Canberra Raiders coach and club legend Ricky Stuart is excited at where his team and the franchise sit after five rounds of the 2016 season.

The Raiders outplayed Canterbury at Belmore Sportsground on Monday night and praised returning halves Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer.

“They did well considering the fact it was very, very physical,” he said.

“It was tough conditions and it was their first game back after a four week layoff. They came back and handled the 80 minutes well, so it’s a credit to how they’ve trained and prepared.

“I’m excited with our development as a club. If I was sitting here now and we’d been beaten, I’d have said the same thing. It’s still very early in the season.”