The Canberra Raiders' plan to acclimatise to Queensland heat at start of their NRL draw

They're already considering having a two-week camp in Queensland to help them acclimatise for their opening two rounds of the campaign.

The Green Machine play the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville and the Redcliffe Dolphins at Moreton Bay Stadium to start their season.

And they could head up to Far North Queensland early - on the Tuesday or Wednesday ahead of the Cowboys game and then stay in the Banana State to prepare to face NRL new boys, the Dolphins.

Raiders chief executive Don Furner said the camp was an option he'd already raised with coach Ricky Stuart.

The Green Machine then returns to Queensland for their round six clash with the Brisbane Broncos.

"Really, really happy with [the draw]," Furner said on Thursday.

"Obviously we've got a hot start to the year playing in Queensland twice in the afternoon so they might go up there a bit earlier and acclimatise to that."

Stuart said this year the Raiders would have been a top-four team if it wasn't for their horror run with injuries that led to them getting off to a slow start this year.

Now he's been given the perfect platform for them to get there in 2023.

They'll only play one top-eight team twice next season - the Cronulla Sharks, who they beat twice this year.

The Raiders' first encounter with the Sharks next season also doubles as their first home game - in round three after their two weeks in Queensland.

It's arguably the easiest draw in the NRL.

They also face NRL new boys Redcliffe Dolphins and bottom-eight battlers Newcastle, Brisbane, St George Illawarra, Canterbury, Wests Tigers and New Zealand Warriors both home and away.

Stuart's men also have some nicely placed byes - their first coming in round eight, then round 16 and 20 help freshen up their run home to the finals.

Furner pointed out it would also help freshen up their representative players, like Jack Wighton and Josh Papalii, from State of Origin.

The Canberra boss was happy with the low number of night games during winter - they only have two and one of those was against the Broncos in round 26 on August 26.

"We always ask for day games in winter and we got that throughout the middle of the year and we've got some blockbusters here ... and we're fairly well spread out with our byes," Furner said.

"Some [teams] have them really, really late in the year, some of them get them earlier in the year, but we've got them at a good time.

"We've got some rep players as well so that will give them a rest. Happy with the byes."

The Raiders were happy with the amount of free-to-air coverage they got this year and wanted to keep it for 2023.

They've got exactly that with eight free-to-air games programmed in.

But in a quirk, the Raiders will largely be absent from Channel Nine during the first half of the season - they only have two games on the FTA broadcaster in the opening 13 rounds - with most of their exposure coming in the second half of their campaign.

The Raiders were down on the NSW South Coast on Thursday looking at their options of where they'll host the first of their two pre-season trials next year.

They'll either play the Canterbury Bulldogs at Moruya or Batemans Bay on February 12.

Which venue comes down to a simple matter of rain.

If the seemingly endless La Nina continued to bring wet weather with it, then Batemans Bay will be the venue.

"We're set down for Moruya, but it might go to Bateman's Bay because Moruya Council have some concerns about the drainage if they have a wet summer," Furner told The Canberra Times.

The Raiders will play their final game of their current agreement with the Wagga Wagga Council against the Dolphins on April 29.

Their agreement with the ACT government means they can't take a home game away from Canberra every year.

That meant they probably won't return to Wagga Wagga in 2024, but could do after that.

"It's unlikely because we'd have to go back to the ACT government and look at our agreement," Furner said.

"It allows a certain amount of games to take away. So that would be the last of those, but we might go back and have a chat to them down the track."

The Raiders' rivalry with the Penrith Panthers is alive and well, thanks to a few spotfires erupting among the players on the field.

Not to mention the occasional one off it as well.

The reigning premiers' clash at Canberra Stadium in round five will be the first time the Panthers have returned since Stuart's "weak-gutted dog" comments - directed at Jaeman Salmon.

Salmon doesn't have a Penrith contract as yet, but he planned to stay at the foot of the mountain.

The Raiders will host back-to-back blockbusters against grand finallists Parramatta in round 11 and then the Manly Sea Eagles the following week.

They'll also make their first trip across the Ditch since 2019 to play the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland in round 21.

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