Campese will get a Canberra Stadium farewell after he helped Italy qualify for next year's Rugby League World Cup, where the Azzurri will now play Fiji on November 10, 2017.

The former Raiders skipper was man of the match for Italy in their 76-0 flogging of Russia to earn the third-and-final European qualifying spot for next year's World Cup.

It means he has got the chance for a Canberra send-off after he left the Raiders two years ago during the NRL off-season, having finished the 2014 season playing for the Mounties in the NSW Cup.

The  32-year-old has spent the last two seasons with English Super League club Hull KR.

He played one Test for Australia and made one State of Origin appearance for the NSW Blues before his career was ruined by a series of torn anterior cruciate ligaments, undergoing three knee reconstructions in all.

Now he has helped Italy qualify for the World Cup before he takes up a playing coach role with his junior club Queanbeyan Blues in the Canberra Raiders Cup.

Shillington played under Campese at the Raiders before the prop returned to his native Queensland to play with the Gold Coast Titans.

He said "Campo" deserved a farewell and expected the Raiders fans would turn out to give him a send-off because of his "passion and commitment" for the Green Machine.

Tongue was named ACT Australian of the Year last week and was highly regarded for his leadership with the Raiders.

Shillington felt Campese deserved to be considered in the same class.

"In my time there, there was a couple of guys that were natural leaders for the club. Obviously Alan Tongue was a big one, but Campo was right up there next to him in that he cared enormously for the club and for the teammates and for the fans, for the town, which is a big thing," he said.

"Putting on the jersey and playing hard on the field that's obviously a big part of it, but also the care for the fans and the town itself. It's hard to match the passion and commitment that he had for the club."

Shillington was vice captain when Campese was skipper, but took the reins during his injury absence.

But the former Queensland prop admits he never really considered himself the Raiders leader during that time.

"I was always felt like I was just filling in while he wasn't there. I never wanted to be outright captain of the club and take over from him because I always thought he was born to be captain of the Raiders to be honest," Shillington said.

"He was Raiders through and through, extremely passionate. I always thought he'd make a better captain than me – he always loved talking to the ref-slash-abusing the ref."

Campese played 139 NRL games for the Raiders across a decade and played a crucial role in their run to the semi-finals in 2010. But he tore his ACL for the first time in their narrow loss to Wests Tigers.

It was the start of a tough couple of seasons for Campese, doing his knee a second time in 2012 and he struggled to rediscover his form before leaving for England.

Shillington said if it wasn't for the injuries then Campese's legacy would have been much different.

"It's a shame his injuries held him back. He could have gone down as one of Canberra's best ever," he said. "Hopefully he gets a good send-off. I'm sure Raiders fans would look at it the same way."