BY DAN

Hello and welcome to our offseason series on the six big questions facing the Raiders in 2026. This is part IV of the series. You can read part I here, part II here, and part III here.

The Canberra Raiders want you to believe in Ethan Sanders.

Over the past few weeks we’ve seen an ever-increasing array of commentary from people associated with the club on Sanders’ growth. It comes hot on the heels of big-name players returning to training for the first time this pre-season.

First it was Jarrod Croker in the media talking up the presumptive starter, saying ‘he’s a genuine seven’ to the Canberra Times, and:

He’s got a good kicking game. He’s a strong defender and he’s a really good kid.

Now Jarrod has jobs coaching both the Raiders and the dastardly Sea-Eagles (booooo), so let’s take his view with a grain of salt. But this week these sentiments were repeated by new rake Jayden Brailey. He told media that ‘Sando has definitely stood out for me’, and:

He’s really gone up a gear with the opportunity that’s in front of him, and really taken the team by the scruff of the neck in these early stages of the pre-season. He’s really stood out… I’m sure he’s set for a big season for us.

Jayden, if you keep talking like that, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.

This was reinforced by further comments from Hudson Young, and then Ethan Strange:

One hundred per cent he’s up to it. He’s a great football player. He’s got a very mature footy brain, which is good for everyone. He’s slotted in. He’s like a veteran out there.

Rolling compliments. I wish my coworkers would randomly speak about me like this!

Sanders is obviously worthy of the comments. In Cup we’ve seen a willing defender, an impressive ball-runner, and a hit-and-miss creator. He’s more agile than the man he’s replacing, and that’s reflected both in his movement in defence and in the threat he places on defensive lines when he carries the ball. The creative combination he built with Noah Martin in Cup footy was the Ryan Coogler and Michael B Jordan of rugby league. Ethan had 15 try assists. Noah had 15 tries. I’m just asking questions.

If we had a criticism of Sanders last season, and a concern for this coming season, was his ability to make himself ‘first in line’. Last season in Cup he seemed in a constant battle for the ball with Adam Cook and Danny Levi. Partly that’s what happens when you get three players altogether who are ball players first. Each of them want to make something happen, and take opportunities that they see.

In an environment like NSW Cup, where the Coach naturally gets less time to game plan with players, and where connections and cohesion are constantly upset by players moving in and out of grades, that can make the approach feel disjointed. This can become a ‘your turn, my turn’ approach to creativity, meaning players take the best option available to them, rather than the team. It’s inefficient, and goes a long way to explain how the Cup team would vacillate between absolute dominance and ineptitude within minutes and halves.

As we noted that’s mostly to do with the structure, but the individual also matters here (alright Max Weber). A halfback’s role is to be an on-field game manager, to direct and target the attack to the most effective and efficient places on the ground. That requires leadership, and a degree of self-assuredness beyond what most humans with Sanders age and experience would have.

Perhaps that’s changing. Brailey’s comments also noted he saw a leader in formation:

What stood out to me is that he’s really calm, collected, and steers the boys around really well. That’s exactly what we need. Obviously with Strangey, he plays a lot more off the cuff, we need someone directing us around the field and a little bit more level headed getting around the park and Sando’s exactly that.

This is not the first time something of that nature has been said about Sanders. Before last season Jamal Fogarty made a similar identification (here), suggesting that Sanders had found his voice among the first graders.

One thing I’ve noticed with Ethan is that he talks, and as a half you need to do that. As a playmaker you’re not going to do your job very well if you don’t talk.

Interpreting pre-season praise is a tough game to play. There are a myriad of motives that could be driving this. Before Morgan Smithies first season the club tried to talk his passing ability into existence, something that as the season wore on appeared more aspirational than descriptive. He ended up showing more of that in 2025, so it’s not that it didn’t exist, but the pathway of development is jumpier than a boomer with some grass to protect.

There’s also a greater than zero chance the club are doing their best to build up Sanders before the season starts as a response to what happened with the Pezet/Black chase. They’ve invested a lot in Ethan, and while they’ve gone out and got another talent in Black, Sanders is unquestionably the most first grade ready. The players getting around Sanders in such a public way is a big warm snuggie of encouragement, an attempt to build back what was stripped last October. Croker’s comments also came with the caveat of not reacting to a bad game after all.

If there is a quiet day or a bad day let’s just remember he’s a 21 year old kid replacing a really good halfback.

This is good advice, and recognises the awkward position that Sanders is in. He won’t be perfect, he will make mistakes, and he will be talented. Sometimes two of those things will coincide, sometimes they won’t, and we’ll get to see the brilliance shine through.

We are happy to take the praise at face value. After all it’s better that we are getting rolling thunder of his achievements than the alternative. Last season we saw similar commentary around Kaeo Weekes’ offseason, and while the start was rocky, the rest was a dream. Sanders may be on a similar trajectory. To borrow Jarrod Croker’s words one more time:

I’ve got a lot of confidence in him. He’ll be fine.

Me too Jarrod. Me too.

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