It was a week of movement in the Raiders recruitment outlook.
They finally confirmed the signings of Lipoi Hopoi and Jaiyden Hunt. They also let us know that Mark Tuialii, Jed Stuart, and Malachi Smith signed extensions. It was reported that Tom Starling was leaving the club, the city, and the country all at once. This has been capped by reports that Matty Nicholson has signed a three-year extension, and Hudson Young has been offered an additional year of $1.1m by the Milk (per the Sydney Morning Herald).
Bit going on hey?
We’ve written about the Hopoi, Hunt, Stuart, Tuialii and Smith extensions. You can also read our thoughts on Tom Starling departure here.
The signature of Nicholson is an interesting vote of confidence. It will keep him at the club until the end of the 2030 season, taking him beyond the tenure of any player at the club right now. For a player that’s only managed 16 games across two seasons, that’s remarkable security.
The only way to take this is that the Milk are very sure about Matty. Which is great to hear. At times I’ve been critical of his agility. In 2025 this was quite clearly a recovery from injury. In 2026 he looked much more comfortable at the back end of the season. Maybe the Raiders are seeing more results in the training room, and are comfortable that the trajectory is pointed in the right direction.
If Nicholson can show his lateral movement is improving then he presents as a weapon on the edge. Most of us have seen it, but those hard-nosed lines can be impossible to stop, and present Ethan Sanders or Coby Black with a traditional, but effective weapon on right-side movements. He’s not Huddo – he’s not going to grubber for himself or do something crazy. But he is going to hit the line like a horseman into the infantry, clattering shields and sputtering bodies everywhere.
It’s been a while since the Raiders have had a backrower like that, but with Noah Martin they now have two they’ve committed to over the long term. Were you worried about our halves ever playing too sideways (as I often was last year)? Well now they have all the incentive to straighten, and isolate their pick of giant agile runners at opposition edge defenders.
If Nicholson (and Martin for that matter) can pair that with good defence that will be long-term weapon. Nicholson’s main problem in that space is that he absolutely refuses to let anyone else tackle, a problem he shares with Martin. Both of them get dragged into saving the middle’s butt so often that it means they get cooked from the effort. This has impacts on shifting movements because their outside backs are isolated, and they’re either not there, or too cooked to provide the inside out cover.
It’s also good insurance should Hudson Young decide four-and-a-half million dollarydoos isn’t sufficient to satisfy his wallet. Keeping Young is obviously the preference of the club (and myself, despite being salty about the whole situation). But a long term view of Nicholson and Martin on the edge with Roddy, Hosking and maybe even Hunt as backup make a fair deal of sense.
But it’s also good business if they do keep Young. There’s no guarantee Huddo maintains his own agility in his comeback from a snapped Achilles, and the fact that he, Martin and Nicholson can all cover middle rotations in support of Hosking and Roddy not only increases the Raiders’ depth but also gives them a more modern profile of pace through the middle of the park.
In fact, maybe that’s the lesson here. Here are the forwards the Raiders have signed in the last six months: Mariota, Hunt, Hopoi, Nicholson, Roddy, and hopefully Young. Here are the players that they haven’t: Papalii, Horsburgh, Smithies. There’s a size and pace profile they’re clearly leaning into. Perhaps they’ve reflected on Vlando’s horn for touch footy and are adjusting. It would be a moment too late, but at least it’s happening.
I’ve been saying for months Canberra needs beef to fill out their middle rotation, but perhaps that’s too simple. They do need bodies, but maybe the club is moving towards a different model for how they win.
We’ll have to wait and see. There’s been a lot of movement, of which Nicholson is just one part. What had seemed to be business-as-usual off-season six months ago is now becoming a season of transition. By our last count* there’s still three positions in the top 30 to fill.
Our read of the top 30: Black, Finau, Hopoi, Hosking, Hunt, Kris, Laurie, Mariota, M Martin, N Martin, Nicholson, Pattie, Patuki-Case, Roddy, Sanders, Sasagi, Savage, Smith, Stewart, Strange, Stuart, Tamale, Tapine, Timoko, Tuialii, Weekes, Young
And that doesn’t include the further change that might come in the outside backs (noting persistent rumours around Seb Kris and Chevy Stewart). We could be looking at a very different Canberra Raiders come February next year. Sunrise, sunset. Cats in the cradle. Yes, we have no bananas.
Will it be a unit more suited to winning in this current football game? I hope so. And I hope that Matty Nicholson is a big part of that.
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