In a response that will add fuel to the Green Machine's title tilt, Abdo deflected questions about an equitable draw for the opening round of the finals.

The Raiders secured their top-eight spot on Sunday afternoon and have just six days to recover before flying to Melbourne to play the Storm in an elimination match.

The Storm, the Roosters and the Rabbitohs will all enjoy nine-day breaks before their next matches.

It prompted Ricky Stuart to declare his team had "drawn the short straw" in the finals schedule, reinforcing the belief of many Raiders fans that the NRL favours Sydney teams and powerhouse clubs.

But Abdo said the week-one draw was designed to be fair for all teams who advance to weeks two and three.

"The job of the coach is to try to get as big an advantage as they can for the team," Abdo said when asked about Stuart's frustration.

"It's the job for us to make sure we get the fairest outcome. The scheduling is not just about week one, it's about the lead-in to week two and week three to make sure it's fair for everyone.

"Going from week one to week two, there will be seven six-day turnarounds, not five-day turnarounds. I think a five-day turnaround is what we would all want to avoid.

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"... in scheduling the finals, we look at equality and turnaround times. We take into account the full four weeks of the finals, not just what happens in week one."

Stuart adjusted his last-round game plan after learning of his team's short turnaround to play the Storm. He rested captain Elliott Whitehead and Jack Wighton, and reduced Jamal Fogarty's game time in the win against the Wests Tigers.

Given the Raiders spent most of Monday fulfilling finals media commitments, Stuart will have just four training days to make sure his players are ready to topple the Storm.

"I think we were pretty smart, definitely with Jacko," Whitehead said. "He's a big key to our squad being successful this year and to rest him was smart.

"I had a bit of a sore back and I'm sure if [Stuart] had a bit longer time [to know about the finals schedule] he would have rested a few more boys.

"We got the result, we move on to the finals now and it's a different ball game now. It's knock out [games], we've got a tough ask against Melbourne but we go down there full of confidence. We've got to win to keep this dream alive"

The Raiders have won their past four games in Melbourne, including a finals clash in 2019 on Canberra's way to their first grand final in 25 years.

"It's going to come down to who wants it more, I'm sure we're going down there wanting it more than them," Whitehead said.

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