BY DAN

Another big name free agent has rejected Canberra. The city. The team. The concept.

The latest is Leo Thompson. Before him was David Fifita. Jack Wighton was inside the house. You could argue that both George Williams and John Bateman did the same, just with longer lead times. It’s now been between nine years and forty since the Raiders signed an elite free agent, depending on how you grade.

It hurts for many reasons. The Raiders so often feel like they’re fighting with one hand tied behind their back. Third-party agreements, salary sombreros, bright lights and big cities. It always feels like their money doesn’t go as far as their competitors. Smarter men have gone insane trying to work out where the Milk’s cap goes. They adjust of course, finding new pathways and new markets to exploit. They’re innovative because they have to be.

It feels like a rejection of the club’s position, and a confirmation of our worst fears about what this side might achieve. We’ve noted before that the strategy of building through a talented youth movement is high risk. That carries with a implicit downside that haunts our waking nights. Those moments were the mix of Angie McMahon and whisky give us the strength to face our worst fears: we may never see this team with the whole thing in our lifetimes. Then what was it all for?

It also hurts because of the implicit rejection of what Canberra is. Canberrans spend so much time apologising for existing, reacting to disingenuous and outdated complaints about the nature of the city. In a football context these are usually trotted out as explanations as to why free agents prefer places with similar features. To be honest they may be right. Not so much the criticisms, but the confirmation bias or rationalisation that players would attribute their decision making process to.

It shows why the club has been reluctant to get involved in higher name pursuits. Reports were they had a chance with Reece Robson and Brandon Smith. Both of those claims seem laughable in the context of Thompson’s decision. The Raiders offered him 300k more than the Dogs and he chose there. They offered 400k a year more than the Rabbitohs and Jack chose there. The idea that high-profile candidates like Robson would choose Canberra in competitive market environments just doesn’t gel with reality.

The club chose to pick Thompson because it thought it could actually get him in the door. After all his partner is from Canberra and the scuttlebutt was they wanted to return to live there. Leo knows the system, and that the club has a reputation for getting the best out of middle forwards. This was them shooting their shot for a player in their league so to speak. And yet they were still rejected. Keep this up and Donny Furns will be wearing a Fedora and watching Jordan Peterson content.

It’s hard to separate Sticky from this mess. Where does the club’s reputation begin and his end? It’s a semantic game. At times he’s been a help for recruitment, driving the acquisition of a host of players. At others perhaps a hindrance, at least in trying to appeal to a new generation of players that might not respond to Stuart’s tendency towards honest appraisals. Immeasurability of his impact aside, this is caked into the situation. He’s almost as permanent as the coastline (or lack thereof) that is such an impediment to recruitment.

Outside of Stick’s departure is a I’m not sure what strategies or changes the club can make that would have an impact. So much is determined by factors beyond its control. We don’t want to criticisms about the city to sting but they do. They’re not based on fact but they still have a tangible impact. We don’t want the implicit criticisms of the organisation to matter but they do pluck at the opposite string from hope.

One might consider mechanisms taken at a competition level, such as the suggested mechanisms being put in place to support the PNG expansion team. But the NRL would rather get rid of the Raiders than provide additional supports to them. Further in everything but premierships the club is successful. It has a healthy financial base, is a big part of bringing development of athletes throughout the Riverina, the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven. It is competitive every year without the mess of actually winning. From the NRL’s perspective there’s no need to help. Either the Raiders continue to succeed on their own or they can fuck off to Adelaide.

It seems this is Canberra’s lot. The Raiders will forever have to find different and innovative ways to build a roster because high profile free agency is just not feasible. They’ll have survive off digging in crates across the league, trying to find overlooked or underutilised talent. The big names, or even the kinda bigish names, aren’t part of their future. It’s makes you understand why ‘Fuck em’ was plastered on the wall of the change rooms last season.

As unhealthy as it may be that may be the best forward. No point staying up all night listening to Nothingman and staring at the wall. They’ve still got talent. They’ve still got people that want to be there. It just makes the act of succeeding even more impressive, requires more effect, more innovation and more resilience. Other clubs will never be this strong because they don’t have to be. They’re on easy mode. The Raiders always do it harder. It’s just part of the fabric of existence.

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