The Canberra Raiders announced three signings today, with Jed Stuart, Mark Tuialii and Malachi Smith extending their time through 2029 (in Stuart’s case) and 2028 (for Tuialii and Smith).
It’s a mixed bag of decisions. We’ve made our feelings on the Stuart extension known. At the risk of enabling an undeserved pile-on, my main concern is that Stuart is low-ceiling bet. My expectation is that he’s on a Jaiyden Hunt style deal (effectively being paid the minimum), so the cost isn’t a problem for the cap.
But when you have more talented players missing out on minutes, and roster spots, because the club has put such a substantial investment of time and resources in a player with Jed’s stable charms, it feels like missed opportunity. Or at least one laden with cost. The Raiders now have Jed Stuart and Jaiyden Hunt as safety bets. I guess we’ll have to trust that the club know what they’re doing in that regard.
Tuialii is the other end of this bet. He’s nothing but upside. Anyone that has watched him play Cup footy will know the potential of this kid. Cup footy isn’t necessarily a predictor, but he’s been a beast; stepping lightly to get outside anyone he wants, beating them with power, or unleashing a flick pass that makes men and women weep and want to take up painting again just because it makes them feel alive.
It’s hard not to think of him in the lineage of Raiders centres that have been in this mould. Simi and BJ Leilua spring to mind; the combination of power and agility, the creativity stemming from the flick of a wrist (*ahem*). If there’s a place for improvement it’s on the other side of the ball. That’s the only thing that will stop him from being a consistent first grader. And given he’s just 20, I’m very relaxed about his prospects in that regard.
Malachi Smith is the only one we didn’t know about, and to be honest, other than the length of the deal, we still don’t know much. The Raiders’ announcement doesn’t say whether he’s a top 30 member in 2027, and there’s been little reporting on it so far. Given his appearance in first grade at the end of the season, how comfortable he looked, and the fact he won NSW Cup player of the year, one might assume he’s in the top list. That means there’s only two or three (by my count) spots open for the Raiders to go hunting, but that should be sufficient if they can get some middles.
Smith is a part of a solution there, and is a useful long-term foil to Owen Pattie, particularly if the rumours around Tom Starling prove true. Smith is all workrate, capable of playing serviceable back-up dummy-half, as well as sliding into 13. Joe Roddy, Zac Hosking, and Lipoi Hopoi will have things to say about that, but the flexibility is the thing.
The good thing to see with Smith (and Hopoi, Roddy and Hosking) manning the middle is that tacit acknowledgement by the club that middle defence wasn’t good enough in 2026, and that if they want to contend or compete in ’27 they need to have more motor out of 13. Just loading up with bigs (or with whatever you call Jayden Brailey or Daine Laurie playing 13) isn’t winning football.
So these deals are more hits than misses, and even the misses aren’t debilitating. It’s good news, and in an offseason that’s just been a heap of downers, we’ll take it where we can get it.
My only question is why now? Jed Stuart’s deal was first reported in April. Mark Tuialii’s deal was reported in early August. Malachi Smith is the only one that strikes me as ‘new’. Perhaps the bundling comes from wanting to lessen the focus on Stuart. Perhaps it was just held to a point where there wasn’t something else to post about. Perhaps Smith’s deal only just got finalised, and when Ben Pollack went to the draw he realised he had two draft press releases he’d forgotten to put out and decided to take a long weekend.
Anyway, that’s a minor quibble, one that marks my own impatience for the problems everyone has identified not being solved yet. They likely won’t until after the grand final, or even after 1 November. Our watch will be long and vigilant. Until then we’ll just have to be happy that they’re keeping young talent in town.
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