Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart says clouds of COVID still hovering over a new NRL season

But they aren't the only ones who could be catapulted into the hot seat this year, with the Canberra coach warning "it won't be just players, it'll happen to coaches this year".

Stuart's Cronulla counterpart Craig Fitzgibbon, a man he coached to a premiership in 2002 at the Sydney Roosters, will miss the first game of his NRL head coaching career after contracting COVID-19, with assistants Steve Price, Josh Hannay and Daniel Holdsworth will take the reins at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.

That's why Stuart has warned his players to prepare for a disrupted season - and they've already got a taste.

An injury to Jamal Fogarty opened the door for Brad Schneider to take the reins at halfback while James Schiller will debut in the outside backs, with Jarrod Croker named in reserve grade and Seb Kris on the club's COVID-19 isolation list.

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"It's going to happen right throughout the year, hopefully not too many injuries but COVID disruptions and whatnot," Stuart said.

"You've just got to be very flexible, players have got to be ready to play in whatever circumstances or situations that have been put in front of them. We've spoken about that right throughout the off-season. It's a great opportunity for Brad, James Schiller as well. It's a really good opportunity for those young guys and I know they're very excited.

"I told Brad early in the preparation that he would be playing because I wanted him to get excited, enjoy it, and celebrate the opportunity of playing his first real NRL game, he came off the bench in his last one and didn't get many minutes.

"He's got a very important role but we wouldn't put him there if we didn't think he was capable. I'm excited for him, he's worked very hard over the past two years."

Schiller is set to make his NRL debut in the wake of a strong pre-season in Canberra, where his family's bloodlines run deep thanks to his uncle Brett Mullins, a premiership-winner with the Raiders and the Roosters, where he played alongside Fitzgibbon in that 2002 side under Stuart.

"Every challenge I gave him, he really aimed up for. He was strong in the first trial, he had 20 minutes in the second trial and he didn't look out of place," Stuart said.

"It's not so much the trials we were looking at, it's the training we're doing. When you go back and look at a lot of our training vision, his decisions and choices at training, he's handled his transition from NSW Cup into first grade training and trials really well."

NRL ROUND ONE

Friday: Canberra Raiders v Cronulla Sharks at Canberra Stadium, 6pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. James Schiller, 4. Matt Timoko, 5. Semi Valemei, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Brad Schneider, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Corey Harawira-Naera, 13. Elliott Whitehead (C). Bench: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Adam Elliott, 17. Corey Horsburgh, 18. Ryan Sutton, 19. Matt Frawley, 20. Trey Mooney, 21. Harry Rushton, 22. Jarrod Croker, 23. Xavier Savage, 24. Sam Williams.

Sharks squad: 1. Will Kennedy, 2. Sione Katoa, 3. Jesse Ramien, 4. Ronaldo Mulitalo, 5. Matt Ikuvalu, 6. Matt Moylan, 7. Nicho Hynes, 8. Toby Rudolf, 9. Blayke Brailey, 10. Braden Hamlin-Uele, 11. Briton Nikora, 12. Teig Wilton, 13. Dale Finucane (C). Bench: 14. Aiden Tolman, 15. Siosifa Talakai, 16. Royce Hunt, 17. Andrew Fifita, 18. Luke Metcalf, 19. Jesse Colquhoun, 20. Lachlan Miller, 21. Jensen Taumoepeau, 22. Jayden Berrell, 23. Jonaiah Lualua, 24. Thomas Hazelton.

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