BY DAN

On Saturday the Canberra Raiders chief muckety-muck Don Furner said the team would be announcing additional signings in the coming days. And before the weekend was out Zero Tackle revealed the first: Saxon Innes.

Who is Saxon Innes? Great question, and one I also asked. Full disclosure I’ve never knowingly watched him play. Turns out he’s nominally a fullback from the Broncos pathway. He does come highly touted, constantly referenced as ‘one to watch‘. He’s a few years off playing first grade though, having played Mal Meninga Cup in 2025 (broadly equivalent to Jersey Flegg). He’s played a couple of Q Cup games and was part of the QLD U/19 emerging squad in 2025.

As for his game, we’re mostly limited to highlights packages, and his speed stands out immediately. He’s rapido, as every report dutifully notes (albiet in English). He also seems to make good run/pass choices as the second man in shift shapes, though it’s always easier to look composed when there isn’t a 110-kilo back-rower flying into your ribcage. Still, the talent and athleticism are there, and at his age that’s the main box you want ticked.

I’d warn against getting too carried away about what this means for the Milk. Innes might be a fullback of the future; he might end up as an outside back of another flavour; he might simply become one of those names we vaguely remember in a few years. Canberra have plenty of kids in Cup and Flegg who bracket him in the depth chart. Chevy Stewart, and probably Ethan Alaia, sit ahead of him, while SG Ball fullback Sylas Simon is pushing from below. If Stewart moves on, the NSW Cup fullback jersey becomes a battleground, and Innes will be one of many swinging for it.

He’s one of many, and until we see him next season we’re guessing at both his prospects and his position. Elite juniors often come through in decision-making roles, but the closer you get to first grade, the further you tend to drift from the spine. Innes is atypical in that he apparently shifted from wing to fullback: usually it goes the other way. But plenty of promising fullbacks end up filling whatever hole the roster demands as their careers unfold. Just ask Manaia Waitere.

Lord knows where this will end up. It’s all a bit of a guessing game; all you can do is line up the talent and see which of them hit. It does confirm our guess that Furner’s purported ‘announcements to come’ are more likely to be in the pathways space than the first grade. It’s not sexy work, but it is pleasing that the club is keen on burnishing their pipeline (‘ello govnor) with talent of repute. They’ve proven in recent years they can feed thousands with a few loaves and some pieces of fish, and they seem to be loading up on the quality tuna.

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