BY DAN

The Canberra Raiders have reportedly sought salary cap relief for Corey Harawira-Naera, and plan to target a backrower. The Daily Telegraph named Kulikefu Finefeuiaki and Heilum Luki from the Cowboys, and Jordan Riki from the Broncos as their targets.

I think these things are only somewhat related. I’m not sure the Raiders need cap relief to go out and get one of these players. While they could definitely take the exemption of six-months worth of wages from the cap (presumably around 225k), given they seem to have a permanent float of $1 millionish to drop on He Who Remains (on the Gold Coast) (seriously though watch Loki it’s dope) you would think a bit of spare cash won’t really make the difference. But perhaps some relief means they can find the ‘overs’ it can take to get players to Canberra and not constrict future options in other areas.

We’d written about chasing those players weeks ago, so the list of players is hardly surprising (shit man if I can work out where the surplus backrowers are then you’d hope the Raiders brains trust is well ahead of that). Chasing any of those names is a step up from the vacuum that exists beyond Elliott Whitehead at right edge backrower for the Milk, but the two Cowboys players would particularly be shrewd pickups. Both have proven themselves as high quality players. Finefeuiaki is slightly more powerful whereas Luki is more agile, but both would be a massive upgrade and a good match with the future of the Raiders.

Smarter people than me are wary of Riki, in the sense that he’s been a ‘possibility’ for so long that to pay him for one year of ‘proof’ is a big risk. I can dig that, but if Canberra continue to flounder on the open market they may have to take such a punt because there’s nothing in the pipeline otherwise. Sticky has shown an ability to get the best out of players who want to be their best so perhaps he can keep Riki focused and effective. He’s a big agile body, and definitely warm. That’s a big tick for the Milk.

It’s hard to tell from the Tele’s reporting if this grouping is anything but rehashing the lists of articles past. The Cowboys in particularly are stacked at the position, with arguably five front-line backrowers. They’ll happily squeeze them into the corners of their bench, but offering that big money and 80 minutes is surely a point of difference for someone sick of watching others play. But there’s nothing that we can see from this that suggests that Canberra is making headway, no matter how much me and you hope they are.

Of course Harawira-Naera, if he finds himself fit, could fill the role. But the focus for him must be his health, rather than what point on the depth chart he is or could be. I would caution against counting on him this season. If he’s cleared for training, a matter the Tele reports will be assessed by doctors again later this month, that doesn’t mean he’s ready to play, physically or emotionally. It could be a long road back.

So the chase continues. Canberra theoretically have a settled top 30 for next year so one would assume we could be at this a while. The club would no doubt have flexibility to move a player like Brad Morkos out of the top 30 to accommodate a star backrower able to join right away. Or the recent prioritisation of Zac Woolford may become action. Either way they’d make it work.

But as likely is that these rumoured targets remain just that, and we continue this shadow campaign of hope that the Raiders may attract a top-tier (or potential top-tier) solution on the right edge. It’s been two years running now, and there’s been so many iterations of a list that it’s starting to resemble the kind spoken to the man in the red suit at your local mall every December.

And so Canberra’s pursuit of cap relief may be successful, but for ultimately no end other than it’s better to have it and not be able to use it, than need it and not have it.

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