BY DAN

In their opening nine matches the Canberra Raiders have been three different teams.

First was a team called capable; a professional, balanced team mixing the impetuousness of youth with some veterans doing new jobs (or expanded versions of old ones). Ethan Strange free to feel his way into first grade. Jordan Rapana’s insanity giving a bigger space to operate. Zac Hosking and Morgan Smithies arriving like they’d always been hear sitting in the comfy chair. The elder statesmen manning the middle. It felt vibrant. It felt exciting. It felt real.

But it was built on the premise that while Canberra had a lot of depth there were certain positions they couldn’t readily sustain injuries. Right backrow. Halfback. Fullback. Sure there were options behind those players but they were all subject to the vagaries and imperfections of inexperience. But because Murphy’s Law was begotten in the halls of power at Raiders HQ this is where they suffered the inconvenience of trauma.

And so the second Canberra team was born: hope. Not so much hope in the bright sun shining on a proud face way, but more in the way you would take a deep breath before you turned over your maths test in the knowledge you’d studied, but also you sorta hadn’t. Maybe it would work out. You’d definitely learn lessons that would be useful for the future. But it might not work now.

In came Kaeo Weekes. Ostensibly back-up halfback; more one that six, and more six than seven. It was fine, he was only being asked to fill in for one of the best boots in the competition and suddenly be a leader of a team he was watching the previous two months. Simi Sasagi was asked to be both the exciting new of Hosking and the reliable old of Elliott Whitehead, all while still literally learning a position he only started playing this off-season. Chevy Stewart was the prince who was promised, but earlier than expected. The plan had always been for him to play this year, but later, and with a back three that included Jordan Rapana, not instead of him.

And for a while this team faltered. They struggled in the second half against the Broncos and then followed that with arguably the worst Canberra performance since that fateful day in 2013 when Melbourne put the sword to Canberra while Kevin Rudd was making his way to Government House to ask for an election that would end his government – not a comment either way, just vivid memory I had of sitting in the stands at Bruce watching carnage on the field and following on a more innocent and chaotic twitter to see when we’d get a democracy sausage (good name for a politically-themed adult film by the way. If you’re a director you can use that one for free). Ok that’s a bit off track.

This is premature but perhaps Canberra unearthed a third version of itself against Manly. They were ill-disciplined early but not poor. They simply couldn’t get ahead of the penalties they were giving away, nor some *ahem* moments where they paid an inflated price for mistakes. When your gameplan is stripped down to ‘get into the grind and find some opportunities to play a bit of footy’, giving away infringements hand-over-fist is insurmountable. But they didn’t leak points like they did against the Broncos and Sharks; at least not in the same way. They started to hold tough. They showed a bit of poke. Then when they finally tipped the balance of the game into a level that would Anubis nod they were able to take some chances. I don’t know if you remember but man some good things happened.

*breathes deeply and relives Friday night like Marge Simpson’s Lee Major’s fantasies*

It’s fair to say this latest version is probably a lower ceiling than the first Canberra. Points have been hard to come by, and last week 26 points included one (1) try from regular passing and that was a crash ball. I lauded both Strange and Weekes playing what they see, but simultaneously that included not being able to see their way to a penetrative shift. A host of the problems of the second Canberra remains.

The third version might be the best it gets for the Milk this year, or it might survive long enough to be a bridge back to the first. This isn’t a given. Whether the will and resilience the Raiders displayed in that last 50 minutes is a repeatable and sustainable approach is a fair question. Canberra loves a good emotional outburst and while last Friday’s was a quieter version, sustaining the indignation that came from that Sharks loss after smoko is a different proposition. The trust in their foundation they showed against Manly is a good start though – systems endure. Emotion can only take you so far.

Whether or not Elliott Whitehead’s efforts are sustainable is another question. Plainly one of his tries was a fluke. His flick pass for Weekes probably isn’t something we’re going to see again soon, nor the intercept that preceded it. His defence was solid, and buffeted an edge that hadn’t felt so fixable in recent weeks. But he looked cooked physically, and in recent years his output has become less consistent as his body has worn down. The likelihood of Zac Hosking being back this season isn’t high, and Canberra will yet again be asking Whitehead to bend his bones to cover for others. It’s been an imperfect solution in recent years, but it’s the best the Milk have right now (and man it looked a throwback on Friday). Ata Mariota may be asked to do some more cover time. It’s nice to have a capable option in the 17.

And Canberra will get some help. Jordan Rapana will be back at some point, and will either be brought back as support for Chevy Stewart or in his place. It’s a curious test of Coach Stuart’s approach to his namesake fullback. Stick said the young star would be back after the bye, and given Rapana will likely be back at the same time, it will be intriguing to see whether the coach chooses now or later for his fullback. I can honestly see arguments for both options. Corey Horsburgh will be longer according to Stick, but that should only send Emre Guler back to Cup footy.

Hopefully these reinforcements allow Canberra to maintain the third version of themselves, or at least some evolutionary equivalent. The severity of injuries to Fogarty and Hosking will mean a reversion to the first will have to wait. This third version doesn’t have the same upside, at least not this year. But if Friday is a signal rather than noise it can still give the competition a shake.

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