BY DAN

The news that Matty Timoko and Chevy Stewart had been told by the club they’re free to explore the free agent market was buried amongst the reporting that Joe Tapine would be staying with the club beyond the life of this blog (at some point I’ll get a life…surely).

Both have mutual options with the club for next year. This report suggests the Raiders are unlikely to pick up their side of either deal. According to the Tele, this means that either can leave if they find a deal elsewhere for 2027. That doesn’t guarantee they will. Both can also pick up the option on their end, and get paid a higher amount than they are this year (contracts are weird, man) next season, and sign a deal for 2028 and beyond with whomsoever they may please.

It’s a brutal game, but it’s still surprising and upsetting to see Matt Timoko in this situation. We’ve been unabashed fans of his play since he burst onto the scene in late 2020. A hard running outside back, the things he’s brought to the table (a powerful if underutilised runner, a critical part of Canberra exit sets) have always been more important than the things he took from it (his patchy and sometimes tentative defence).

There were times when we wondered if he was a future leader. He was the first strands of dawn when it seemed a permanent night had sunk in on the 2019-20 side. We had expected his trajectory to be only upwards. Now there’s potential he won’t be at the club in 2027.

Timoko is paying a big price for last year’s collapse, and the inability for him and Fogarty to get on the same page. He has since has fallen behind Simi Sasagi in the depth chart. He’s also hardly excelled in Cup, though it’s hard to tell how much that is to do with being given the challenge of defending next to someone only learning their craft. But there’s a lot of talent surrounding that moustache, and at the risk of chasing sunk costs, the Raiders have invested a lot in him. It would be painful to see him succeed elsewhere.

That’s not something I’d write in pen yet though. There’s plenty of time between now and decision points, and lord knows that Coach Stuart has changed his mind about players before. You’ll remember when he told the world that he’d been ready to punt Xavier Savage right before he established himself as an excellent first grade winger. Corey Horsburgh also was put in a cone of silence, seemingly out the door, before he suddenly was having a career year. A week is a long time in rugby league. A season is an eon.

If Timoko can find a way to get back into the first grade side, and can prove that the defensive challenges he’s faced are solvable, either through improvement on his behalf, or through playing next to a more defensively stable colleague, then I can see the club and him finding mutual ground that could keep him at the club. But he’ll have other opportunities, for more security and a fresh start elsewhere.

In Stewart’s case, it seems logical that he will leave. We’ve hit on this in the past, but he’s simply too good with too much upside to be wasting it in Cup footy. His future at the Raiders is likely blocked by Kaeo Weekes, both because of form and because of the investment the Milk have made in the starter. There is surely someone ready to give him a red hot go as a first-grade fullback.

We did say the same thing last off-season and it seemingly went nowhere. We’re not sure why, other than fullback is a highly competitive position around the competition, and perhaps the uncertainty in his legal situation played a part (though surely not a big one – teacup storms). He’s been consistently linked to the Sharks, from whence he came, as a potential replacement for Will Kennedy. He’s also been linked to the Dragons, where Clint Gutherson looks 105.

I won’t pretend to have a view on the quality of competition Stewart would be up against to get into either of those sides, but racing another Cup player is easier than unseating an incumbent. Particularly one that had a season like Kaeo’s 2025, which was more electricity than Edison going elephant hunting.

In both cases the pull cases are as strong as the ‘push’ from Canberra. I’m sure the Raiders would love to keep both on their roster as long as possible, but in a world where there will be 34 more opportunities each week to play first grade in the coming years, it’s probably not realistic to think the Milk could stand in either player’s way.

Giving them the space to find a new path and a new home is recognition that in a professional environment there will be times where the fit is imperfect. The only thing to do is to be transparent, allowing players to plot their own paths and find security and success where they can.

We hope both players find their best footy and most secure careers, be it with Canberra or elsewhere over the coming years. I’d prefer to keep both, and I expect the club is the same. But it’s a short life in football, and considerations other than those of a nuffy with a keyboard probably a few rungs down the prioritisation ladder. It’s a tough existence, and sometimes warm hopes and neat dreams aren’t enough.

The Sportress is transitioning away from Facebook and Twitter for distribution so sign up to the email below before we disappear from your feed altogether. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.