BY DAN

A key part of Canberra’s future has been locked away, with reporting emerging that Corey Horsburgh had signed an extension to stay in Canberra until the end of 2027. Update: Now confirmed by the Canberra Times. Update on the update: now confirmed by the club.

This is a key signing for the Milk. Horsburgh is the best young middle the club has and is already an Origin player. He’s a strong runner, a link man, an inexhaustible defender (every week he seems to make 40 plus tackles) and chews minutes like an old-fashioned innings-eating pitcher. Props that can provide quality for 60 plus minutes are as rare as Michael Jordan Rookie cards (young millennials and gen z, find a gen x/old millennial to explain that to you). Now Canberra has two (with Joey Taps), bookending primes in a way that feels unashamedly sustainable.

The price they’ve reportedly paid makes it even more of a bonus for the club. 550k a year is a steal for a player that gives you the quality and quantity the Red Horse does. It would put him well outside the top 30 paid middles in the competition. This isn’t Payne Haas money. This is Toby Rudolf money, meaning the Raiders are paying an origin level forward essentially slightly-above- average middle money. It’s also the least out of any other forward in their starting pack (rakes aside).

Combine this with Hudson Young being reportedly retained on a reasonable deal too (700k a year for an Origin backrower puts him behind Martin, Kikau, Fifita, Nanai, Schuster, Niukore, Bateman, Kaufusi and Frizell for edge forwards according to this) and suddenly the Raiders are finding a way to keep talent without having to hand over a pound of flesh and their favourite PlayStation games (ranked: Last of Us 1 and 2, Mass Effect 2 and 3, Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War. Caveat – I’ve never played RDR2).

The length of these deals only magnifies value. This means that Horsburgh will be with the club through the extent of his prime (up until the end of his 20s, coincidentally where the League Eye Test has long identified the peak point for middles). If they want to keep him after that it I suspect they’ll have to pay more then, but it means that for the next four years they’re capturing that sweet, sweet surplus value. While they don’t need cap space right now – they’re already well placed in that regard thanks to my man Jack’s departure – it means that they not carrying the same legacy contracts on the roster like weights in a backpack. Competing in the free agent market comes with its own host of problems for the Milk, but at the very least it will mean that the Raiders are well placed to keep their emerging nucleus together over the long term, supported by a quality forward pack.

It will be interesting to see Horsburgh’s career grow over the life of this deal. In my view he’s made for origin. His effort and skill level tends to get obscured by the fact that people notice he’s cranky and a redhead. This means people tend to think of him as more of a firebrand than the skilled, hard-working middle he is. At some stage there’s going to be recognition that he’s less ‘pick a fight Corey’ and more a brilliantly agile creator playing in the middle third. Being a proficient technician is more sustainable in a job where the physical toll is significant.

It also means that over the long term the Raiders have a good mix of styles in the future pack. Horsburgh and Hohepa Puru will provide ball play and agility through the middle third. Ata Mariota and Trey Mooney the power. Joe Tapine (and maybe still Josh Papalii? It’s hard to say) the elder statesman. Huddo the raw excitement and locked-down edge defence. Adrian Trevilyan the sweet, naked brilliance. Find yourself another edge backrower and it’s enough to make a man wonder irresponsible things.

That the value is clear in both the short and the long term is a sign this a well made deal. Canberra have secured a key talent for years to come. For Horsburgh it’s also vindication. So often misrepresented and treated as a carnival show by much of the media in recent years, it’s proof that he’s an exceptional footballer that will have a long and successful rugby league career. Good on him. He deserves it.

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