Perhaps his most important talent for the Milk is his sheer intuitiveness.

He’s got an unending ability to be in the right place at the right time, probably brought upon by the fact that he’s goddamn everywhere on a football field. Watch him next time you attend a game. In defence he covers space like a linebacker, strafing from side-to-side to clean up the defensive errors of anyone in his eye sight. In attack he never stops working, taking the dirtiest carries alongside chiming in on shift movements. There’s little he won’t do.

Me

A great illustration is in last week’s loss to the Sharks. At one point he was defending at the ‘three-man’ on the right (i.e third man in from the wing), having helped across the ground on several defensive errors by his colleagues over the front of the set, only to help back the other way through the rest of the set and ending up helping across with Jack Wighton to stop a shift at the three-man on the left, around where he would normally set up. This willingness to do literally whatever it takes to win has been a critical part of Canberra’s success this season, such as it is.

Indeed that willingness is often what draws him criticism. He sometimes pushes passes, or makes errors that have infuriated at points. These are generally reflective of a player trying to solve problems no one else is interested in fixing, or are created by coaching staff and key positional players that haven’t been good at making life easier for those around them. Young has been required to pick up the slack and he’s been willing to do what it takes. Sometimes he doesn’t get that right but the intent is almost always noble.

Young is only just establishing himself as a star in this league and I’ve seen suggestions that he’s been disappointing this year. This isn’t actually a reflection on Hudson’s performance but rather our elevated expectations of him. His output this year has been the same as his ‘breakout’ 2022. The only difference is he’s done it with the watching eye of every edge defender in the competition. There’s rarely been much space for him to operate because of Canberra’s challenged offensive approach but there’s been even less now that teams are game-planning for him.

This closer eye, along with the fact that his ‘moments of brilliance’ have gone from a ‘nice-to-have’ to ‘must-have’ because Jack Wighton’s performance, and it’s understandable this season has felt like ‘consolidation’ in a sense (something we flagged before the year). Continuing to match his output with the spotlight on you in a good sign he’s got even more improvement to come.

Apart from being a massive win in a pure retention sense, it’s a big deal for the Raiders. Given the club’s recruitment challenges, keeping a young Origin quality forward is important. Before this season Young was a crucial cog in the Raiders machine. Since the contract was first reported Young has played Origin and looked the part (despite Jarome Luai freezing him out like Isiah did to Jordan in the ’87 All Star game). Canberra have also lost Wighton, Corey Harawira-Naera’s career is on hold, and Elliott Whitehead is facing football mortality every time he steps on the field. The Green Machine can simply not elite talent walk out the door and it’s only doubly so for backrowers.

That they’ve managed to keep him at a reasonable price is another win. 700k a year for an elite backrower is entirely in-line (and probably below) the market. Canberra could not get a second-rower this good at this rate on the market. Other teams would kill to have Hudson at 700k, such is his talent and the dearth of quality at the position across the league. It’s incredible that they’ve been able to retain him with such a modicum of fuss.

Canberra still have work to do when it comes to recruitment and retention. But make no mistake this is a critical signature. If the Raiders are to return to being a contender it starts with keeping players like Hudson.