Changing styles?

In recent weeks we’ve been focused on the Canberra Raiders need to replenish their forward stocks. With Corey Horsburgh, Morgan Smithies, and Jake Clydsdale leaving the club, they need to find first graders and fast. This is a challenge, but also an opportunity to build more mobility into their roster.

***

In the post-game wash-up from the loss to the Broncos Joe Tapine was in a reflective mood.

He’d just put in 74 minutes valiantly battling the Broncos with little help from his middle brethren outside of Ata Mariota. Corey Horsburgh’s impact was more satisfactory than substantial. Papa did his best, but 40 minutes in his 341st game was a lot to ask. And Daine Laurie is just not a middle, not in any meaningful sense.

Taps had not been playing an entirely lone-hand, but it did feel like the weight of the loss was on his shoulders. He looked dejected, gutted that he’d been unable to lift the team for his brother Papa. Alongside him Coach Stuart lauded his effort, but he surely knew that Papa’s departure, along with others, wasn’t just a loss in quality, but an opportunity to reshape their approach.

During Stuart’s regime the Canberra forward pack has often been on the bigger side but that hasn’t been its determining quality. For a prop Joe Tapine is incredibly strong, but he’s also agile and fast when he wants to be. Corey Horsburgh is a tall person, but relies on mobility more than most realise. A big part of their recent success has been their ability to play Mariota – agile, as we saw in his try against the Broncos last Friday – and Zac Hosking as rotation middles.

This season our focus has been on the lack of size. That’s part of a balancing act. You can go small, as the Raiders have done with playing Jayden Brailey, Daine Laurie, and Tom Starling, for periods as lock. It makes you mobile, but vulnerable to big bodies coming at your hooker (phrasing, boom).

But of course, that was Plan B. Plan A this season was to roll back last year, a mix of brawn in the starting line-up and flexibility and pace on the bench. Injuries made that impossible. They were stuck way too big to be mobile, too small to be powerful.

Most are forecasting a volatile offseason, and expecting talent to be looking for new homes. This article from Nine NRL suggests that Hudson Young’s dalliance with the Chiefs is the tip of a coming iceberg, noting that players not really considered up for grabs will hit the market trying to get paid now that Young’s new number is north of a million. Players like Teig Wilton, Brenton Nikora, David Fifita, Liam Martin among others are all mooted to be looking for new deals.

With plenty of roster space opened up, and potentially a lot of future cap space (thanks Hudson and Corey, I guess) they could have their pick. Not of all of these players, of course. That’s not the Raiders’ pond to fish in, not like the underdogs like the Roosters, the Broncos or the Chiefs. But there is a tier of players that could help them rebuild this plane on the fly.

To do this Canberra need to answer a question of what they think the balance of their pack should be. Are they in the market for backrowers and mobile middles? Do they upgrade Vena Patuki-Case a deal, getting them another large and tall prop to pair in the future with Jesse Milin? Are they rethinking their approach?

Perhaps a hint can be found in what they’ve already been chasing. Lipoi Hopoi is a great example. He’s a powerfully built unit, but he’s got the capacity to play as 13. Jaiyden Hunt would be a depth signing, and God help us if he’s expected to play a lot of first grade, but even he projects more mobile than a typical prop.

With the addition of Joe Roddy, Zac Hosking, Matt Nicholson or even Hudson Young to the middle rotation, the Raiders may be taking a pathway to a more mobile pack. It would be a minute late and a dollar short for 2026. It’s unclear what Vlando’s impulse control will result in next year. For all we know he might invade Iran change the set-restart rule back to 2025 rules.

It’ll be very interesting to see who the Raiders are tied to in the coming weeks. It will give an idea of the change coming across the league forced by the entrance of the PNG Chiefs and their dumptruck of cash into the market. It will also give us an indication of how the Canberra Raiders intend to navigate that uncertainty.

Oh yeah, and maybe get some help for Joey Taps.

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