Is Stuart's coaching the best it's ever been? An NRL Immortal thinks so

He took the Canberra Raiders within a six-again call of another title in 2019.

But could the current rebuilding of the Green Machine be Ricky Stuart's best performance of his 497-game coaching career?

NRL Immortal Andrew Johns said it could be, praising the club's recruitment at the same time.

"It is [a hell of a coaching performance by Stuart]. It could be his best," he said on the Freddy and the Eighth podcast.

"And not only that, the people within the club, the recruiting of certain players."

It's an interesting call in regards to an unheralded Stuart team that had the Sydney media tipping them for the wooden spoon.

While it's still early days, the Raiders have had a good start to the season to sit in the eight after five rounds.

A win over the Gold Coast at Canberra Stadium on Sunday will further entrench them there.

It's a Raiders side where Stuart and head of recruitment Joel Carbone have stuck to their guns in regards to turning to youth to regenerate rather than throw around the chequebook.

Part of that's out of necessity - with Canberra a hard sell to star players, especially from Sydney.

You need look no further than how they've replaced Jack Wighton, whose departure to South Sydney led to forecasts of doom and gloom.

There were even calls for them to recruit Luke Brooks or get through a year and bring in Jarome Luai.

But the Raiders had Ethan Strange coming through their juniors, while they recruited young half Kaeo Weekes to go head-to-head in a pre-season battle for the No.6 jersey.

Strange prevailed, he's settled in well and the five-eighth's game has slowly grown over the opening month.

It's helped bring the fans on board and built confidence in their recruitment policy.

Stuart giving the keys to the Green Machine to Jamal Fogarty has also seen the halfback's game go to another level.

His long kicking game is getting noticed, which has allowed him to become more expansive and start nailing chip kicks and field goals.

Fans will get a glimpse of the next cog in their future when fullback Chevy Stewart makes his NRL debut against the Titans.

The 18-year-old gun comes in for Jordan Rapana (knee), who Stuart's faith in to wear the No.1 jersey at the start of the season has been vindicated.

Stuart's also managed to cuddle Xavier Savage to the point where he's on the verge of becoming one of the most dangerous wingers in the NRL.

It's taken time and an experimental shift to fullback for the Queenslander to get there.

Stuart resisted calls all last season to play Savage in the NRL, instead allowing the young flyer the chance to overcome a series of jaw and hamstring injuries.

There's been similar patience shown with young bull Trey Mooney, despite a deafening roar from fans for the prop to be in the 17.

Mooney's been smashing the door down with his performances in NSW Cup and he finally gets his chance following Corey Horsburgh's groin injury.

Raiders winger James Schiller was confident the young players were getting blooded at the right time.

"From the outside it might seem like a lot of the young boys don't get picked at the right times or they should be in a few weeks ahead of when they are picked," he said.

"But at the end of the day it shows the brilliance of Stick's coaching. He's been around awhile and he knows when to play who.

"A lot of people have probably wanted Trey to be in earlier and Trey's definitely deserved to be in earlier, but his time just wasn't at those times.

"Now he's got an opportunity and I guarantee he won't let it go to waste.

"He's a ball-and-all player, he's a team-first kind of fella, he'll give everything out there and make sure that he makes a stand for himself."

NRL ROUND SIX

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans at Canberra Stadium, 6.15pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Chevy Stewart, 2. James Schiller, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Ethan Strange, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Josh Papali'i, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Joe Tapine (c), 11. Hudson Young, 12. Zac Hosking, 13. Morgan Smithies. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Ata Mariota, 16. Trey Mooney, 17. Pasami Saulo. Reserves: 18. Kaeo Weekes, 19. Simi Sasagi, 20. Zac Woolford, 21. Nick Cotric, 22. Emre Guler.

Titans squad: 1. Jayden Campbell, 2. Harley Smith-Shields, 3. Brian Kelly, 4. AJ Brimson, 5. Jojo Fifita, 6. Kieran Foran, 7. Tanah Boyd, 8. Moeaki Fotuaika, 9. Chris Randall, 10. Jaimin Jolliffe, 11. David Fifita, 12. Beau Fermor, 13. Klese Haas. Interchange: 14. Sam Verrills, 15. Erin Clark, 16. Isaac Liu, 17. Josiah Pahulu. Reserves: 18. Joe Stimson, 19. Keano Kini, 20. Iszac Fa'asumaleaui, 21. Tony Francis, 22. Alofiana Khan-Pereira.