Raiders assistant coach Brett White pointed to all the work their suspended coach does for Canberra.

The $10 million raised for the Ricky Stuart Foundation and the third house it's in the process of building for people with disabilities and their families.

And White said Stuart wouldn't want the Raiders' nail-biting 24-22 victory over St George Illawarra to be for him.

It's for them keeping the team's hopes of playing NRL finals alive.

But it does mean when Stuart gets the keys to the Green Machine back on Wednesday the efforts at Canberra Stadium on Sunday mean they'll be heading to Newcastle next weekend with their hopes of making the top eight alive.

Stuart watched on from home after copping a one-week ban for calling Penrith player Jaeman Salmon a "weak-gutted dog".

White said their coach had served his time and they'd welcome him back to the club midweek.

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The assistant coach, and former Raiders prop, praised the work the club's leaders did during a tough week.

"It's not my team. It's Ricky's team. Same as always, I'm just proud to be a part of it, proud to be with these boys," White said.

"It's still Ricky's team. He's the coach and that hasn't changed.

"The week's done. 'Sticky' will be back in on Wednesday and it's all finished as far as we're concerned.

"This whole incident doesn't define Ricky. He's done his time and what Ricky's done for this club is bigger than anyone.

"What he's done for the community - the Ricky Stuart Foundation - there's $10 million raised, they're onto their third house.

"What he's done for the community - that's what he is."

The Raiders got out to a comfortable 24-12 lead and appeared to be cruising to victory, only to let the Dragons back into the game to give themselves a scare over the final 12 minutes.

But they held on to keep their hopes of sneaking into the top eight alive.

The Raiders were two competition points behind the eighth-placed Sydney Roosters and need to win their final three games to have a chance of playing finals.

They're all winnable games - against the Knights, Manly and Wests Tigers.

That's the focus for the team and White said that's what Stuart would want - rather than the team winning for Stuart.

"He wouldn't want it about him. We're still fighting for finals and we're still punching away, and we'll continue to do that, and that's exactly what he'd want," White said.

"He probably wouldn't want me sitting here talking about him.

"I feel more sorry for [his wife] Kaylie and his dog Twinkles. I'm sure in that last 10 minutes it was hiding behind a cupboard somewhere."

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