BY DAN

Jordan Rapana wants to stay in Canberra. The Raiders want Jordan Rapana to stay in Canberra. So what’s the delay?

If you haven’t worked it out by now, I’ll let Jordan tell you why.

Ideally, I’d love the Raiders to offer me a two-year deal. I know my age doesn’t do me a lot of favours. There’s probably not a lot of 35-year-olds playing fullback and handling it, but I feel I still have a lot to offer

That was reported by the Canberra Times Sunday night. It’s been kinda hard to not notice this ongoing request. It was implicit at first, with the handwringing about going overseas or staying home. The only difference being the length of the deal you see. Two years at Catalans or one year at Canberra. Two years in sunny Leeds or one in Canberra? How does a man decide?

As we’ve noted before the Raiders definitely want to keep Jordan and there are good reasons for that. As Rapana himself told the Canberra Times.

I know I might not be the most talented player in the NRL but you don’t need to have talent to have effort and enthusiasm and good things come from that. We’ve lacked that in recent weeks but against the Panthers we showed it and that’s what won us the game

That is definitely a key selling point for the Milk. Rapana’s enthusiasm for the battle is unquestionable. He loves contact like Josh Miller. He can offer yardage work with the best of them, and has a preternatural ability to do stuff that (mostly) wins games. He offers coverage of all back five positions, critical depth Canberra needs in 2025. On occasion his sanity dips into the costly, he’s not as fast as he used to be, and as we saw on the weekend he can on occasion be unfairly punished for past sins. But the good outweighs the bad by an astounding amount for someone who is 35.

Will it be at 36? At 37? That’s the question Canberra haven’t answered. So far all reports are they’ve only offered a one year deal. This is the cold touch of roster management. The Raiders could use Rapana next season as cover for young players proving themselves worthy. But after that the certainty isn’t there. Jordan may have more in the tank, he may not. The club may need him, they may not. But in seeking a two year deal Rapana is asking the club to make a bet they don’t have to. He may see this as simple as ‘I’m better than what you have’ and he might actually be right, as insane as that is.

But the Raiders know they don’t have to make that guess now. Rapana has been clear about wanting to stay in Canberra. There isn’t demand elsewhere in the NRL for his skills. He may well see out a two year deal (and I would actually back him to). However, Canberra can sign him for a one year extension and revisit the conversation with a full 2025 of seeing if he still has it, or if the rest of their roster does. And if the Raiders are in the same spot in twelve months time then Rapana becomes the ‘break glass in case of emergency’ person. Rightly or wrongly when it’s NRL or not, the club holds all the cards.

The major problem here is the vibes. The Raiders have made a big deal of treating ageing players ‘right’. Recognising the damage they’ve done to themselves for our viewing pleasure. I wonder if part of the calculus is how a deal would be received by the playing group. It may infuriate if he’s not treated well. It may similarly simmer if he’s kept on longer than he deserves. What would I know? They don’t let me near the players (rightly).

Perhaps there’s a face-saving middle ground here. A two year deal that is actually one, plus one-year team option, may provide the same pathway with enough carrot to keep Rapana away from England. But depending on how its written that would either feel mostly symbolic, or it will tie the club in knots protecting an ageing player at the expense of emerging talent. Neither are satisfying outcomes.

I assume the outcome is that Rapana signs on for another season. Maybe he plays with such venom the club keeps him around a year after that. Given Sticky said he was retiring at the end of this season it’s remarkable we’re even having this conversation. Of the NRL players older than him three are retiring at the end of the season, one was suspended for three-years for taking PEDs, and the other is Daly Cherry-Evans. That Rapana is doing his job, in the way he does it, is proof he is more insanity than man. We should cherish him for that.

For at least one more year.

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