BY DAN

The Canberra Raiders have confirmed last week’s rumour that Super League star Morgan Smithies will join the club.

It’s a three year deal. That makes plenty of sense when you consider Smithies age (22) and the Raiders experience with English players. They’re not interested in a taste of Smithies. They want the whole damn bag of chips.

Which should tell you a lot of how the club sees him. They are again embracing the risk of homesickness (though obviously less of a factor in ‘post-Covid’ world), the substantial transfer fees, and the lack of certainty that playing styles will transfer or mesh. It’s a fraught world Canberra is entering. At least this time they know exactly what could go right and wrong.

But evidently the Milk have a lot of faith in him. That’s borne from what seems to be a motor reminiscent of Raiders’ greats of the past (pick your favourite: Tongue; Fensom; Horsburgh), and a willingness to do dirty work in defence. He’s a strong and willing runner, and already an international at just 22. In the middle he could be the beast that ties together an increasingly detached defence. On the edge he could be the dream we’ve been looking for: a hard-working lunatic to fill the spots left by the departure other hard-working lunatics.

He’s got plenty of upside to his game. Smithies seems to have got where he is on work ethic and while talented, hasn’t even begun to touch the edges of what he might be capable of. In limited viewings since he came on the radar I’ve only seen glimpses of a passing game, or anything that you’d call dynamic line running. But again, he’s young, and the Raiders are clearly making a bet they’ll be able to find that in him.

So in a vacuum this deal makes perfect sense. Get the young talent and make it great. But deals aren’t made in a vacuum (because how are you going to negotiate without sound?). But are Canberra investing in another young middle? It’s arguably the one position they don’t need help, either in the short term or long. Are the Raiders putting an obstacle in front of Mooney and Puru, who both have the potential to be the future of the club? What does it mean for them long-term? Or alternatively did they just put three years and a transfer fee into someone that may sit on the fringes of the 17?

It’s hard to tell, and maybe all of those players co-exist but I doubt it. If he’s going to play big minutes in the middle other investments will have to go. Perhaps this means players like Mooney, Hola and Saulo, all entering the last year of their respective deals, have just had their warning lights flicker. Either way I’m worried what comes out the other side of this.

That fit concern evaporates if Smithies is instead the edge backrower the club has been searching for. It’s not far-fetched to think that. He’s played it (rarely) in England. He’s shown he’s agile enough to do it. He seems to have the lateral defensive mobility. But that may be the optimism of desperation projecting on our behalf. Maybe he’s the edge backrower we’ve been looking under every couch for. Maybe he’s just another middle.

We’ve been here before when Canberra have signed players we were sure about that turned out to be great. John Bateman fought like Bruce Lee (no fixed position) until the club made him the best backrower in the competition (temporarily). Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was a little bit of everything until opportunity allowed him to be the best defensive fullback in the competition. Jordan Rapana was a generic outside back. Seb Kris wasn’t anything, now he’s everything.

The Raiders can make this work. I don’t know if they will. But the central premise – go get that talent while it’s young and sign it long term – is a solid foundation to build a club on. At the very least Smithies’ presence means Canberra are adding to the stock and getting better. And that’s the point of recruitment.

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