The Canberra Raiders search for a replacement middle may have hit a surprising, but excellent, possible solution, with reports from Christian Nicolussi of the Sydney Morning Herald telling the James Hooper podcast that Paseka was on the Raiders radar.
Hat tip to the Milk Syndicate for finding this, but being the erstwhile and hardworking guy with a laptop I am, I had to go listen to the actual podcast. The things I do for the glory of having an occasionally-read blog.
Nicolussi didn’t actually have much information. He was speaking in the context of Manly finding themselves at the precipice of their salary cap. Paseka (along with Lehi Hopoate and others) is apparently one of the players that Manly may be looking to offload. In Nicolussi’s words:
Speaking of Manly, I’ve also been told that Taniela Paseka has been shopped in Canberra. He’s on Canberra’s radar. I don’t know whether that’s even for next year.
A few things about this immediately jump out. One, he’s been shopped to Canberra; by whom is not said. Is it his manager? Is it Manly trying to get under the cap? It’s not entirely clear from this snippet of conversation. But the ‘who’ matters in this case.
If Manly are shopping him it would be terrible business by them, but infinitely more likely to actually result in him leaving the club. Paseka is 29, and on contract with the Sea-Eagles through 2028. He overcame a ruptured Achilles in 2025 to basically be Manly’s best middle in 2026, averaging 130 metres per game of meaty middle goodness. He’s a big boy, in a team that needs big boys, being apparently offered to a team also in need of big boys.
So it’s hard for me to believe it’s likely that Manly are offering their best middle just so they find a way to keep Madame Tussauds’ impression of Jake Trbojevic running around. But I guess every team has a guy they’re paying for emotional, rather than performance reasons. So, it’s not impossible. Fire sales exist for a reason, and if they are trying to get Paseka off their cap, doing it now would make the most sense. But still, surely you’d be getting rid of other people to keep Paseka?
Then again, the alternative view – that Paseka’s agent is shopping him because Manly have said he won’t be getting big money when he hits free agency on 1 November 2027 – doesn’t make sense either. That’s a year away, and you would assume at some point the Sea-Eagles cap is going to have to get right before then (given Nicolussi’s reported ‘fire sale’).
Even if it was just to make sure Manly come right with a proper offer come November next year, it’s just shadow boxing this far out. Manly don’t even know what they’ll have spare at that point; trying to ‘Raider Raise’ them into a bigger deal twelve months out is throwing your biggest swing before your opponent has even got in the ring.
A smart assessment of this situation would be that Nicolussi just has incomplete, or imperfect information. Maybe Manly wants to keep Paseka, maybe Canberra are doing their darndest to poison the well. Maybe the whispers game has Lionel Hutz-ed ‘no, guarantee they won’t let him go’ into ‘no guarantee they won’t let him go’.
It makes it so strange and hard to separate from our own personal desire to see Paseka in that nice dark green new Raiders jersey. What is most likely, is that someone is trying to leverage Paseka out of Manly, be it the club, or his manager.
The only bit I’m sure of is that the Raiders are interested. Paseka would solve a lot of problems for the Milk, and make their recruitment of Josiah Pahulu, Lipoi Hopoi and Jayden Hunt suddenly seem less risk-based and precarious, and more balanced and settled. They’d have a veteran every-down prop to put with Joe Tapine and Ata Mariota. They’d have a precocious talent to be part of the next generation, and they’d have a minute-eating workhorse to play as a mobile middle slash lock. They’d also have Jaiyden Hunt.
If Canberra can pull this off it raises their ceiling for 2027. It balances their roster out for years to come. They might even get a discount on the deal, if the ‘fire sale’ angle is to be believed. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship. Let’s hope it is.
This is one worth watching if only because the net outcome would be so wonderful for the Milk. But this rumour is just plain strange, and the incentives don’t make sense yet. Someone wants us to know that Paseka is available. Just who that is may become clearer with more reporting, or just time. Hopefully we don’t have to listen to another James Hooper podcast just to find out.
Pending no other recruitment shenanigans, the mailbag should be coming tomorrow. Sign up to the email below to get our thoughts in your inbox for the vibes, the dreams, and the stories. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.
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