BY DAN

Despite the Canberra Raiders losing for the first time this season the build continues. While refinement is needed to style and change is inevitable to personnel, patience is equally important. This team is a project, one functioning well so far this season, and one loss is hardly a reason to panic. For now the Raiders must keep building their evidence base of what they are and what they need.

The game against the Warriors highlighted how much change has come for the Raiders this season. They fought their tails off through the middle, did well to (mostly) solve a million questions asked of their edge defenders, and even began to play more expansively in attack. They showed a right-edge capable of tearing apart a very good defence. Young players solidified gains and met new tests face on. If it wasn’t for some 50-50 calls going the wrong way you might have a complete different story. They lost but in losing proved that they’ve assembled something durable.

The Raiders do need to make improvements. At the moment they still need to develop more sophistication and complexity in their attacking movements. They rely so much on a strong middle, Jamal Fogarty’s boot and not making errors it means the degree of difficulty increases dramatically if one of those things don’t come off.

The Warriors won the game on Friday in a two-set period that started with a penalty, a defensive error for a try (Zac Hosking’s first error as a Raider – he is human after all), a Nic Cotric dropped kick (not Nic Cotric you drop kick as may have emerged from your mouth), Ethan Strange slipping, and Hudson Young getting steamrolled by Roger Tuivasa-Shek. Mistakes happen, and Canberra had done well to that point to clean-up those made at other points in the game. Most teams won’t even be able to capitalise so readily on those offered. But to be the best you gotta beat the best and that’s what the Milk are working for.

Continuing the expansion of both the breadth and sophistication of their attacking offerings can provide more of a buffer for imperfection, particularly when facing the better sides. The current limitation is partly to do with Ethan Strange’s role being necessarily kept simple, some of that is to do with the fact that Mick Crawley’s attacking playbook is about as complex as a Grug book. More can be offered around the ruck to keep defenders from jumping attacking movements. These things will take time. Strange’s role and the game plan will hopefully expand in a symbiotic relationship. Consistency and improved ruck manipulation from both options at nine should be sought.

But at the moment a lot of the focus of the general discourse around the side is more on personnel change. That’s normal and understandable given the talent this club is stashing in Cup footy. There’s arguably 7 or 8 players down there that could be playing first grade at another club. That’s a strength of the club, and while Sticky’s point that the Raiders are allowed to have depth is well-made, and his competition philosophy is arguably reaching its zenith with this side, it still comes with a price. The same friction that creates success internally leads to external noise.

Change is coming in round four but it will have little to do with altering plans. I would expect Seb Kris to return, Albert Hopoate to go back to the wing and Nic Cotric to Cup. Corey Horsburgh’s performance in Cup on the weekend might be enough to convince Sticky he’s ready for first grade minutes again, though maybe not rhetorically 60 plus he routinely punched out last year. He looked gassed at the end of the game from my vantage point on the couch. At that point the likely outcome is that Pasami Saulo drops out of the 17. That’s not a shot at Saulo, who I think has been very good in his stints this year. It’s more based on a balance of a middle rotation that will include a hybrid backrower and won’t need to fill many minutes at 13 (and the fact that Ricky Stuart loves Emre Guler like a man loves a fine Cuban cigar).

Many have been calling for captain Whitehead to be removed from the 17 but there are reasons the club will keep him beyond just the awks. It manages Hosking’s load (lol) after to ensure he doesn’t tire as he did in the back of 2023. It also provides flexibility that allows the club to manage an HIA or injury in the outside backs. That may change as the year works on and it becomes clearer whether the Raiders are trying to manage loads for September. It’s a balancing act in several facets because immediate flexibility means limited options for the absolute conga-line of middle forwards waiting for a shot in reggies.

But focusing on personnel isn’t the main game for this team. In fact I’d suggest it’s a distraction of what they actually need to achieve. Up next is a broken and beaten Sharks, which, if this season is anything to go by, should be raising more red flags that a first date into Andrew Tate. Canberra surpassed Cronulla in recent years because of their pack. That hasn’t changed and arguably has gotten worse with injuries out of the weekend. But if you’re not nervous you’re not a Raiders fan. Following that is the Eels, Manly, Broncos, and the Sharks before the bye.

They started the season showing they have an understood game plan that can be expanded on over the coming weeks. That we continue to see increased sophistication in what they do in the face of a difficult period of competition will set a big marker for this side’s potential.

This side has been very good so far. Let’s see them build.

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