Canberra Raiders' Manly Sea Eagles game could move to Newcastle

But their game against the Gold Coast Titans at Canberra Stadium on Saturday should go ahead as planned - although fans from Sydney aren't allowed to attend and anyone indoors will need to wear a mask.

The Raiders will have a much-needed boost for the Titans game with young guns Sebastian Kris and Xavier Savage expected to re-sign on Tuesday.

With the Sydney lockdown causing havoc, the Raiders' game against the Sea Eagles might have to be moved outside the Harbour City given it's due to be played on July 8 - a day before the lockdown's set to end.

As it stood, the Raiders can't return to Canberra from Sydney without having to abide by the ACT government's stay-at-home orders.

It means the NRL was looking at all contingencies for the round 17 game at Brookvale Oval.

One of those was moving it to Newcastle to be played as part of a doubleheader - potentially in conjunction with the South Sydney-North Queensland game, which was currently scheduled for Stadium Australia on July 9.

It wasn't the preferred option for the Raiders, with the other two possibilities to keep the game at Brookvale - but play it in front of no crowds and have the Green Machine fly in and out on game day - or move it to Canberra Stadium.

Both of those options would require permission from the ACT government.

It would be similar to what happened last year, where the NRL used chartered flights to bring teams in and out of venues on game day to ensure there was minimal contact with the public.

Sydney-based players have been on level three Apollo protocols, which means they can only leave their homes to play, train, do essential shopping or for medical needs.

It meant the Manly players would have been under those restrictive measures for three weeks by the time they faced Canberra.

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While the Raiders weren't on those same measures yet, there was a feeling they might have to to ensure the integrity of the competition.

They postponed their fan signing session, which was due to be held on Tuesday, as a precautionary measure.

The NRL was focusing on this weekend's games - with the four that were scheduled in Greater Sydney likely to have no crowds - before looking ahead to round 17.

Raiders chief executive Don Furner was part of a phone hook-up with the NRL on Monday night.

State of Origin duo Jack Wighton and Josh Papalii returned from game two on Monday, with the Green Machine working with the ACT government to ensure the pair would be allowed to play against the Titans.

They'll both undergo 48 hours isolation at home before having a COVID-19 test, with the view to returning to training later in the week - potentially only for the Raiders' captain's run on Friday.

Wighton spent a few hours at the NSW Rugby League centre of excellence in Sydney Olympic Park last Monday and will need an exemption to rejoin the Raiders group - although that could already be allowed under provisions for essential work that can't be performed at home.

"We're just complying now with daily updates and going through the protocols we have to to assimilate Jack and Papa back in," Furner said.

"Then we'll get this Saturday's game out of the road and worry about the following week, but by the end of the week I'm sure we'll know what's going to happen to that game."

Kris has enjoyed a break-out year after taking all of last season off to deal with mental-health issues.

He returned for pre-season training on a train-and-trial deal, impressing so much on the training track he earned a contract for 2021.

The 22-year-old has played 13 NRL games this season, scoring five tries along the way.

Savage had one of the most bizarre debuts ever, coming on as the Raiders 18^th man against St George Illawarra - only to be taken off again 12 minutes later because Canberra had incorrectly brought him on.

Now the pair were set to be rewarded with new deals to be announced on Tuesday.

NRL ROUND 16

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans at Canberra Stadium, 5.30pm.