BY DAN

In their upcoming game against the Dragons the Raiders will likely be without Hudson Young, absent due to origin duties. Last time this happened they shifted Corey Horsburgh to the right edge, Elliott Whitehead to the left and that was that. Except now Horsburgh may also be playing Origin (which means Canberra need to not only find another option on the edge but cover 70 odd minutes in the middle). And not just that, because after missing the second half of the victory against the Titans, Pasami Saulo is under concussion protocol and may not be available. Add to that pile the minutes that Josh Papalii would normal extend in coverage of this mess and well, it’s a mess.

Time to get everyone involved to put humpty dumpty back together. The immediate problem – finding someone to play on the edge is a fun conundrum we were comically wrong about earlier in the year. At that time we assumed Clay Webb would get his shot in first grade, Trey Mooney might provide some coverage, Big Red wouldn’t be effective on an edge, and Joe Tapine might be the backup option if none of that worked out. Wins all round.

This time Clay Webb is at least healthy. He and Trey Mooney both got through Saturday’s NSW Cup game unscathed, and looked effective doing it. From my view Webb is a mobile and willing defender. He’s not the damaging ball runner that Hudson Young can be, though ‘he’s not an origin forward’ is hardly a criticism. He has a reputation for work rate, which he’ll need because from all reports the jump from Cup to first grade is testing on the lungs.

I would presume he is the preferred option on the edge in a straight swap on the left with Huddo, but well, we’ve been wrong before. It would be a massive ask on the young man. It’s one thing to jump to first grade, it’s another to be expected to put together 80 minutes in one of the hardest positions on the field. He’d have veteran help around him in Croker and Wighton, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Webb actually started on the bench in order to ease him into the game. Perhaps Joe Tapine starts on the edge before shifting to the middle after twenty minutes? It’s an awful solution to a worse problem.

If it’s not Webb then it’s a bit of a headscratcher. Maybe Joe Tapine shifts across – but that just weakens an area that, as we’ll get to later, is also a bit of a problem. Maybe a back plays second row. Seb Kris? Matt Timoko could do the running but i’m not sure the tackling. Similarly Nic Cotric. However you approach it, it seems foolish that Clay Webb wouldn’t at least be involved.

Regardless of how a remedy is put together, even with a solution on the left the Raiders still need to cover for the absence of three of its first string middles. Let’s say Webb starts on the left, with Tapine and Ata Mariota at prop (as was the case on Saturday). They still need to find a starting 13 who can play 70 minutes straight (or two that can cover that), a second bench middle, and some way to provide coverage for chaos so inevitable sexy Dr Ian Malcolm is ready to monologue.

I actually am not sure how you do this. For me the best approach would be to start Trey Mooney at 13. He led the Cup team with 169 metres on the weekend, but as importantly got through 61 minutes of work. He won’t be able to cover anything like that in first grade, but it suggests his fitness base isn’t too bad after a relatively extended period off. He’s been proving himself too good for Cup footy this year.

On the bench Tom Starling would presumably keep his spot, and Emre Guler could remain the the first rotation, and the ‘next middle up’ Peter Hola would also come in. But whoever starts at 13 isn’t going to add 70 minutes, and while Guler matches Papalii’s minutes (he got through 56 minutes of occasionally effective football on the weekend) there’s still plenty through the middle that will need to be accounted for.

For this week at least Sticky would be best placed to abandon his preference to carry someone on the bench he can hang out with all game rather than play them. Canberra have survived without having that second rotation forward when Papalii, and then Saulo, have been injured in recent weeks because Joey Taps and Corey Horsburgh have played extended minutes. That option is limited by Red’s absence, and exacerbated by the fact that Mooney, Webb, and Hola aren’t guaranteed to be able cover huge minutes given their relative inexperience.

For that reason I would hope that instead of Nick Cotric as the number one ticketholder, the Raiders instead give the 17 jersey to someone who goes on the field. Given the tenuous nature of the replacements at 13 and second-row, it would be someone who could cover those positions in a pinch. That may in fact be Cotric – the key question there is his defensive ability at either middle or edge. It may be Danny Levi – he played as a loose forward for periods in Cup Footy on the weekend and it definitely seems like he is one of Stuart’s favourites. Who doesn’t love the idea of playing three hookers? Brad Schneider, positively described by Stuart a few years ago as a ‘footy player’ could offer a bit of coverage (and if I squint maybe some minutes at 13?) as well.

The more obvious though slightly riskier approach is Hohepa Puru. He plays at 13 in Cup but has covered across the park (including wider in defence). He’s mobile and a willing runner. It’s easy to see him offering the same agility and pace that Erin Clark tormented the Raiders with on the weekend. He can also offer the distribution through the middle third that Canberra may lose in Horsburgh’s absence. He’d also allow for coverage in a situation where they lost an outside back.

He’s young and still building into his body. Because of his lack of size he tends to be a legs defender (as in he takes the legs, and someone comes over the top to finish off). That could be weakness in first grade where he’ll provide another target in the defensive line for quick rucks, putting pressure on the other middle defenders to control the ruck. But it’s a manageable issue, and the flexibility if offers the Milk, as well as the benefit of getting a future star (yes, he’s that good) some minutes in first grade make it very much worth it. The risk is also mitigated by the one-off nature of the job before the bye brings everyone home.

I’ll be curious how Stuart handles this. His tendency is towards favouring experience and performance over fit or even talent. It’s a big step for him to include any one of Mooney, Webb, Hola or Puru, let alone all of them in the same squad. I would assume we’d see something more including Cotric Levi, Frawley, or Schneider. I’m not sure how that works but not much about the 2023 Canberra Raiders makes sense to me.

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