The Canberra Raiders won't have to wait long to show their former coach Neil Henry he made the wrong decision in signing with the North Queensland Cowboys.

The Raiders will play Henry's Cowboys at Canberra Stadium in round four of the 2009 NRL season, the draw announced in Sydney yesterday reveals.

It will be the Raiders' second home match of the year, and chief executive Don Furner said it would be a chance to draw a big crowd."The Cowboys clash here, I guess we'll have a bit to prove against Neil Henry, so it's good to have them at home," Furner said. "I imagine it will draw a lot of interest, we don't play them up there, and with Neil's decision, it should be an interesting match."Furner said Canberra's byes in rounds nine and 13 could be a blessing rather than a hindrance. He expected some Raiders to break into representative football.

"We haven't had too many Origin players in the last couple of years, but we might have [Joel] Monaghan, [Terry] Campese, and [David] Shillington all in Origin next year, so we're not too upset about the byes around Origin.

"We probably would have wanted the byes a bit further apart, to spread it out towards the end of the season, but all in all it's not too bad."Unlike this season, where the Green Machine enjoyed five of its last eight matches at Canberra Stadium, the side will face a challenging final month heading into the finals series.

Away matches to the Warriors and Brisbane in rounds 24 and 26 respectively mean a good start is essential.

"It's given us a decent spread, and it does give us a chance to get off to a good start," Furner said. "We've got some good-drawing games early in the season."