Canberra Raiders not flying the coop as sights set solely on Canterbury Bulldogs

He hasn't spoken about it. His players are just focused on the Canterbury Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium on Sunday. Next weekend is next weekend.

A win will keep them in fifth and just points differential behind the fourth-placed Roosters.

Stuart hates the suggestion of there being any complacency in the Raiders camp.

"I haven't spoken about it so I don't think we should be looking ahead," he said.

"It's not a part of who we are. We don't look at any football team and think we should win.

"We look at a football team that we know we've got to play very well to keep our standards.

"It really embarrasses me when people say, 'I hope you're not complacent' and it's happened a couple of times over the last two years.

"People who are complacent are not in our team, put it that way."

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The Green Machine got through their captain's run on Saturday as they prepare for the bottom-placed Bulldogs.

Stuart said his middles would line up as named with Josh Papalii, Dunamis Lui and Hudson Young all set to start.

But he has forwards on the bench in Ryan Sutton and Joe Tapine who are both more than capable of starting.

He wants all of them to be able to do both roles if needed.

They've all shown they can - Papalii has been awesome again this season, Tapine's in top form, Sutton has established himself in the NRL, Lui has continued to quietly become the strip king and Young has shown his versatility by switching between the edge and the middle.

It makes them a well-balanced pack as they head towards finals.

"I just look at the dynamic of our starting team to our bench, and I look at challenging players to start," Stuart said.

"Others I challenge that we need a job coming off the bench at times.

"There is always certainly a plan around it. That's why I've been changing it up.

"I think it's important for people to be able to start, not just to think they're an interchange player and vice versa.

"I don't want people just to think, 'I'm a starter'. They've got to learn to come off the bench - it's a different energy system they've got to use coming off the bench

"You've got to find the game a little bit more so than having to get straight into it when you start."

Stuart has emphasised all week the importance of the Raiders' defence.

He was "embarrassed" by the fact the Gold Coast Titans made eight linebreaks against them last weekend.

That was in stark contrast to the week before where they defended six sets on their own tryline against the Brisbane Broncos before finally cracking.

Stuart was happy with how their defensive systems were working - it was just individual errors that concerned him.

"It's an individual thing and it's about players taking responsibility of their own contribution defensively," he said.

"Our structures and our strategy in defence is very good. I'm really happy with what our defensive models are.

"It comes down to the individual - and it's not everybody - making sure they have a role to play, they've got clarity around that and they perform it well."

NRL ROUND 16

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Canterbury Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium, 6.30pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Jordan Rapana, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Nick Cotric, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Siliva Havili, 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Hudson Young. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Joe Tapine, 16. Ryan Sutton, 17. Matt Timoko. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams, 20. Kai O'Donnell.

Bulldogs squad: 1. Will Hopoate, 2. Nick Meaney, 3. Marcelo Montoya, 4. Kerrod Holland, 5. Dallin Watene Zelezniak, 6. Kieran Foran, 7. Lachlan Lewis, 8. Ofahiki Ogden, 9. Jeremy Marshall-King, 10. Dylan Napa, 11. Josh Jackson, 12. Raymond Faitala-Mariner, 13. Aiden Tolman. Interchange: 14. Sione Katoa, 15. Renouf To'omaga, 16. Dean Britt, 17. Matthew Doorey. Reserves: 20. Jack Cogger, 21. Reimis Smith.