BY DAN

If Canberra intend to be successful with their current playing roster and style they need an easier ability to shift the ball from the middle to their edges.

For much of the season that relied on Morgan Smithies. A courageous and unpretentious player, Morgan was asked to take on a role of distributor through the middle third because of the absence of Corey Horsburgh and the club’s decision to not play Puru. This was in addition to being a necessarily active defender, and playing massive minutes. It was a lot to ask of the first year player.

The results were mixed. Canberra struggled all year to shift the ball in any structured or cohesive way. Smithies was often forced to tuck and run, unable to get a pass away before defence had jammed his outside runners, removing his options. When Horsburgh returned at the end of the season we got a comparative insight that displayed that this was partly the team’s problem, but partly also that too much was being asked of him. Corey’s passing decisions were faster and easier, and consequently the Raiders got into their attacking shapes with greater ease. Watching this just made it more confounding that Smithies was asked to handle this role on his own for so much of the season.

This was particularly the case when the Raiders had a first grade quality forward capable of performing such a role. Hohepa Puru spent all season hiding out in Cup footy, entrusted with leadership of a team that while very good, was also not first grade. He’d already been good enough to make his NRL debut in 2023. He’d been perfectly good in an opportunity limited by concussion in his second outing. Alas he’s been given no opportunities to play first grade again, despite the Raiders having a need and an opportunity to play him.

We’ve long been on this hobby horse. Puru may be smaller than your typical middle, but he offers a ball-play, agility, dynamism and work rate that the Raiders desperately need. He’s small in the line but is an improving defender – he was one of the top tacklers in the NSW Cup this year. He can play multiple positions, and seems a capable leader too. With the Milk losing three captains in the last four seasons, and plenty of experience in recent seasons, it seems prudent to keep people at the club. We’ve called him a star of the future, and the only thing stopping that being the case is him getting game time to prove his worth in first grade.

But will that be with the Raiders? We remain unsure. The last reporting on his position was the club extending the amount of time it was giving him to pick up the option he has for the 2025 season. Then he found himself coming off the bench inexplicably and unforgivably in NSW Cup. After playing 80 minutes in 12 of the first 21 games of the season, he’s now played 70, 23, 52, 73, 47, 15 (due to injury) and 46 minutes. It’s hard not to think Puru has given the club the answer, and it’s not what they’d hoped. For balance we note that Puru wasn’t among players farewelled at the end of season presentation night. We offer no intelligence either way beyond that. We simply do not know at this stage.

If Puru chooses to go we wish him nothing but the best and hope that Coach Stuart’s pretty handy ability to pick the right talent to keep is true to form. It’s hard not to think that Puru would have stayed if there was an opportunity to progress to first grade. I’m not always a fan of playing people because of contract-demands demanding it, but the Raiders actually needed Puru playing first grade. That makes it doubly frustrating.

The risk is they’ve weakened both their current and future states out of sheer shortsightedness, stuck adhering to only playing ‘big’ through the middle, unable to conceive the benefits a bit more agility, pace and creativity might offer. It was a mistake in 2024. It could hurt them in 2025 and beyond.

Last one on Hohepa until a decision is announced I swear. If you haven’t already like the page on Facebook, follow me, Rob, or Viv on Twitter, or share this on social media and I walk into hell with you. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not. Feature image courtesy of Getty.