Kai O'Donnell debut

[FROG]

Firstly congrats to the young man. Seems to have been on the cusp a few times this year so good to see him get his chance. I must confess and say ive never seen him play. Can anyone tell me what to expect. What formers raiders player would he best be compared to?

[Botman]

Never seen him play.
Hope this helps.

[greeneyed]

Very pleased for him. He is a second rower who is very good in attack. A real blockbusting runner and scored a fair few tries in Jersey Flegg last year, liked running wide. Unfortunately, NSWRL.com.au doesn't allow access to his statistics from last year, but defence probably wasn't his relative strength. Big body, enthusiastic, I hope he does very well on Saturday.

[Old School Green]

Big strong unit.
If he can give us 15-20 min of hard running, solid defence and no mistake football then it will be a super successful debut me thinks

[woppadingo]

Looks like a beast so I have high hopes.

[bonehead]

played some minutes at Port Macquarie trial in the second half didn't he?

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[Neeeegz]

Never seen him play.
Hope this helps.

Who cares. Hope that helped

[Bay53]

He comes from Queensland, was in the Titans system but came to us a couple of weeks into last year. He is pretty quick, only 181cm but 98kg so pretty stocky.

Here is the link to the thread about his signing last year including a video of his highlights as a schoolboy. He was wearing a helmet in those clips but I can’t remember him doing that last year.

https://www.thegh.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33331

I think if you were being honest, he could have done with this year at Mounties before making his debut, but injuries and players leaving means he gets his chance now and I am sure will acquit himself well.

[Seiffert82]

Congratulations to him!

I'd be surprised if he gets more than 5 minutes on the field against the Storm.

[-PJ-]

Congrats young man..

You're living the dream.

Can you fold CSmith in half for me ?

Thanks in advance.

[reptar]

Never seen him play.
Hope this helps.

It does!

[Dusty]

A positive in all injury situations is the debut for a young bloke. Hoping he can do his job and a bit more!

[bonehead]

A positive in all injury situations is the debut for a young bloke. Hoping he can do his job and a bit more!

a Papaliiesque storm debut and no less!

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[zim]

Congratulations to him!

I'd be surprised if he gets more than 5 minutes on the field against the Storm.

I'd expect that normally but with the injuries he's going to have to get some minutes into him at some point. Although if we sign someone else he'll drop straight out.

[sprintman]

Tough gig for your first game.

[Seiffert82]

Congratulations to him!

I'd be surprised if he gets more than 5 minutes on the field against the Storm.

I'd expect that normally but with the injuries he's going to have to get some minutes into him at some point. Although if we sign someone else he'll drop straight out.

Depends on how the game plays out. Historically guys like Havili have struggled to get minutes, so I base it on that.

If we have injury troubles, are getting pumped, or somehow snag a big lead I suspect his minutes will come. I don't really see time for him if the game is tight. Stuart has ignored benchies in the past.

[Botman]

Congratulations to him!

I'd be surprised if he gets more than 5 minutes on the field against the Storm.

I think he'll have to get more than that given how down we are on forwards... there is quite a few minutes missing from the rotation.
I think he'll get a solid 15-20 minutes but i guess game script could dictate that too

Good luck to the kid, the way the sport has gone with scheduling and the demise of the U20's and then our affiliation with Mounties (combined with parenting responsibilities) have made it hard for me to keep up with the young kids coming through, so as fan now i always get excited when we have a new guy debuting.

The club has done a great job of developing talent of late (Simo, Guler, Hors and Young all look to have long NRL careers in their future) so im expecting more of the same from this guy.

[hrundi89]

Never seen him play.
Hope this helps.

Who cares. Hope that helped

[Seiffert82]

Congratulations to him!

I'd be surprised if he gets more than 5 minutes on the field against the Storm.

I think he'll have to get more than that given how down we are on forwards... there is quite a few minutes missing from the rotation.
I think he'll get a solid 15-20 minutes but i guess game script could dictate that too

Good luck to the kid, the way the sport has gone with scheduling and the demise of the U20's and then our affiliation with Mounties (combined with parenting responsibilities) have made it hard for me to keep up with the young kids coming through, so as fan now i always get excited when we have a new guy debuting.

The club has done a great job of developing talent of late (Simo, Guler, Hors and Young all look to have long NRL careers in their future) so im expecting more of the same from this guy.

Yep, it will be interesting. I could be completely wrong.

If I was Stuart, I'd be starting Rapa on the wing for extra kick return punch (Oldfield to the bench, Cotric to 4) and starting Havili at lock to leave Tapine and Sutton on the bench for extra size.

Highly unlikely I'm sure, but I just wouldn't be setting myself up to play O'Donnell for big minutes against this pack.

[Matt]

Big strong unit.
If he can give us 15-20 min of hard running, solid defence and no mistake football then it will be a super successful debut me thinks

under ricky, rookies get more like 10.

I expect the min breakdown to be:
Papa 55-60 (Papa is one of the guys Ricky challenged in ODonnells debut speech - however, at prop, he has passed 60mins)
Tapine 50-55 (for those wondering Horse was avging 53.5mins at lock - Tapine is another who was challenged)
Sutton 50-55 (I think as an import Sutton makes Rickys list)
Lui 35-40 (this yr he has been a 30-35min guy, but played 40 against the Storm)
Havili 35-40 (started the yr as a 20min guy, but in the last 3-4wks its increased to 30-35, but had to play 40 last wk with the injuries)
ODonnell 10-15
Both edges will play 80, as they normally do (Whitey would be on that list too, though not really sure what else he can do?).

[BadnMean]

Interested to get a look at how he plays. Excited for him. We've had a good run with bringing through young forwards lately really.

Not sure what to expect- some are saying he's a big body in the pack but his profile lists him as a pretty small guy for a forward (one of the shortest in our pack and lighter as he's younger and smaller).

[greeneyed]

'More than deserving': Canberra Raiders back Kai O'Donnell to help injury crisis

Canberra Raiders teammates have backed debutant Kai O'Donnell to be the injection of energy they need to help them cope with multiple injury blows.

"Kai is one of those kids who is more than deserving, he's done a lot of work behind the scenes. Some boys do see it, we know as players he's not short of any skill there. He's a very hard worker and that's something we need, we need energy off that bench," Michael Oldfield said.

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... #gsc.tab=0

[bonehead]

Interested to get a look at how he plays. Excited for him. We've had a good run with bringing through young forwards lately really.

Not sure what to expect- some are saying he's a big body in the pack but his profile lists him as a pretty small guy for a forward (one of the shortest in our pack and lighter as he's younger and smaller).

His juniors highlights package on YouTube show him mainly an edge player with decent pace. Obviously a cut above in age comps. Size wise similar to Cotric, inch shorter same weight according to his profile

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[afgtnk]

There'll come a day where every player is the same height and size, but all play different positions

[BadnMean]

There'll come a day where every player is the same height and size, but all play different positions

Fiji will field 13, 6'3" 108kg wingers and it will be glorious.

I actually think the new faster ruck will/has dented the trend towards a homogenous "athlete" shape. There's multiple pathways to success again and different stages of the game/fatigue to shine.

Huge forwards like Solomona, RCG and Klemmer are having good seasons but likewise lighter frame locks had come into their own.

[Dusty]

Those schoolboy highlights are impressive. When used by Ricky, I wonder whether it will be on an edge (either giving Youngy or Whitehead a break / pushing them into the middle) or in the middle.??

[bonehead]

thanks mods for fixing my post

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[BadnMean]

Interested to get a look at how he plays. Excited for him. We've had a good run with bringing through young forwards lately really.

Not sure what to expect- some are saying he's a big body in the pack but his profile lists him as a pretty small guy for a forward (one of the shortest in our pack and lighter as he's younger and smaller).

His juniors highlights package on YouTube show him mainly an edge player with decent pace. Obviously a cut above in age comps. Size wise similar to Cotric, inch shorter same weight according to his profile

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Ah right, thanks. Now I think I get it- there's a touch of Anthony Watmough about the build and play style. If he's half that good we're all set.

[julian87]

I presume he’ll be used as a lock for 15-20 mins as it’s a tough ask for Hudson Young to play 80 and alternate between the edge and middle.

[ALX22]

Well done to Kai. Every club needs a team first player. Hope he rips in and shows the Cowboys and Titans what they could have had if they believed in his ability.

[Bay53]

Well done to Kai. Every club needs a team first player. Hope he rips in and shows the Cowboys and Titans what they could have had if they believed in his ability.

Well said.

[raiderskater]

I presume he’ll be used as a lock for 15-20 mins as it’s a tough ask for Hudson Young to play 80 and alternate between the edge and middle.

Hudson played 80 last week, though I don't know if that was always the plan or if it just got that way due to the problems.

I hope Kai has a good debut! It's an under fire one for sure. Maybe he'll surprise us and come out with several barging runs, run over Cameron Smith, and score on debut? That would be fun!

[Bennyinthewest]

I love his leg speed

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[RedRaider]

Congratulations on your debut tonight Kai. Sticky likes chunky nuggets with speed. I reckon when he comes on we'll see EW go to lock. Good luck young fella every Raider fan is looking forward to watching you play.

[zim]

The lad did well for having to start against the storm. Didn't let us down.