The schedule has been kept a closely guarded secret before it is announced on Tuesday, but Fairfax Media understands a Kangaroos game has been pencilled in as one of three fixtures in the capital.

Given co-hosts New Zealand will host all their games and Australia plays England in the tournament opener in Melbourne in early November, it's expected the Canberra match will be against a second tier nation.

In a significant coup, Canberra is expected to host more games than Sydney (two) after the NSW government refused to pay for games.

Australia played in Canberra for the first time in 2013 when a sold out Canberra Stadium crowd of 25,628 watched them beat New Zealand 32-12.

Rugby League World Cup boss Michael Brown got a firsthand account of Canberra's ability to host big events as boss of last year's Asian Cup.

Canberra's seven games drew big crowds and a number of nations based their preparations in the city.

The Socceroos have also taken games to Canberra in recent times while Cricket Australia has a deal with the ACT government to play a Twenty20 or one day international each year, and the city will host a Test match for the first time against Sri Lanka in 2018-19.

Three cricket World Cup games were held at Manuka last year, although none involved Australia.

It is widely accepted Australia will play Argentina in a Rugby Championship Test next year, and it is believed the fixture is close to being finalised.

"It's a fantastic idea [for teams to base themselves in Canberra] and we saw the benefit of that with the Asian Cup," Brown told Fairfax Media in November.

"I'd be very keen [to do it again], and I said that to the ACT Chief Minister [Andrew Barr]," Brown said.

"The AIS, I think they hosted three or four teams during the Asian Cup and those guys know how to do it really well.

"It's the obvious place for us to be thinking about putting people ... there's plenty of capacity and plenty of interest."

Barr has been campaigning for months to bring the Australian side back to Canberra, and the ACT government has also bid for quarter-finals and semi-finals.

"I don't think we'll end up hosting the final, but we are a serious proposition," Barr said in November.

"Their strong preference was for us to host the Kangaroos in a pool game and to look at quarter-finals and semi-finals.

"They understand the strength of rugby league in the region and are very keen to have a quality program [in Canberra].

"They saw the success of the Asian Cup and the Cricket World Cup, so no doubts at all that we'll have a good role to play. We are in the box seat for some quality content here."

News Limited reported games will be played in Perth, Darwin, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Townsville, Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Port Moresby.