BY DAN

For a while all we had was hope.

Last summer we wrote a piece that will never see the light of day. In this piece we talked about the misguided nature of false hope. Of putting too much expectation on players that had failed to demonstrate anything but mediocrity. Of throwing darts at the wall with a blindfold emblazoned with ‘guessing’.

Canberra had failed to lure Danny Walker away from whichever English club it was (the Wire? I refuse to believe I ever cared about this). They were in rumours with every budget and non-budget nine around, and we were circling back to a year in which the hope of someone like Jayden Brailey, or Cory Paix, was going to be the thing that sustained us. It was foolish, but desperation will make a proud man beg, a brave man crazy and you believe the mess is a work of art.

Of course in the background of all this was the club wasn’t desperate. The news kept coming (most via the Canberra Times) that the Raiders were really high on Owen Pattie (and other hookers in the pipeline). But just how good could he be? We’d seen him play a bit of NSW Cup last year, and that was enough to excite. But expecting him to be a contributor this year seemed a far flung hope. A bed time story told to quieten anxious minds.

There were reasons to think it was more than a tale. Word is Owen Pattie wasn’t that he was just good but hat he might be generational. That was the interpretation of why the Milk didn’t chase Reece Robson, or Brandon Smith in the off-season, despite the former reportedly offering the Raiders an audience, and the latter needing somewhere that didn’t hate him. That’s why they were willing to walk into a contract year with Tom Starling un-tethered, watch Danny Levi walk into the sunset and wait for Jayden Brailey to be the most overqualified third wheel since Theodore Donald Kerabatsos was knocking down pins. Before Pattie had even played a first grade game he’d signed a massive extension.

Still, it was all just hope. At least from the outside. We hadn’t seen the kid in action in the top line. There was no clarity as to whether he could perform at the highest level. Then he got the call up immediately in round one and a future plan was brought forward. From the get go he looked not only at home, but almost unbothered. Here was someone with immediately elite passing, kicking and a running game to boot. Creativity unseen in all but one Canberra hooker in forty plus years of existence.

The hope was to be patient. Both Ricky Stuart and Assistant Coach Brock Sheppard have talked about bringing him along slowly, not trying to put too much on his plate, giving him opportunity to adjust. All he needed was reps, and time. To learn his game, but also to build the strength and technique to match the questions asked of rakes in the modern NRL.

Stuart has often been the guy who has held back, or moved players to different positions or roles, to support their development through their first year. Just last year Ethan Strange was rested, then played at centre, because he was ‘tired’. So for half a season it’s been 20 minutes there, 15 minutes there for Pattie. He hasn’t played more than 20 minutes since round seven. The most he’s played in 29.

Consequently every game he plays feels like him trying to make the most of limited opportunities – push every moment to its full potential. It’s done to not expose him to the full defensive weight of being in first grade. It can lead to the appearance that he is over-pursuing the game, hoping to take every half opportunity.

But now that changes. With Tom Starling missing a single game it gives the club, and Pattie a perfect opportunity to get into the deep water, before stepping back to his previous role with minimal damage if it doesn’t work perfectly. I would not expect a sixty minute stint. It seems borderline cruel to push him out that far.

He’s currently named to start and will likely get somewhere nearer to a full forty minutes of football whether it’s from the get go or off the bench. Instead of ‘Owen Pattie cameos’ we’ll get to see a lead actor role. It will be instructive to see what he does with the opportunity. He’ll be able to be patient, to work and work over rucks and players and opportunities that he spots. It won’t be rushed, but it will be a test. He will be targeted in defence. Given how he’s exceeded his even lofty expectations at every step he almost certainly will pass.

Twelve months ago we couldn’t see a plan or even the hope of one. Six months ago we pinning our plans on players we couldn’t even get. Now we have a proper player, and a chance to prove positive that he’s everything we wished and more. The club, the community, the fanbase – we’re not worried if he’ll be good, but calculating how good he might be. It is exciting to see how far he can go.

That’s better than hope.

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