Rise & shine: Roosters, Dragons launch pre-dawn raid on capital

St George Illawarra and the Roosters are set for 4.30am wake-up calls ahead of their road trip to Canberra on Saturday after being scheduled for the first morning matches in history at GIO Stadium.

The remainder of the 2020 NRLW draw is yet to be announced but the Roosters and Dragons were given their first task of travelling to the nation's capital earlier than previous times.

Canberra is set to play host to the triple-header which will include the men's elimination final kicking off six hours after the Roosters and Dragons start proceedings.

Brisbane's fly-in-fly-out scenario pushed their round one clash with the Warriors to 3.00pm with temperatures expected to reach a balmy 25 degrees throughout the day.

"It will be different to get up early and make a trip of it. If we do play away we usually go up the day earlier and spend the night and ease into it," Dragons skipper Kezie Apps told NRL.com.

"The early morning start going to be different. I'd usually like it but not when you have to drive to Canberra the morning of, we'll be on a bus early but they're the cards we're dealt with.

"I feel like temperature-wise it will be better than if it was somewhere like Bankwest, which would've been warmer, and at least we don't have to dwell on it the whole day."

The Roosters dominated the Dragons with a 26-0 victory in 2018 but the Red V bounced back last season with an eight-point victory to consign the Roosters to a winless season.

"It's going to be different to play them first up, we tend to get a bit better as the games go on to fix a few things," Apps said.

"It's good to play someone new to start with. We've played the Broncos every time so it's a good time to change that."

The Dragons have welcomed Broncos forward Steph Hancock and PNG international Elsie Albert to their pack for their 2020 campaign.

Dual premiership winner Hancock holds the key for the Dragons in the middle after last year's grand final defeat where they struggled to make in-roads.

"Just her leadership and what she can do with the forward pack, when she's on the field she leads by example," Apps said.  

"We're excited for her to come to the Dragons, it's not something I thought she would do.

"And Elsie's dominated for PNG before but the NRLW she's going to be excited to meet new people and learn."

Roosters flyer Corban McGregor said her new-look team were determined to turn results around after incoming coach Jamie Feeney assembled a squad boasting plenty of international and local talent.

"I think it's just a mentality, it doesn't come down to skill because we have a team that is skilful," McGregor said.

"Something just needs to click upstairs in our heads on the day. I love playing the Dragons, they're a star-studded team and will be hard to beat but that needs to be at the forefront of our minds that everyone is beatable.

"If we stick together then anything is possible."