BY DAN

It’s trite to say that this is arguably the biggest off-season in recent Raiders memory. What summer wasn’t? Three years ago they went from hiding from smoke to distancing from each other within weeks as the world collapsed around us. At that point they were premiership contenders, smarting from getting so close and just ending at the same point as everyone else: watching some other clowns hoist the trophy.

This off-season is a different vibe. Jack Wighton’s departure has forced the club to reflect and re-evaluate. It’s clear that the last two seasons have been about trying to wring the most out of moist towelette of second-tierdom. The Raiders have been there and thereabouts, never really finding any replication of the 2019/20 period, either in style or output. The results have been oddly frustrating. Two finals appearances including a victory have felt like a cruskit to a man in search of a steak.

Part of that is to do with the fact that in both years the competition has felt decidedly two-tiered, as though the Milk were playing in an old school round-robin, hoping to win the ‘plate’ final while the big boys played off for the Cup. Undoubtedly though that’s because the Milk have felt they were trying to win the Tour de France with a fixie – no matter how hard they peddled it didn’t alter they weren’t put together properly. To their credit they peddled their little hearts out, but for a range of reasons structural, stylistic and personnel, they were never quite there.

So now we’re back to rebuilding, as the Canberra Times recently put it. That tends to be a dirty word but to me it simply speaks to obvious. In the past there had been a successful structure and personnel that needed to have a system built around. Jack Wighton, Josh Hodgson and others were hubs in the spine that determined how Canberra played. Now that is no longer the case, and almost every style-determinative position is up for grabs. Strange or Weekes. Stewart or Savage. Woolford, Starling, Trevilyan, or Ricky’s new son. There are options

None of these will deliver success right away. Or at least it’s extremely unlikely. There’s a truism that you need 50 games of NRL before you start to have a clue what’s going on. But there’s an opportunity to fundamentally re-imagine what the Raiders a capable of. This isn’t running out the same side and railing against the dying of the light in order to crack the second week. This is about finding a new way of working that delivers something greater, but a little further down the path.

This is a godsend and an opportunity for Coach Stuart, if he recognises it. For a coach a ‘rebuild’ means time off the hot-seat. If no one expects anything from the Raiders then unless things get really woody then he won’t feel much pressure (well, even less than normal). But more than his personal position, it’s a chance to embrace every ambition of game style and structure that he may want, embedded with flair and optimism of youth. In short it’s time to shoot for the moon.

The test is whether he, and the side, recognise the fact. So far what has been emerging from the club suggests they do. Stuart himself has said that this is a transition to a new era:

There is an enormous amount of experience that we’ll be losing and it’s going to be a very challenging period for us as a club, but I’m certainly looking at it as a positive and a massive opportunity…I’m excited by what lies ahead for us. I’m really looking forward to these younger guys really grasping their opportunity and becoming the next generation.

Per the Canberra Times

This has been reinforced by the appointment of Justin Giteau as an assistant coach. Giteau is a complex case, in that he can be viewed both as a ‘jobs for the boys’ promotion as well as an injection of promising coaching talent. Giteau has earned his stripes and is highly rated beyond the walls of Canberra. He did an impressive job with the NSW Cup side last year, turning a young and changing side into a finals side despite a myriad of challenges.

This attitude has also permeated to the players. Jamal Fogarty recently told the press that change is inevitable:

I think it has to change. Losing guys that are so experienced, we’ve got to evolve as a club, and if we don’t we’re never going to get better. Hopefully this season we’ll have an attacking flair, but we’ve got to work on our defence as well – we let in too many tries.

Fogarty was clear that last year’s finals appearance wasn’t something necessarily to build on.

I think we’re in the bottom four defensively, and in the bottom four in attack, so that’s something we really need to mix up.

In the Canberra Times

This recognition that last year was a situation where outcome was maximised and perhaps process was imperfect, combined with the acknowledgement of last season’s imperfectness, reinforces Stuart’s message that change is needed.

It’s one thing for speak of change, it’s another to make it happen. The Raiders have overwhelmingly relied on a power game in recent years. In one sense that’s been a recognition of the players in the system, but as the game has opened up under Vlandoball it’s left to, to an extent, behind other teams that have had more attacking options. The Panthers (through Isaah Yeo), the Bunnies (through Cam Murray), and the Broncos (through Patty Carrigan), have all been able to open up their middle play and succeed with less creative nines, by utilising their locks to create on the edges, and add width to the attack.

Corey Horsburgh has begun to bring that as part of his game, and middle-to-middle passing has become more common and a welcome expansion among the more experienced players. The assured rise of Hohepa Puru should be a big part of addressing that too. But it was good to see that this is being embraced more widely. Simi Sasagi, someone who was brought to the club to offer utility across the edges and backrow, revealed this in his expected role:

Going forward this year I think I want to settle myself either in the back row or anywhere in the middle….If I’m in the middle, I want to embrace my ball-playing and leg speed and if I’m on the edge I want to be powerful

Sasagi to the Canberra Times

It seems a little thing, but the acknowledgement that the Raiders middle needs more ball-playing is a belated but welcome step forward. Add in the implied recognition that the Green Machine need a solution at right edge and there’s a feeling that truths that have been self-evident are at least being faced within the club.

In the varying position discussions it’s nothing but good news. Morgan Smithies has said he’s ready to fight for a position and will play wherever he needs to. Jamal Fogarty has told us that Seb Kris is back where he belongs at left centre. Chevy Stewart, the highly touted fullback has told us exactly what you want any young player to say:

I’d love to be playing No.1,” Stewart said. “I spent some time in Cup last year and played NSW under-19s. There’s definitely some things I have to work on and Ricky Stuart’s definitely helped me with that. But it’s definitely open and I’m definitely here for it. I’m ready whenever Ricky’s ready.

Chevy to the Canberra Times

Quick. Someone find me a brick wall. I’ve got some crashing through to do.

I’m not sure if this means a drastic upswing in the Raiders’ fortune, at least not in the short term. There’s too many moving parts that are going to be filled by players with less experience and more hope than you at your year 12 formal with a pack of frangas and a dream. Shit can go wrong and will. The bumbling and fumbling of youth extends beyond the backseat to the football field. For all the change players like Stewart, Savage, Strange and Puru are going to learn while we watch.

It could be beautiful artistry; but the best art highlights the darkness and light of the human condition. There will be good and bad, but if the starting point is ‘we need to find new ways to do things’ it’s a better than not.

And exactly what we should want.

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