Stuart and Melbourne leader Craig Bellamy became mates in the Raiders' golden era of the late 1980s and early 1990s when the Green Machine were kings of the NRL.

But they will become the most passionate of rivals when the Raiders run on to AAMI Park and attempt to dethrone the Storm at AAMI Park on Saturday night.

Only one will emerge as a loser and have their premiership dream shattered. But the winner will walk into the opposing change rooms with a beer to ease the pain.

"He's been doing a lot of shouting over the past 10 years so I hope I'm the one taking a beer into him," Stuart grinned.

"We're pretty similar personalities, Craig and I. But I'm a lot happier."

Stuart and Bellamy reunited in January at a Queanbeyan pub when Bellamy flew back to the capital to celebrate the 80th birthday of Bobby Griffin, the former Raiders masseur.

They've sparred plenty of times in their coaching careers and caught up during the NRL season when Bellamy was in Canberra as part of the Raiders' "Forever Green" initiative to honour past players.

But Stuart and Bellamy's friendship runs much deeper than footy games.

"I've been talking to Craig [this week], we're best of mates," Stuart said.

"I usually don't enjoy coaching against Craig, I prefer not to coach against friends. But it's a bit different this week.

"[It doesn't add anything] from a negative point of view. We'll just go about doing our jobs the best we possible can for our clubs and both hope we win.

"I want to beat Craig, he wants to beat me. But it's not about us, we don't play. It's about the boys and we've got to get them prepared."

The Raiders flew to Melbourne on Wednesday to get a head start on their preparation for Canberra's first preliminary final since 1997.

The players requested an early departure to settle into Melbourne. Getting out of Canberra also allows them to escape the green-fever bubble as they blend into the AFL background in Victoria.

Some of the players have been using a cryogenic chamber to help them recover from finals bumps and bruises, spending three minutes at a time in the minus-150 degree machine to get their bodies in peak condition.

The Raiders have been using the chamber for the past six weeks and have it brought to Canberra on the back of a trailer for an end-of-year boost.

Stuart is confident his players can rise to the challenge of a grand-final qualifier, giving a passionate speech at the Mal Meninga Medal earlier this week that almost lifted the roof of QT Hotel.

In the speech Stuart declared his confidence that the Raiders could beat the Storm and win the premiership.

"I've said it before that I'm very confident, but we've got one game standing in front of us right now that is a major, major obstacle," Stuart said.

"They're a wonderful football team, Melbourne. Wonderfully coached by Craig and they're a huge obstacle.

"We can't sneak down there with any trick shots. I don't think the form over the past stands for much ... this 80 minutes will be completely different. It's going to be a huge game."

The Raiders have won three of their past four games in Melbourne.

"They are a big side and have a lot of dangerous ball carriers," Bellamy said.

"Any side who can put a few offloads together will make metres if you are not really good defensively.

"If they are making metres and we are going backwards for a fair while it can tire you out so we will need to defend well against their power running game.

"Hopefully we will have a few tricks up our sleeves with the ball as well then we will see what happens."

NRL PRELIMINARY FINAL

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Melbourne Storm at Melbourne, 7.40pm. Tickets available from Ticketek. Bus packages available from Murrays.

Raiders team:  1. Jack Wighton, 2. Edrick Lee, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Blake Austin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Junior Paulo, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Josh Papalii, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Sia Soliola. Interchange: 14. Kurt Baptiste, 15. Luke Bateman, 16. Paul Vaughan, 17. Joe Tapine.

Storm team: 1. Cameron Munster, 2. Suliasi Vunivalu, 3. William Chambers, 4. Cheyse Blair, 5. Marika Koroibete, 6. Blake Green, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Cameron Smith (c), 10. Jordan McLean, 11. Kevin Proctor, 12. Tohu Harris, 13. Dale Finucane. Interchange: 14. Kenny Bromwich, 15. Tim Glasby, 16. Christian Welch, 17. Ben Hampton, 20. Matt White, 21. Felise Kaufusi.