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

BY DAN

You can only ask so much of a man.

Particularly when that man is still in his ascendency, still finding out who he is as a football. When that person is still young, thriving when appropriately isolated from too much responsibility, too early. Still developing the skills it takes to be the elite ball player we all want him to be, to understand the game in the way the greats do. Intrinsically. Instinctively. Completely. You only put so much weight on a single person.

And it’s a lesson that the Canberra Raiders have had to learn before.

Canberra, by necessity and by strategy, are asking a lot of Ethan Strange. A young side is incorporating a new half (in all senses of the word), limited and emerging rakes, a fullback still learning the position, and defensive frailties that went full Achillies in 2025 (never go full Achilles). In between all this Ethan’s sphere of influence is expanding, both because it’s been asked of him and because the space is there.

It’s a lot to ask. Maybe too much. Ethan is still developing his own game. He’s improved in each year in first grade, but no one would pretend he’s an elite ball player. He’s got the capabilities, both physical and in footy IQ, but the pace of NRL and the elite athletics ubiquitous in the game mean that putting those two things together is always difficult. Asking him to take a detour on his pathway to being an elite running six will only limit his effectiveness in the short and long term.

The Raiders made that mistake with Jack Wighton. Jack was nothing but talent, a raw-boned runner and defensive brute. Canberra tried twice to make him a half; the first time was awkward, the second time it stuck. It worked in 2019 because with halves and hookers who knew exactly what they were doing, Jack was given clear instructions and limited decisions. He thrived. In 2019 he won the Clive Churchill. In 2020 he won the Dally M.

Then as Josh Hodgon’s career waned, George Williams hokey-pokey’d, and Jamal Fogarty dealt with injury, the Raiders asked more and more of a player that wasn’t suited to the role. He was good enough to make a fist of it, but it cast an artificial limit on the ability of the Raiders. They could only ever go as far as Jack’s brilliance could overcome Jack’s game management involvement. Memories of balls sailing out on the full will haunt us forever.

That ghost now hangs over Canberra’s HQ. Jack Wighton and Ethan Strange will always be cosmically linked. Wighton left as Strange moved into the top line; the vacuum creating the clarity of role for Strange. Both are hard-running halves, savage defenders; old fashioned five-eighths. Canberra is faced with a similar conundrum of how to use their singular talent.

And this time they need to get it right.

The Raiders cannot shy away from involving him more, nor would Strange want to. So far he’s been willing to carry all the weight. Of expectation. Of hope. Of solution. He is not just being asked to do his job, but help others as well. The Canberra Raiders have a problem in defence on their right edge? No worries, Ethan will help fix it. The Milk need to incorporate a young half or two? Not a problem. The Stranger is on it. How do you link two generations, one encumbered with the benefits of experience but not the perspicacity of youth, the other with boundless plains to share? You ask one man to be both. He’s at the heart of every solution. The oxygen to every gasping breath. He is the hero we want and it’s unfair to need.

There is no hard or fast rule here. Some players thrive given more than they should be ready for. Nathan Cleary was asked similarly, both by Penrith and New South Wales. The fire is meant to sharpen the sword. But it doesn’t always work like that. As many players have ended up scalded as have ended up deadly.

For Ethan the risk is caging the beast through the bars of responsibility. What has allowed Strange to thrive is not trying to make him play a certain way. Justin Giteau has allowed him free rein, what Jayden Brailey described “a lot more off the cuff”. Asking him to be the fulcrum around which things operate is unfair, and probably detrimental to his ongoing development.

We saw how that went in 2024. Strange was trying to find his way in the league, playing as a co-anchor of the offence alongside Kaeo Weekes. It’s no surprise that both players had excellent 2025’s when those shackles were removed. Strange is 30 games wiser now, but making him think about last tackle options and positions on the field are a waste of his precious mental mettle. He may make his way regardless, but that would more be a testament to his talent than the path.

What we should be asking is how we can structure the team to make sure he has less to do. We may get hints about this, such as using Jayden Brailey at 9 in order to reduce the uncertainty in direction of the side. Starling and Pattie can still influence this, and Pattie in particular will only improve over time. If they are picked it is not a rebuke of this idea. But picking Brailey would be a high signal – not only to make Ethan Sanders’ job easier, but an attempt to ensure that Strange’s role remains more focused on slugging percentage than OBP.

Canberra can succeed with Strange taking more on his shoulders. They’re big enough. But a keen eye and an honest heart will need to ensure that his plate isn’t filled and filled until it makes him sick. If each week they ask more, eventually he’ll be given more than is necessary for his development, and it will cast a shadow over others too.

They saw that process play out with Jack Wighton. Strange is an evolution of that talent, and has all the potential to be an all-time great. But the lesson remains the same; find what he does best and allow him to do that. Protect him now from the trials and tribulations of leadership. Protect him from the failings of Jack Wighton. Let the kid play.

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