BY DAN

Ah yes, the familiar challenge of representative games.

In case you missed it, Corey Horsburgh will be out for an as-yet-undetermined period of time with a collarbone injury, according to the Canberra Times. The injury occurred just four minutes into the Prime Minister’s XIII game on Sunday afternoon. A brother could be understandably annoyed he made the trip for all that.

It’s been a while since we’ve had to deal with this. Football brings injuries. You can’t avoid them, only hope they don’t catch you. These are important games, for the league and for the players, so there’s no reason to shield the children. But occasionally these things happen. Life’s shit sometimes.

The injury shouldn’t have a material impact on him or on the Raiders’ preparation for 2026. I’m no NRL Physio, but even in the worst-case scenario, he’d be back on deck well before the pre-season games start, only a couple of weeks after the internationals usually return post-Christmas. More likely, the rest he was about to get will instead be spent in rehab.

If there’s a ramification, it’s the interruption to Horsburgh’s momentum. 2025’s success was built in the summer, and this robs him of the chance to string together multiple uninterrupted preparations and really launch into 2026. Given how stop-start his career has been – and its susceptibility to injury, conditioning, and injury-related conditioning issues (hey, it made me laugh) – it’s a risk Corey could do without. If the injury is major, one hopes his oft-mentioned support network is in place to help manage what would undoubtedly be a frustrating outcome.

For the club, apart from ensuring Horsburgh is ready for 2026, there’s little to do. The main concern is the delay in building the connection between Horsburgh and whoever starts at first receiver next season. He often acts as the link through the middle, particularly in red-zone sets. Those formations went from a weakness in 2024 to a strength in 2025, with the Horsburgh-Fogarty connection a key factor. A few weeks’ delay won’t be insurmountable, but given the challenge of integrating a new halfback, it could still have an impact.

But the middle is where the Raiders are loaded. Fewer opportunities for Horsburgh just mean more reps for others. I’m sure the various Martins will appreciate the extra time training with the first 17.

It’s a speed bump, not a roadblock. In all likelihood, Corey will be fine and we’ll have forgotten this even happened by the time Round 1 rolls around. Still, we’ll be glad to hear if it’s only minor. Here’s hoping Corey gets healthy sooner rather than later.

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