Stuart's been put forward as the perfect replacement for former Raiders teammate Laurie Daley as the Blues State of Origin coach for next season, but the Raiders coach said he was focused on finishing the 2017 season on a high.

The Raiders' campaign will come to an end against the Storm in Melbourne on Saturday night and then he'll turn his attention to ensuring Canberra isn't in the same position as this year - starting pre-season early after missing out on the NRL finals.

"I'm more worried about this game [on Saturday] and getting into planning for the upcoming off-season, which I'm hoping I'm not doing as early next year - I want to be playing semi-final football," Stuart said when asked about the Blues job.

Stuart will resume his rivalry with good mate and Storm coach Craig Bellamy in the home-and-away season finale.

The pair were teammates at the Raiders before both embarking on successful careers as coaches.

Stuart said a chat with Bellamy led to him returning to the "old Ricky Stuart" over the closing rounds of the season, which has coincided with the Raiders winning five of their last seven games to narrowly miss out on the top eight.

He said he was fortunate to have someone like Bellamy to use as a sounding board - the Storm coach has turned the Storm into the benchmark of the NRL and guided them to six grand final appearances during his tenure.

They've already wrapped up the minor premiership and are outright favourites to win their second premiership in six years.

"Craig and I have been close friends for 30 years so we both use each other as a sounding board throughout our times as players and coaches," Stuart said.

"We're both fortunate we're in the same industry and trust each other. We're fortunate we can be honest with one another too - whether it's criticism or positive.

"I see myself fortunate to be able to call upon a guy with his ability and experience."

While the Raiders' season was over, Stuart said it was important for his team to try and go out on a high to be "respectful" to Melbourne.

Even though the Storm have won the minor premiership, Bellamy's named a full-strength side to face Canberra.

They'll be looking to send star halfback Cooper Cronk out a winner in his final home-and-away game in Melbourne before he moves to Sydney at the end of the season.

Stuart said he's had no trouble ensuring his players were motivated for the clash as they try to turn around the 20-14 loss to the Storm at Canberra Stadium six weeks ago.

He didn't consider giving some fringe players a run because NSW Cup side Mounties has a knock-out qualifying final to win.

"It's important we finish off our season with good form that we've been playing the last seven weeks," Stuart said.

"We've won five out of the last seven games and I've stressed the importance of finishing off our season with a high-quality game.

"We're playing against the team that's the favourites for the competition so it's a really good challenge for us to put a stamp of quality onto the game.

"As disappointed as we are it's the situation that we're in and we need to be respectful of the competition we're up against and try and finish the season off."

NRL ROUND 26

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Melbourne Storm in Melbourne, 7.30pm. Live on Fox League.

Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton, 2. Nick Cotric, 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. Joe Tapine, 16. Dave Taylor, 17. Luke Bateman. Reserves: 18. Jeff Lima, 19. Clay Priest, 20. Royce Hunt, 21. Michael Oldfield.

Storm: 1. Billy Slater, 2. Suliasi Vunivalu, 3. Will Chambers, 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Josh Addo-Carr, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Jesse Bromwich , 9. Cameron Smith (c), 10. Jordan McLean, 11. Felise Kaufusi, 12. Tohu Harris , 13. Dale Finucane. Interchange: 14. Kenny Bromwich , 15. Tim Glasby, 16. Nelson Asofa Solomona, 17. Slade Griffin. Reserves: 18. Robbie Rochow, 19. Joe Stimson, 20. Young Tonumaipea, 21. Nate Myles.