It was announced on Tuesday the Raiders would play Melbourne in Wagga on April 9 next year, the third time the Green Machine has taken a home premiership match to the city.

Canberra will also play away games in Mudgee and Dubbo next year, and the big change is the Wagga match hasn't been scheduled in conjunction with the Gold Cup carnival in early May.

"It will probably be a bit different not having the Wagga Cup there, but I'm sure the interest and excitement will still be there because it's always a real fun weekend," Stuart said.

"It (splitting events) is a good idea because I know a lot of people from Canberra couldn't go to the game because they couldn't get accommodation. It gives Wagga two weekends with a sporting event.

"We've found a real connection with Wagga and it's something we'll continue to be excited about.

"It really goes hand in hand with the pathway we want to keep taking, which is promoting our game in Canberra and its regions.

"It's promoting the Canberra Raiders, and showing a lot of our junior boys and girls there's a pathway to a senior team. There's no better way than getting out there amongst the community a couple of days beforehand, then playing the game.

"It's been well received over the years, we get good crowds and enjoy the hospitality of the country people."

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The number of regional games exploded in 2021, largely due to necessity with COVID.

"The players enjoy travelling and we go out for a couple of days pre match, get ourselves into the community and do a bit of training and preparation, but also enjoy the community feel.

"I really enjoy playing in the country areas."

Stuart said they're keen to play as many games as possible in Wagga, as long as it's commercially viable.

"I'm not sure where we are commercially with that, but I know from a football department perspective it's really important we are seen in our regional areas, and Don (Furner, CEO) and Jason (Mathie, chief operating officer) have the same opinion."

Stuart said the Raiders were looking forward to a more traditional season after all clubs were forced to relocate to Queensland for most of this year's campaign.

Their 2020 season was also heavily affected, with early home games shifted to Campbelltown.

"I definitely hope so. It's been an abnormal two years and as a result the players have had an extra two weeks off this year," Stuart said.

"That's very much needed from a mental perspective more so than physically. The scheduling and traveling on days of games, it's been tedious at times.

"It's our job, yes, but the players are human and they need to be looked after as well."

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