BY DAN

The taster of footy that is the pre-season is over for the Canberra Raiders. Now we hurtle forward to proper rugby league, Las Vegas, and twenty-plus weeks of shame, regret and occasional elation (ask your mum).

Are the Raiders ready? It’s hard to tell. Ricky Stuart hates trials so much that we only got twenty or so minutes of clean footy to hang out hat on. Did it suffice? Before we entered that period we’d identified six things we would be looking at to see if there was change.

To recap, we wanted to know:

• if the attacking style had changed,
• if young players ‘close’ were even closer to first grade,
• if Owen Pattie would play a bigger role in the season,
• who the halves would be,
• whether Savelio Tamale was ready, and
• who from the fringes was ready to make a run.

We didn’t get definitive answers to any of these questions but we did get indications. Let’s run through them.

The attack? Work in progress

Our primary concern, both before the trial and for the majority of the offseason was how Canberra would build a more sustainable and functional offense. We’ve made a big deal about how the Raiders attack has cratered in recent years. The fourth best attack in the league in 2019 became 6th best in 2020, 8th best in 2022, 13th best in 2023, before reaching the nadir last year with the third worst attack in the competition.

In the second trial the Raiders had a good deal of good ball with the starters on the field. As we noted in the review what was offered was nothing new. Canberra didn’t find an easy way through. They didn’t seem to have anything set or structured to work to. They didn’t get their outside backs early ball, or anything in space. They didn’t even manage to put together anything approaching standard block plays in the red zone. All their points came from either the boot or chaos.

That’s not ideal but it’s also not predicative. It’s early in the season. Canberra were missing Taps and Horse, and are likely rolling with some personnel in key positions that could change throughout the year. Most of all Coach Stuart hates trials, as he said before the game. We could have the greatest attack on earth hiding in their and Stick would do everything he could to hide it. Alas that’s more convenient and hopeful than evidence-informed thinking.

Young players ready? Check.

For a team that has investment so much in the next generation, the continued growth of these players is critical. They don’t have to be ready, or stars, but they have to be pressing for spots.

On the young player front it was good to see Ethan Sanders and Chevy Stewart perform well in the trials. Sanders had a great first trial, showing a willingness to engage the line and a skill to hot-step through it in setting up a try. In the second game he did less with limited opportunities. But he didn’t lose his cool in difficult circumstances. That’s a good sign for a floor-leader.

I thought Chevy Stewart was excellent in the trials. I expect and support Kaeo Weekes being named the week one starter and probably holding that spot for while yet. The try he set up for Ethan Strange is perfect evidence of that. Stewart still needs to work on a range of things, from kick defusal to his ability to get through contact in yardage a la Xavier Savage. But he showed a dynamism with ball in hand that was a little bit exciting, and showed a convincing ball player operating at first receiver. That’s an improvement from last season. It’s pleasing to see that trajectory continuing upwards.

Bake me a try Pattie

Of course much of how Canberra goes in the future will rest in the hands of their future rake, Owen Pattie. He didn’t get a run in the second trial, but in the first he showed good command of the ruck, impressive decision making and a physical maturity (he’s 21 after all) that suggested he could stand the battle in the top line if asked to this season.

That he didn’t run out in the second trial indicates, but doesn’t prove, he won’t be apart of the round one team. If that’s the case the club is taking a long-term approach. He only started playing NSW Cup half way through last season. Evidently the club wants to let him get used to playing against fully-grown humans in reggies, before they expose him further to the big dance.

I’m not ecstatic about this but it’s an understandable approach from the club. We – the fan base – are desperate for him to be good. This saviour complex can play havoc with young players still developing their game, their bodies, and their brains. He looks like he has plenty to him. For now we are trusting Stick to know when the time is right to deploy him, rather than meeting our base desires.

But then again I did see him wearing 14 on Instagram….ok ok calm down.

Strange by Half

Any thoughts of the Raiders starting the season by forcing Ethan Strange to Siberia left centre and employing the law-firm of Strange, Sanders and Fogarty seems to have been put to the side for the time being. Sanders didn’t get to play with Strange at all in the trial period. All media since has focused on the burgeoning partnership between Fogarty and Strange.

Stuart has been clear though that Sanders will play first grade this year. I suspect as the Fogarty contract situation exposes itself how that occurs will become clearer. We may see an all youth spine unleashed at some point. But for now it will remain dormant.

I consider this a win. Strange can learn his game and role more readily playing alongside someone who knows there’s inside out. Pushing him into a partnership with Sanders before either are ready puts both in a sink or swim scenario. Best to keep the lifeguard around.

Savelio

I was surprised to see a bit of news about that suggested Tamale had put in an eye opening performance on Thursday. He went fine, got dominated on a few runs, and barely got a chance to do anything exciting in attack. I think he’s very good player, and the future of the club at the position (or maybe centre). He got involved plenty, but it wasn’t the abject domination we had hoped.

He’ll be ready to go for round one. But whereas I’d expected him to keep the spot that Bert Hopoate vacated for him, absent a dominant performance in Vegas I’m inclined to think Stick might go back to the certainty of Hopoate rather than the upside of Tamale. That’s particularly the case because Bert had a pretty decent pre-season.

I’m not worried. I’m fairly certain he’ll work it out before long. But maybe I will have to slow down on printing the Dally M winger of the year shirts I was planning.

Fringe fun

The trial period usually throws up someone that excites. Someone we hadn’t been watching and maybe should. I think a lot of things were interesting. Exciting is a bit strong. But it’s worth considering some of the views from the fringes.

There was still plenty of things to like. Myles Martin made good decisions as a passer and runner through the middle third. Noah Martin didn’t get much of a chance to run on the edge, but through the pre-season he’s proven himself a prospect worth pursuing. Reagan Carr’s hard-nosed running in the centres was a welcome sight, and Maniai Waitere was much improved in week two from week one. Jensen Taumoepeau looks like a maniac. If he can get some of those errors out of his game he could be a heap of fun.

But let’s not get carried away. One of the things we learned in the second half of the Sharks game in particularly was that the Milk’s depth is that. While some of it is pressing (like Sanders, Stewart, and Pattie) plenty of it remains a work in progress. We saw incessant handling errors, some basic defensive issues through the middle third, and generally some footy that screamed kids on the field together. It was messy.

That’s not panic stations stuff. The middle defence wasn’t perfect because so much was being done. The handling errors weren’t great, but the humidity definitely seemed to contribute to people finding the ball slippery. They were up against a team that will compete for a premiership, without elder statesmen around to help them. Maybe we count it as something to build on.

And more importantly we learned that Matty Nicholson can handle time on the right edge. Whether that’s a full time job or a part time gig remains to be seen. But it’s better to have more people on that beat than less. It opens up options in the forward pack and maybe in the playing style. So while the disastrous back end of the Sharks game left a taste in the mouth, the trial period itself was a qualified success.

Now onto the real stuff.

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