The Raiders have been in the headlines all week after it emerged Josh Hodgson had voluntarily stood down from the co-captaincy a fortnight ago and fellow Englishman George Williams is homesick, while star prop Josh Papalii was rested from last week's loss to Souths.

Canberra has lost four straight matches, and meet an equally desperate Newcastle side with an identical 3-5 record.

Asked how the group had handled Hodgson's decision to hand over the leadership, which has since been assumed by Elliott Whitehead, Stuart said: "I really enjoyed last night (sponsorship dinner in Wagga), having dinner with a lot of the locals and Canberra friends who made the trip over.

"It was relaxing and you get out of the crap you're reading and sit down with real, genuine people who follow the game.

"The boys are great. When you're going through a bit of a tough period in regards to not winning football games, from my point of view the first thing I look at is how the players' energy is around the facility and at training, the quality of the sessions.

"The boys are upbeat and we're training well, so that's been a real positive sign. Hopefully a win's not far away and that fixes a lot of the unease you get from losing.

"We all want to win and it creates a sour taste, but the boys are really good. I've been amazed at how they're handling this difficult situation. I'm looking forward to them putting in a good performance, and hopefully a win."

Stuart said halfback Williams is receiving all the support possible from the club as he deals with being away from his England-based pregnant partner Charlotte.

The England international returns to the side this week after withdrawing from last week's match with a minor hamstring issue suffered in the warm-up, while centre Sebastian Kris has overcome an ankle injury.

"We'll get around George. People go through these situations and the club will get around him," Stuart said.

"I've known about this for three weeks, so it's not new. It's not uncommon for people to get homesick, but it's not a disease, it goes away. We'll do everything we can for them."

Stuart said the squad has adjusted well to Whitehead's captaincy.

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"There's all different types of leadership and I like how the boys follow him" he said.

After building their success over the past two season on the back of defence, the Raiders have conceded 125 points in four straight losses.

Stuart is adamant it's not a hunger or motivation issue and feels they're not far from rectifying things.

"It's not hunger, we've got really good players and defenders making some decisions in defence that are not at the NRL level," he said.

"It's something we're working on and want to improve. Let's hope we get it tomorrow."

10.45am: Gates open

11am: Women's Country Championships final: Riverina v Newcastle-Maitland

12.40pm: NSW Cup - Canberra v Newcastle

3pm: NRL - Canberra v Newcastle

Canberra: 1 Caleb Aekins, 2 Bailey Simonsson, 3 Sebastian Kris, 4 Curtis Scott, 5 Jordan Rapana, 6 Jack Wighton, 7 George Williams, 8 Josh Papalii, 9 Tom Starling, 10 Emre Guler, 11 Corey Harawira-Naera, 12 Elliott Whitehead (c), 13 Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14 Siliva Havili, 15 Hudson Young, 16 Corey Horsburgh, 17 Joe Tapine. Extended bench: 18 Sam Williams, 20 Matthew Timoko.

Newcastle: 1 Kalyn Ponga, 2 Brayden Musgrove, 3 Enari Tuala, 4 Bradman Best, 19 Starford To'a, 6 Kurt Mann, 7 Phoenix Crossland, 8 David Klemmer, 9 Jayden Brailey (c), 10 Daniel Saifiti (c), 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Mitch Barnett, 13 Connor Watson. Interchange: 14 Sauaso Sue, 15 Jacob Saifiti, 16 Brodie Jones, 17 Pasami Saulo. Extended bench: 18 Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 22 Gehamat Shibasaki

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