round one on March 11.

"Absolutely. He's vying for that position," Stuart said of Schneider.

"It's really important for everyone to play well in these next two trials from an individual point of view and to get back into the swing of things.

"Everybody understands, and it's not a threat, that performance in these next two games are crucial.

"[Schneider]'s been in the system now for a good time and it's a good opportunity for him to feel some NRL experience."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

Williams also backed Schneider to take the next step.

Part of 30-year-old Williams' role was to not only prepare himself to be ready to cover Raiders halves Jamal Fogarty and Jack Wighton, but to also help Schneider be ready as well.

While Williams and Schneider will start in the playmaking roles, Stuart has the option of shifting Frawley there and bringing Adrian Trevilyan off the bench into dummy half.

"Obviously I want to play good football and want to win football games, but there's a role there where I can try and help Brad as well," Williams said.

"He's got a long future ahead of him so it's important we try and get him to that point where he's an NRL player.

"But for me it's about trying to play good footy. I still get excited about playing for the Raiders and still wearing the jersey so I want to go out there and play well and hopefully put my best foot forward as well.

"These trials, this is what it's about - we find out a fair about, especially these young kids, it's their opportunity to play against NRL players.

"The Roosters are an extremely successful club so there's no doubt whatever team plays for them they're going to have a good squad so we're going to find out about a lot of these young players we've got in our squad."

NRL PRE-SEASON TRIAL

Friday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Leichhardt Oval, 6pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Xavier Savage, 2. Albert Hopoate, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Semi Valemei, 5. James Schiller, 6. Brad Schneider, 7. Sam Williams, 8. Corey Horsburgh, 9. Matt Frawley, 10. Emre Guler, 11. Adam Elliott, 12. Trey Mooney, 13. Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 15. Sebastian Kris, 16. Peter Hola, 17. Corey Harawira-Naera, 18. Brad Morkos, 19. Ata Mariota, 20. Harry Rushton, 21. Clay Webb, 22. Adrian Trevilyan.