BY DAN

Canberra’s logjam is the outside backs has started to work itself out with the announcement that James Schiller will be departing the club for Newcastle.

Reporting suggests this is about the opportunity to play centre in the long-term and frankly that makes sense. There is an open spot at centre for the Knights (reports are that Newcastle will only be offering Dane Gagai a one-year deal) that just won’t be there in the long-term in Canberra, with Matt Timoko and Seb Kris having seemingly sewn up those positions.

For the Raiders it’s a disappointing but manageable departure. Let’s be clear – Canberra wanted to keep him. They were reportedly in discussions with him as recently as last week. Schiller’s appeal had always been his upside; his ability to execute electric attacking movements, such as his touchline grubber to beat the Storm in 2022, and his in-and-away against the Sharks more recently. He undoutedly has a huge amount of potential, at wing or centre. The reason he hadn’t played more in first grade had been defensive lapses, which are more likely a matter of experience and top-line game time as anything. He’d shown improvement there, and over the last few weeks he’d shown why he was an every week first grader with plenty of upside. With a clear pathway and time in the first grade I’m sure Schiller will be a good acquisition for Newcastle.

For the Milk this was a matter of the music stopping and not enough seats being left. As mentioned Kris and Timoko are the long-term centres for the club. I can’t help but think Xavier Savage becoming the first choice winger forced some difficult decisions. Even with Schiller’s departure it leaves a battle royale between Bert Hopoate, Nic Cotric, Michael Asomua and potentially Jordan Rapana if he sticks around longer. Before this announcement we’d been unsure why the Raiders had entered into extension discussions with Cotric. This provides more clarity. Here’s hoping similar discussions are happening with Rapana.

Ricky Stuart asked why Canberra can’t have depth before the season. Now he’s getting his answer. This won’t be the last we see of this. The combination of opportunity and money won’t just affect the Milk’s outside backs. They’re coming for the middles too. Trey Mooney springs to mind but the Raiders are going to have a hard time keeping other players that currently get a run in first grade, like Peter Hola and Hohepa Puru. That would be a shame (particularly in the case of Mooney and Puru). But it’s also a sign of strength. People have to leave because individuals, and the club, are performing.

The test is less about stopping this occurring. This is a cow farm, you’re gonna find cows outside after all. It’s the nature of the beast to lose players who are battling for opportunities. People have to make a living and as beautiful as the penis owl is, it’s not enough to keep people in town when all you can offer them is uncertainty and hope. Careers need to be made.

The real challenge is making sure that the talent keeps flowing beyond the current set of players competing for chances and minutes, in particularly in rebuilding their centre depth which has taken a hit in recent years. Because having James Schiller in reserve is much better than not.

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