Canberra Raiders star John Bateman to learn fate on Friday

The England international underwent shoulder surgery in February and was hoped to be fit for round eight - which would've been last weekend - but the coronavirus shutdown has slowed down his recovery and he's expected to miss a few weeks when the NRL returns on May 28.

Bateman took part in Raiders training on Wednesday, when the Green Machine not only returned to training from a six-week, COVID-19-induced shutdown, but they also used the field at their $19 million Braddon centre of excellence for the first time.

It was the start of a four-week training block ahead of the NRL's proposed resumption date, with who the Raiders will face in round three yet to be determined.

The NRL's hoping to announce the revamped schedule in the next week or so.

It's also up in the air when the Raiders will be able to return to full contact training, with Sunday the current target in a constantly changing environment.

They've tentatively locked in a contact session then, but had to settle for tackle bags on Wednesday.

Bateman enjoyed his first hit out since he went under the knife to fix an ongoing shoulder issue late in the pre-season.

He missed the Raiders' two wins to open the NRL campaign and will find out exactly where he's at at the end of the week.

"He's progressing. He's seeing the surgeon on Friday, so we're hoping to get some more positive information on his progression," Raiders head of physical performance Nigel Ashley-Jones said.

"But his rehab is going very well. We're happy with where he's at at the moment. It's a very weird shoulder problem that took a lot of good minds together to sort it.

"It doesn't seem to be major, major. It's one of those different, very weird shoulder issues.

"We've left no stone unturned and Doc [Greg] MacLeod's been fantastic with how he's dealt with all these weird and wonderful hurdles with the shoulder.

"But John himself is in good spirits. He's training well, rehabbed well. He's actually been on the field today and hopefully Friday we get some good news."

Raiders star Jack Wighton said the first day back was all about trying to get back to where they were after the first two rounds.

They'd had a great pre-season and won their opening two games before the coronavirus lockdown.

"It's all about picking up where you left off," Wighton said.

"We started the comp in a good way getting the first two games, but it means absolutely nothing.

"We've put in a lot of hard work to try and get back to that stage."