BY DAN

Emre Guler’s time in Canberra has ended, with the sometimes bench forward leaving town for the Dragons, as reported by the Daily Telegraph (now confirmed by the club).

It’s an outcome we’ve been waiting on for a while. Reports emerged last year that Guler had requested an early release to move back to Sydney. This is the manifestation of that request.

Ultimately it’s the end of a frustrating career in green. When Emre came onto the scene in late 2018 we thought his decent power, size-relative agility and better-than-expected passing would be the start of a big career in Canberra. It was a good start and something to build on. But there was never the hoped improvement from there. Instead he was always adequate with the ball, and far-too-friendly without it. And that’s not the output needed from Canberra’s middle.

He was the personification of a fatal flaw of the Milk. Big enough but not physically overwhelming. Able to use feet in the line to occasionally win quick rucks. Not enough though. With the size to dominate ball carriers but with a bizarre friendliness in contact. Like a kid playing stuck in the mud in defence, prone to hanging arms and feet unable to move laterally. He was everything the Canberra middle was bad and good at. Much like the club over his tenure, he never improved his weaknesses. He was big. He could dance a little. That ended up being about it.

That’s why he’d fallen out of favour over recent years. It was also why it was confusing as to why he’d been preferred so often in the past. But in 2024 the cord was cut and he spent more time in cup than first grade. A length of players had overtaken him in the pecking order, and his offering had become ‘middling floor, low ceiling’ that would get broken out whenever Stick wasn’t into embracing the uncertainty of youth. Well, that game has changed and now being ‘fine’ (like your partner says they’re fine) isn’t going to cut it.

For him this is likely an opportunity to get more game time with a club bereft of quality middles. Shane Flanagan has a history of getting the best out of players so Guler may improve. But he was not doing that in Canberra, so it’s probably the best for both parties. Guler’s output had been dropping each year he was at the Raiders. Maybe Flanno can turn it around.

We’re keen to see what this means for the Raiders. Immediately it means more opportunities for the fringes of the roster. That’s one less “old hand” for Stick to rely on. There’s still plenty of players with games under their belt. Pasami Saulo, Ata Mariota, and Trey Mooney were already getting more time than Guler. But with one less experienced mouth to feed the scraps that fall off the big table will be open to a host of other players. In particular we’ll be keen to know what it means for the Martin triplets. Or whether Matty Nicholson’s done enough to shore up the right edge meaning Zac Hosking is competing for middle minutes.

We’re also intrigued as to what it means for the roster. The Raiders now only have 28 people in their top 30 (including Corey Harawira-Naera). Most, including us, had believed that Guler hadn’t been granted a release because the club didn’t want to give him up without certainty of something coming in. When Leo Thompson chose another environment we assumed we’d be rolling with Guler for the rest of the season. This release has now been granted, meaning our eyes turn to the free agency market to see if there’s more to come. It could just be that Noah Martin and Owen Pattie get early upgrades. Or Adam Cook. Or Izaac Thompson. But maybe…better to not get too carried away.

Hopefully it is the end of an era. For Emre but also for the Milk. Middling is no longer the aim. Aim high or go home is the name of the game now. I’d call it ambitious but it’s almost been forced on the club.

For now that’s a tomorrow problem. Farewell Emre Guler. We wish you the best in Sydney. We never got it here.

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