BY DAN

Welcome back from a well deserved break and to the first of the Raiders’ mini-seasons.

It’s the first of two little bespoke micro-seasons, snuggled between the three byes. This first mini-season has three games between the first two byes, against the current 8th, 7th and 4th placed teams. Recently we’d identified this as a place to rest after the terrifying run of Sharks (Titans) Broncos Sharks Manly. It’s funny how things change. Instead the challenges just roll on. That’s the nature of the competition, but also of the improvement of the Dogs and Dolphins, and frustrating resilience of the Roosters.

As I write this the Roosters are putting the Warriors to the sword. Canberra lost to them back when they were healthy and we thought the Warriors were good. Alas neither of those things are true now; but the Roosters might be the top of the second tier (cool just add the best backrower in the game then). The Raiders don’t even get the benefit of an origin affected team in the pre-origin third game of this micro-season, as Redcliffe’s impressive 2024 is unlikely to involve representation beyond the Hammer and maybe (like really maybe) Felise Kaufusi. Mix that with rumours that Hudson Young may well be in the Origin picture (a win for him, a return to first grade and a chance for redemption for Simi Sasagi?) and it almost feels unfair. Lucky the Raiders have so many international players on their roster.

So instead of a chance to ride the wave of the Manly victory Canberra are more likely to be doing their best to keep their heads above water. It’s all hard work but then again when have they ever done it easy? To paraphrase my Ugandan brethren, the Raiders love the rain. They need the wind in their face just so they know which direction to struggle.

Honest toil and moral victories may pay off in the long-term but Canberra need victories now. Somehow squeezing two from the mini-season would be a brilliant outcome. These games are a tier-fight, a succession of the old-fashioned four-point games, where winning and losing take on significance for what they do for you, and to your opposition. All three teams the Raiders play sit in the pile below the actual good teams. A fully-fit Milk would see themselves as among their peers in these next three games but with their roster losses it’s a more open question. In order to establish themselves with this second tier, and keep pace with the eight, wins baby. Need ’em like Drake needs a new vocation and a lawyer.

Canberra are likely to be still running a skeleton crew getting through this period. Elliott Whitehead appears back for the longish term which isn’t a moment to soon. Jordan Rapana is also back because he’s possibly a psychopath who treats pain like an old friend. Corey Horsburgh is somewhere in the future, but it’s starting to sound like not before the next bye. Neither Zac Hosking or Jamal Fogarty are likely to be back until after the third bye. That’s how far away that is.

Canberra have their share of questions. Who joins Rapa and X in the back three? Is League Pass Month Kaeo Weekes going to be the ‘lead’ half, and is his week two performance the signal or the noise? Is the resilience of Brookvale transferable after a week of rest has removed the urgency that hung in the air like humidity? Is Canberra’s foundation, which looked so solid in the opening six weeks the competition, strong enough to be the ballast to last this, and the next, mini-season before all their help returns?

These questions and more are coming in this little mini-season. Canberra need good answers. The project over the horizon isn’t determined by what happens over the next three weeks, but their competitiveness for this season will be heavily influenced by it. Wins now set them up for later. Wins now keep them afloat, give them space and oxygen to breathe.

Let’s begin.

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