BY DAN

During the week the Canberra Raiders added Izayah Petricevich to the bevy of young talent joining the club in the near future. Petricevich, an athletic outside back, joins Ethan Strange, Chevy Stewart, Ethan Sanders and Hohepa Puru as young and talented players who have joined the club in the last twelve months. At the same time rumours have emerged of interest in Souths star back-rower Keaon Koloamatangi. Is Canberra’s new organisational plan building through youth? Or are they going fishing in the ponds of free agency?

The thing about emerging talent and potential is that you need it to win premierships, but on its own it’s useless. Building a pipeline is always a good thing but never a sure thing. For every player we knew was going to be brilliant there’s a million dreams held only in the drunken rants of a 3am ‘do you remember’ session. Pipelines are about options. Maybe Chevy Stewart and Ethan Sanders are going to make me happy again. Maybe Xavier Savage is. Maybe I should sort my shit out on my own.

There’s definitely been a focus recently on bringing youth through the door, and it’s been very successful. Stewart was arguably the most sort after junior who chose Canberra for development and opportunity. If Stewart was most wanted, then Sanders was right behind him, apparent to anyone that saw him conducting the u/19s State of Origin like he was Christopher Tin. Strange was less heralded when he came but his star has risen quickly. And Hohepa Puru, part of the Penrith system, only left because Isaah Yeoh exists.

But that doesn’t mean it’s been a change in plan; at least not completely. Canberra have still been in the market for their immediate needs. They’ve considered, been linked with, rejected, or expressly tried and failed to get a host of players from David Fifita, Luke Brooks, Lachlan Lam, Ben Hunt, Blake Taafe, Teig Wilton, Eli Katoa and a host of others. So the Raiders have also been active in the market of ‘now’, or at least addressing their various recruitment needs for 2024, they’ve just either been rejected (see Fifita, Hunt, Katoa, Wilton), or done the rejecting (Brooks, Taafe). It’s not been fun, and it’s definitely not been successful.

The next phase in this ‘immediate’ plan appears to be Keaon Koloamatangi and Ezra Mam, neither of whom can officially be approached until 1 November, and who wouldn’t join the club until 2025 (in the theoretical plane in which they choose to leave the two biggest clubs in the country for the people’s team). Both would be perfect for the club’s needs. Mam would be a dynamic left-sided five-eighth, a perfect foil for Jamal Fogarty in the short (and hopefully medium) term, and Ethan Sanders in the longer term. Koloamatangi would fix Canberra’s right edge problem.

Both are expensive, and unlikely options. The reported information so far has the stench of the Raiders speaking to managers (because they can’t approach the players) to express interest, and that immediately becoming part of negotiations at their own clubs. Pete Badel is already reporting Mam to be part of a $5 million package with Reece Walsh, and the Herald’s reporting on Koloamatangi is that the club will move to lock him up before he reaches free-agency. And yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of the Raider Raise, I will fear no evil.

The choice to pursue is the right step but it’s not a hopeful one. Canberra can’t just give up on recruitment because of a few high profile moments where it went awry. They’ve got to stay in the game while maintaining a bit of dignity. The last thing they need is to get a reputation as the club no one signs with – well, moreso. That means being targeted about who they approach and how they approach them. In this sense the Mam and Koloamatangi chases make sense. They’re not courting them – just reaching out to management prior to 1 November. Those approaches will give them good intelligence as to whether they’re likely. Low stakes investment. It’s a good place to start.

It does leave the question as to next year. A lack of success and compatibility has meant that all that’s left to hope for is the annual shake-down of squad lists in the squalor of September and October is enough to give them cover where they need it until either the big names agree to terms, or more likely, the next generation is given the keys and told to keep it under a 100 and be home by 12. I wish I had better news about the immediate world, but you’re a Raiders fan, this isn’t new.

Shouts to reader Chris G who got me thinking about this, and for Keaon’s manager for leaking to the Herald. Do me a favour and like the page on Facebook,  follow me on Twitter, or share this on social media because love is true and heaven is a Raiders victory. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.