Some great offseason news for Canberra Raiders fans: Ethan Sanders told to Fox Sports he intends to sign an extension with the Raiders (again, hat tip to the Greenhouse for bringing this to my attention).
This is not entirely surprising news, but pleasing nonetheless. Despite some jitters and development bumps throughout the year Sanders continued to progress as a half. This was recognised in his winning ‘Rookie of the Year’ at the Dally-Ms. The Colonel was a key functionary in the Raiders attack; the fulcrum that everything revolved around. The spine he was often paired with – Strange, Starling and Weekes, are not ball dominant players, and he established himself as the driver of the bus. This role was outsized for a player still learning the ropes.
And for the most part Sanders delivered. He was seventh among halfbacks in try-assists, more in total and average than bigger names like Mitch Moses, Lachie Galvin and Jayden Campbell. He was third in kick metres, often using his left foot to hoof the Raiders out of trouble, either with surprisingly decent long kicking, or a weapon of a belly-bomb. That latter tool was one the Milk thought they might miss without Jamal Fogarty in 2026. They needn’t have worried.
There is plenty of improvement in his game. While Sanders is a better runner than his predecessor, being more of a threat would support straightening the Raiders’ attack. He has the straight-line pace, but I’d be looking at him to improve his acceleration in order to be more of an immediate threat to the inside shoulder of defenders, causing them to hesitate before sliding and offering more space to his colleagues outside. He threw some gorgeous out-balls, and was often excellent in utilising his outside backs. But I always felt that his connection with his backrow was surprisingly less effective than it had been in NSW Cup (when he and Noah Martin terrorised teams).
More concerning was his relationship with Ethan Strange. They never found a comfortable partnership, as Strange so often seemed devolved into watching Sanders do everything. The longer the season went on the less Strange was involved in creative decisions, taking the ball second or third off the ruck, particularly when he shifted back to his nominally more dominant left hand side. It left with a limited range of opportunities, ‘out’ the only space he could run into. In effect he was made the centre so many wish him to be. It made him more observer than participant in the Raiders’ attack.
Going forward, Sanders and Strange need to find a way to balance this better. That will come from time together, but also both of their evolutions as players. Given the extension for Sanders, and the fact I may stage a sit-in of Raiders HQ if they ever let Strange go, they will have plenty of time to work on it.
Of course, the curious bit about this is Coby Black. He too is with the side for two more seasons as well, and his debut in the last round against an inept Cows side was as good as it gets. Sanders’ and Black’s deals will likely have similar timelines (or get out options) to facilitate transition when it looks like the club has settled on one or the other.
That decision is likely to be a tough one and one that I can’t predict the outcome of. Canberra have faced similar before (in Germ and Priddis) and some may would argue that made the wrong choice, the one they made did not detract from the team (and captained them for many years). Having two potentially elite halfbacks is better than having none because there’s a good chance you will end up with one good one. It’s been a while since Canberra has had one so it’s a good position to be in.
Locking down Sanders, while something we were never worried about, shows the Raiders are facing that decision with their eyes open. They know that they’ll need to work out which of these two young halfbacks is (hopefully) going to lead their side over the next decade.
But there’s risk too. Muddied waters are hard to swim in. Having two players at the same points of their careers, who need to play the same role to be at their best, is as uncertain as it gets. But the only way that gets clearer is on the field. Canberra now have the time and space to work that out.
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