The idea of "Through green eyes" is to give people the opportunity to write their own feature articles for the site. I'll be aiming to do one each week at least, and we'd love to have others step forward and write about their footy team.
If you'd like to be a contributor please send one of the administrators a PM.
Here's my first attempt... and all comments welcome as usual!
Time for reflection on the future of the squad
If it’s Tuesday, it must be team announcement day.
But no, not this week, with the Canberra Raiders benefiting from the bye.
It will be a much needed break from the difficulties of the first term of the season – one which saw the Raiders match a record losing streak of eight games, a losing streak not seen since 1985-86 and one never seen in a single season.
With two stirring wins in the past two weeks, however, the players departed for a break with some optimism and hope of clawing back the season. A top eight position, though extremely difficult to secure, is still a real possibility.
But while the players are taking a break, it is not likely that the coaches and management will be quite so lucky. This is the time that the club has said that they will be sitting down and thinking about the future of the squad and their retention and recruitment strategies for 2012 and beyond.
The Raiders have already announced some high profile re-signings this year – New Zealand representative Bronson Harrison (end 2014) and Australian prop Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (end 2014). Up and coming half back Sam Williams has also been retained until the end of 2013, along with young forward Mark Nicholls and second rower Joe Picker.
It has been reported the club is close to re-signing international prop David Shillington – still on contract until end 2012 – until the end of 2015, but an official announcement has yet to emerge.
It’s all quiet on further extending the contract of Josh Dugan as well. Earlier in the year, it was reported the Raiders were seeking to extend the NSW Origin fullback for one more season, until the end of 2013. But the rumours of interest from the Sydney Roosters in securing the young superstar have now again re-emerged.
Despite all that action, there’s still a fair list of Canberra Raiders players whose contracts expire in 2011 – including Josh Miller, Glen Buttriss, Danny Galea and David Milne. The choices the club makes now will have an important impact on how the squad will shape up in the years to come.
Josh Miller is an old stager with the Raiders, an old fashioned hard nut. He has twice been the winner of the club Player of the Year award. He’s the sort of player the other players in the team love. He works hard at training and on the field, and always busts a gut in everything he does. But time is advancing for Miller, and there’s a question as to whether another contract is there for a player who will be 30 years old by the time season 2012 comes around.
The Raiders have struggled at dummy half, so much so that lock Alan Tongue is first pick to start at hooker. Glen Buttriss was retained when Ryan Hinchcliffe signed with the Melbourne Storm, but neither he, nor Travis Waddell, has quite made the hooker spot his own. Buttriss has struggled with the fitness needed to be an 80 minute hooker, and with Travis Waddell on the books until 2012, some difficult choices face the club. It seems likely that promising under 20s hooker Matt McIlwrick will be a player the club will give some priority to retaining.
Danny Galea has spent most of his time with the Canberra Raiders at affiliate club Souths Logan, but when he has come into firsts, he’s done a solid job. He helped give the team some good extra mobility in the win over the Storm, but injury cruelly ruled him out the next week, giving Joe Picker his spot back in the second row. It remains to be seen if he’s done enough to retain a place in the squad, but he would be a good depth signing.
Fullback David Milne has perhaps played his last NRL match with the Raiders. He struggled early in the season while Josh Dugan was injured, and has since been a regular for Souths Logan. Since coming back from a debilitating case of osteitis pubis, his kick returns have not had the same pace and he’s not done well under the high ball. Bulldogs recruit and under 20s fullback, Nathan Massey, has been preferred in the last two matches as a stand in for Dugan – a sign for the future.
Whether there is space in the cap for new recruits will depend on some very difficult decisions for the club. One conundrum is the form of Matt Orford. Orford’s wealth of experience is valuable to the club, but some press reports suggest that he may not see out the second year of his two year deal. If that happens, some cap space might be freed to help fill one of the priority positions – hooker.
Perhaps more importantly, it could create room to extend the priority players on the very long list of those who have deals expiring in 2012.
Not knowing how much the salary cap might expand once a new TV deal is in place for the NRL is a particular challenge in signing any of those players to a long term deal.
Whatever happens, being a fly on the wall at Raiders HQ in the next couple of months will be fascinating.
PLAYERS OFF CONTRACT
2011
Mark Appleton
Glen Buttriss
Danny Galea
Jarrad Kennedy
Matt McIlwrick
Josh Miller
David Milne
Nick Skinner
2012
Jarrod Croker
Josh Dugan
Blake Ferguson
Mark Ioane
Drury Low
Nathan Massey
Sam Mataora
Josh McCrone
Matt Orford
Mick Picker
Reece Robinson
David Shillington
James Stuart
Alan Tongue
Daniel Vidot
Travis Waddell
