Veteran NRL coach Ricky Stuart has opened up on the 2022 NRL pre-season, calling the upcoming trial matches "the most serious of his career."
With COVID continuing to cause havoc on multiple fronts, every NRL team has had their pre-season disrupted in one way or another.
The Raiders were heavily impacted before Christmas, when they had to cancel days of training as an outbreak swept through the club.
Stuart has been one of the most vocal coaches when it comes to pushing the NRL to having policies in place which will allow clubs to call on players from outside their top 30 squads to fill teams when COVID inevitably hits the season.
He told The Canberra Times the looming threat of COVID meaning more players than ever hit the NRL field this season means trials are a lot more serious this year, with the Raiders set to take on the Sydney Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles in their two matches.
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"I'm definitely taking these trials a lot more serious than I have been probably the last however many years I've been coaching," Stuart said.
"They're going to be real necessity for game time for some players, combinations and for me to see who's going to start game one. I've got to try to quickly find some combinations and see who's going to be the guy that's making that difference come game one."
It's understood the NRL are set to rubber-stamp proposals allowing players from outside the top 30 squads to play matches this week.