BY DAN

Winning in the NRL is built on more than just your best 17 being better than the other team’s. Over a long NRL season that 17 will be tested, by injury, form, and representative football. You need a full 30 capable of fighting the good fight. Canberra have spent the last few years not just building a quality side, but for the first time in years, one sustainable for a whole season.

It goes beyond the first grade squad. For every Chevy Stewart there’s an Ethan Alaia, a Jalen Afamasaga for every Daine Laurie. Is Manaia Waitere just tomorrow’s Sione Finau. It’s really exciting for the long term, but for more immediate, and selfish purposes, it provides a really important ballast which could support Canberra’s hopes and dreams in 2026.

That’s a new thing for Canberra. In recent years we’ve wringed our hands at every injury. Squinting at Jed Stuart, or Danny Levi, or Jordan Martin, and hoping they could do a job rather than be excited for them to finally get the opportunity. But this season the depth is a reason to be optimistic.

Fullback: Chevy Stewart

If you have been reading these pages a while, you’ll know I didn’t expect Chevy to still be in town. There’s simply too much talent to be wasted playing Cup footy. First grade is where he’ll be at some point in the next 24 months, and with Kaeo Weekes at the club, you can understand if he moved on. That was complicated by an off-season incident which has since been resolved, but may have played a role in him sitting still for 2026.

From an outside view it’s always hard to tell how he’s handling the lack of professional progress, but all indications are good. He spent a chunk of time at the end of 2025 working with famed sprint coach Roger Fabri to garner a yard of pace. He’s seemed to approach the 2026 pre-season with the kind of effort and professionalism you’d hope for. It points to good things for the young man.

For the Milk, he’s an intriguing insurance policy in 2026. Daine Laurie may be used here too, but Stewart has been in the system longer, and will be playing fullback in the Cup footy team. My guess is if something unforeseen happens, he’ll be first in line.

Outside backs: Sione Finau

We’ve already written about how Sione is our secret weapon this year. After a season when injury meant Jed Stuart stepping up, or Simi Sasagi playing out of position (at least, out of the one we want him to play), Finau is not just first grade quality, but also potentially a weapon at that level. He has speed to burn and a workrate reminiscent of his mate Savelio Tamale. In addition he has the capability to play centre and wing, creating competition at all spots across the backline. Molto bene!

This gives the Raiders not just the depth needed to cover for injuries, but also an ability to cover for form issues, and internal pressure across the backline to perform. Given some genius predicted Sav Tamale to push for Origin duties sooner rather than later, it’s important coverage for those duties too.

A further thing to note: Matt Timoko recently spoke to the media about how many players had been cycling through backline positions in pre-season as part of Stuart’s competition philosophy. One name that stood out was Saxon Innes. When Canberra signed the Brisbane fullback last year, he looked like a long‑term project. Maybe he’s closer than we thought.

Running half: Daine Laurie

In 2026 the Raiders will be asking more of Ethan Strange. Given how important he already was in 2025, that’s remarkable. He seems to be made of iron, and we hope he never even gets so much as a scratch on his body, but as we cruelly learned in the semi final against the Sharks last season, the Raiders need to a plan B.

Arguably Daine Laurie is the least ‘certain’ of Canberra’s back ups. Laurie isn’t the defensive menace that Strange is, and he’s not in possession the power or brilliance, but he’s no slouch in talent that can shift a game in a moment. It’s an improvement on last year when it was Simi being asked to fulfil an impossible task on game day. I wouldn’t want him to be a permanent six (or one, if he gets a role there too), but for a game or two, he’ll suffice.

Organising half: Coby Black

Ethan Sanders has the job, but it would take a brave person to say that he’s a certain star. That’s not how it works for young halves. As Coach Stuart has shown in recent years, he believes the physical demand on rookies in first grade is so substantial that even a truck masquerading as a human like Ethan Strange needs a break as the year goes on. So even if Sanders is good from the get-go, I would expect to see the highly talented Coby Black in first grade at some point throughout the year.

That has been complicated by Black’s nerve injury at the end of 2025. As we covered here, it’s not clear what his season start will look like, and when he’ll be ready for contact again. Given his age and ongoing physical development it would be unwise for the Milk to push him to play early. Hopefully he gets back onto the park when he’s ready and starts putting in work in Cup footy. He’ll be needed at some point.

Backrower: Noah Martin

In truth in another era of this side we’d be demanding he play first grade every week. He’s a damaging runner, loping through defensive lines like a Viking into the enemy. He’s physically ready, too good for NSW Cup, and already has a relationship with Ethan Sanders that was about 70 per cent of the Cup team’s attack in 2025.

Unfortunately for Noah (but fortunately for us), he’s about number five on the depth chart of backrowers and middles (which he can also cover). If someone gets injured at any forward position outside of rake, he’s most likely pushing for a first-grade spot. As it is he’ll be watching first grade more often than not.

But it means the Raiders are ready for anything. For Hudson Young to play Origin football. For Zac Hosking to get a break so he doesn’t wear himself down. For Matty Nicholson to take his time to get ready for first grade. For Simi Sasagi to be deployed in some other position (maybe he can be a coach too? He’ll end up doing everything else).

Hooker: Jayden Brailey

In the recent past we’ve noted the possibility of Brailey to get a bigger role this year than we’d hoped or anticipated. We won’t know for a while if that will happen, but with him as the third hooker (and Shaun Packer as the fourth), Canberra enter the season with remarkable depth at one of the most important positions on the park.

Brailey offers a lot – mostly certainty, if his body is right. He’ll support the young halves to get to the right spots on the field. He’ll make his tackles, and give good services to the middles. He won’t let anyone down. Having him at first drop means that for the first time since Liva Havili was on the team, the Milk will have three first-grade capable rakes on the roster.

Middles: Vena Patuki-Case Jake Clydesdale

Canberra don’t really need middle depth. Morgan Smithies gives them bulk at the spot. Simi Sasagi gives them fire and flexibility at 13. Tom Starling and Owen Pattie might play minutes alongside each other. Jayden Brailey has taken spot minutes at 13 in recent years. Noah Martin can cover the spot and has done for the Raiders. Myles Martin is physically ready given the opportunity. In short, their depth at the position should have one eye on the future.

Vena Patuki-Case was in the top 30 last season, and started to find his feet in Cup on his trail back from serious injury. Jake Clydsdale will be elevated for this season, the club seeing a future in the giant frame that supports his muscle. Neither should play first grade this season, but seasons after that? Well, maybe.

Canberra’s plans over the coming years aim high. They can’t do that without reinforcements, be it within the season or into the future. The depth outlined above positions them well to sustain growth, and manage the bumps and bruises that come with it. This has been a roster building quietly in one direction. 2026 will test whether that vision pays off.

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