BY DAN

Recently the Raiders squared off against their presumptive halfback of Christmas future, Ethan Sanders.

Sanders for his part was very good, guiding an understrength Eels team around with aplomb, comfortable operating a first receiver, creating and testing the Raiders line well. He sent a few kicks long but that’ll happen to even the best players. For a kid that has yet to play It was clear to see what the hype was and apart from people who want 18 years to be perfect most Canberra fans remained very hopeful he was still coming to town.

Of course this has yet to be finalised and won’t be until mid April at the earliest. It had been widely believed that the Raiders had beaten the Eels and the Panthers for the young star’s signature. Unfortunately a change to the collective bargaining agreement meant that signatures of supplemental players couldn’t be finalised until after round 6 in the last year of their deal. And so Canberra have had to wait.

This of course turned what was presented as an inevitability into a probability or even a possibility. Parramatta’s organisation fought back against a player swap late last year. They had Sanders training with the first grade squad all off-season, and have been clear that they see him as a critical part of their squad depth in 2024. This raised the spectre for many that he might stay in Sydney.

Our view had always been this concern was overstated. The structures that had caused him to come to Canberra – i.e. a clearer pathway to first grade and beaches than would be possible in either Parramatta or Penrith – had not changed. Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Moses still existed. While Jamal Fogarty had signed an extension his career doesn’t have the permanency either in length or strength of the other two. There was always the option to play alongside Fogarty – Sanders has shown he’s happiest sitting on the left at this stage of his career. Should Ethan Strange become a six they’ll be a nice little combination (because, and work with me here cos here’s where it gets complicated: one is an organiser, and the other is a runnin…look just trust me ok).

This view was only strengthened by Sanders recent comments on the situation. When his future with Parramatta or elsewhere came up for discussion he mentioned how important the club was to him and his family. You’d expect that, especially given the nature of his relationship to the area. Then instead of talking about his future with the club he offered this:

Happy to stay at Parra this year, happy behind the boys and just happy to learn more and get my head down

Here

The ‘this year’ stands out. It states the uncertainty of his contract situation (at least a Parramatta) and the temporary-ness of his stay there. As an ‘in-club’ signatory he could have signed a deal with Parramatta already, and this confirms he hasn’t. Players that want to stay tend to say ‘hopefully we can get something done’. This statement reminds me of those made by Ryan Sutton when he was similarly negotiating a deal (or not) with his home club back in 2022:

I really just want to concentrate on having a good preseason. You can really get distracted by that stuff…I’ve just got to make sure I concentrate on myself and what’s going on in the present rather than thinking about the future

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For the Milk’s part they’ve been somewhat noncommittal about the situation. Don Furner recently praised the rule change made in the EBA, even though, as he noted, it might even cost them Sanders.

I like that rule. It gives Parramatta a chance to keep their local junior, even though it might cost us a player we want this time around, I think it’s a good rule and good step for the game

Here

While that may be something that lends itself to thinking the Raiders are out of the running, it’s actually very consistent with the requirement to not approach Sanders prior to round six. Furner can’t exactly say they’ve got it in the bag when they theoretically can’t even talk to Sanders.

At the very least it suggests a continuation of whatever situation already existed. Given he hasn’t signed with the Eels that is likely that there’s a very good chance he’s still coming to Canberra. And given the unquestionable talent on display that’s enough to keep wild hearts calm until April.

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