Canberra Raiders fitness data the same despite new NRL rules

Some clubs and players have been up in arms about what impact the increased capacity to use the six-again rule for offside would have.

But Stuart revealed their data from their 30-12 victory over the Wests Tigers last weekend was similar to games last season.

He will need another few weeks to be sure though, starting with Sunday's clash against the Cronulla Sharks at Kogarah Park.

The Raiders coach didn't adjust his players' training this week to account for any additional fatigue suffered in round one.

"The new rules haven't shown from a data point of view too much of a difference to last year," Stuart said.

"I'm doing some comparisons, but I want to have a month of football to do that.

"I went through a heap of data yesterday comparing our game to round one last year and then our game to our two semi-final appearances last season.

"I'll have a little bit more feedback on that over the next two-three weeks when I've got a bit more of a handle on our games.

"But I don't see a huge difference - and I'm only talking about our game, it's the only game I can talk about - I don't see too much of a difference in regards to the speed of it or the time of play."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

Stuart was excited about the return of a more normal road trip this weekend, with the Green Machine travelling to Sydney Saturday afternoon following their captain's run.

The Raiders were forced to travel for most away games - and even some home games - on the day of the match last season.

They had the toughest travel schedule of any team in the NRL, but still managed to make the preliminary final despite a massive injury toll.

But the Sharks game will mark a return to their old schedule of heading up the day before the game to ensure there's no travel fatigue.

"Certainly great for the players to get back to a bit of normality in regards to their preparation," Stuart said.

"All around the whole world last year was abnormal circumstances with what was going on with the COVID, but players are now looking forward to the opportunity to get away and spending the night [in Sydney] before this game."

They'll have a wet reception when they get there, with forecasts predicting massive amounts of rain in Sydney up to and including Sunday.

It's conditions the Sharks experienced in their opening round victory over St George Illawarra at Kogarah, while the Raiders enjoyed a relatively dry Canberra Stadium.

Stuart said they would strip their game plan back to focus on the basics to take the weather into account.

"Certain strategies do change when you're playing in wet conditions," he said.

"I think it's predicted 3-4 days of rain before this game.

"It will be completely different circumstances to last week, but it's a matter of getting the basics right in the wet conditions."

NRL ROUND TWO

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Cronulla Sharks at Kogarah Park, 6.15pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Sebastian Kris, 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Ryan Sutton, 16. Sia Soliola, 17. Ryan James. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams, 19. Tom Starling, 20. Emre Guler, 21. Harley Smith-Shields.

Sharks squad: 1. Will Kennedy, 2. Sione Katoa, 3. Josh Dugan, 4. Mawene Hiroti, 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo, 6. Matt Moylan, 7. Chad Townsend, 8. Braden Hamlin-Uele, 9. Blayke Brailey, 10. Aaron Woods, 11. Briton Nikora, 12. Wade Graham, 13. Toby Rudolf. Interchange: 14. Connor Tracey, 15. Aiden Tolman, 16. Jack Williams, 17. Billy Magoulias. Reserves: 18. Nene Macdonald, 19. Teig Wilton, 20. Andrew Fifita, 21. Braydon Trindall.