BY DAN

Lock up your emerging talent. Hide your pathways. Canberra are coming for them.

That is if the rumours are to be believed. Canberra have been linked to, or acquired, so many emerging stars in recent years you’d think they were about to start a talent agency. At this point it’s not so much a strategy as an obsession. The most recent phase started this week with the reported signature of Myles Martin. In addition to that the Raiders have also been linked to fellow junior Blues player Savelio Tamale, and emerging Super League star backrower Matty Nicholson.

That under 19’s Origin game that Ethan Strange starred in last year is starting to take on ‘Lebron/Wade/Bosh at the 08’ level proportions, at least in flow-on effect for personnel decision if not (yet) championships. The Raiders now have five players signed from that team (assuming the mail about Martin is true) and six linked with Tamale. Adding young English players to the mix seems a bit unfair.

In these circumstances it’s important to remind ourselves that while Martin seems legit, Tamale is just ‘leading the pack’ and Nicholson isn’t even an actual link. It’s a function of the Raiders being so busy in the market that journalists in their infinite wisdom (or not) now reflexively turn their minds (and pens) to Canberra as soon as there’s mention of anyone younger than 22.

So before we get carried away with dreams of a fifteen year long dynasty, it’s important to remember that both Tamale and Nicholson are very much more if than when, and definitely more maybe than that. In Nicolson’s case in particular it seems the Telegraph has built its analysis on the idea that Elliott Whitehead is leaving, the Raiders sign English players, and so…uh. That’s it. It reads more like Nicholson’s manager advertising than it does an actual rumour.

Canberra have been burned and spurned enough that you don’t need to be told how much you should bet on these all coming true. We’ve been here before, even with overseas prospects. Do you guys remember the heady days Will Pryce was coming to town?). That’s not to say Nicholson isn’t coming. The Raiders may be interested, talking to him, negotiating or none of the above. We just wouldn’t know from this report. Eagle-eyed gumshoes have already noted he follows precisely one (1) NRL team on Instagram and it’s the good one, and well, you know…ok ok ok.

Both make sense from the way the club is building their roster. Tamale is an outside back. Given the Raiders have lost James Schiller, and have Nic Cotric and Jordan Rapana with less-than-clear futures, it makes sense to do a bit of future proofing here. Tamale is currently in the Dragons Cup team, where he’s scored seven tries in ten games this season. From what I’ve seen he looks an electric athlete, with feet that are lightening in directional change as they are in clear air. Lord knows if that translates to consistent or star first grader. It’s way too early for that. But hey, get the young talent and make it good. That’s our plan now, and this is another piece.

Nicholson also seems a cracking prospect. To me looks like a back rower in the Scott Gourley make (kids that’s an early 90s St George reference). Lumbering but quick. Gangly but skilled. He’s comfortable playing on the right, can pass in both directions and has a handy little flick that he can deploy in close quarters. He seems an agile and powerful enough defender, and a tackle efficiency of 94 per cent is nothing to sneeze at, but that’s easy when it’s Super League. The translation of Super League to NRL is about as predictable as that from NSW Cup, but like Tamale he’s young. That means more time to develop, maybe grow his body a bit and develop into a first grader.

Many will note that he plays right backrow, and Zac Hosking plays right backrow. This is not a concern for me. Nicholson is an educated guess to be an excellent first grader (one they may not get). Hosking is already quality. Having depth at the position is something the Raiders need (as evidenced by *now*), and they are on suitably different timelines (Hosking in 27, Nicholson 20) that you can fit both happily in a top 30. Hosking’s versatility is such that you can even fit them in a 17 together if you want.

If (and that if is bigger than the penis owl) he comes then he’d also fit perfectly with the youth movement Canberra have established. Earlier in the week we said it would be near half of the top 30 would be 23 and under come 1 November this year. If either of those came to be top 30 that would make it a clear half by my very lazy count (I’m probably wrong, but it’s near enough to make it noteworthy).

It’s a clear plan, articulated by the club. They said they were going to sign more young talent to try and build a generation and they’re sticking too it. There are risks – young players need to be ‘salt-and-peppered’ with some gray-beards, to help prevent the wrong kinds of habits emerging, and people can lose patience when promised potential and instead get the bumps and spurts of growth. But if they pull it off, and build a generation of players that can compete for chips for a long time it could be a masterstroke.

But also it might not. That’s the swing that Canberra are taking and it’s a big one. This isn’t about building a team that squeezes into the eight. It’s about building a contender, just not the way you’re used to. The Raiders have taken their licks on the free agency market in recent years and they’re looking for a new way. These deals may or may not happen. But thie plan is certain.

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