The Greenhouse

Canberra Raiders look to open contract talks with Jordan Rapana

The Canberra Raiders will open talks to keep Jordan Rapana in lime green for an eighth season. Raiders chief executive Don Furner said they wanted to keep him in the capital beyond 2020. He also said they wanted to keep Oldfield in lime green, although the 29-year-old might look for more opportunity elsewhere.

"We'll start to talk to them. Yeah, definitely [keen to keep him]. We know what 'Rapa' can do and bring to the club and everyone loves him," Furner said.

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

Oldfield’s injury came at a really bad time for him. I like him and hope he stays.


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Yeah might be tough to retain both with HSS and Valemei coming through.

No brainer. Raps brings so much to our squad both on and off the field. Get it done Donny

Thanks for your efforts oldy, top squad man and great guy to have around.
Best of luck elsewhere, but we need to keep Harley and Semi

Get the Rapa deal done pronto!

Would love to keep Oldie too but wouldn’t begrudge him moving elsewhere to get more game time. Has been excellent for us.

Agree Ruben, Rapa gives his all and is a big unit who runs good yardage every match. I reckon he is the Raiders best ever right winger. He also can play fullback but I'd prefer he is allowed to concentrate on the right wing position.

I also see Oldy as mostly a winger. With Cotric leaving I reckon he would not let us down. Sure we have Valemi and Simmonson to go with Rapa but Oldy brings pace and experience. I see HSS as a center. We have some depth.

This is another good move from the club. Secure rapa for another year. I reckon hed still have a couple of solid years in him. Try and retain oldfield but I'd be happy to see him go for the opportunity to be a first grade spot.

We nearly lost Rappa by showing loyalty to Cotric.

...fat lotta good that got us, lock Raps in for the next 50 years

Oldie never let's us down I'd be keeping him with nick going plenty of speed runs great lines and straight

RedRaider wrote: ↑August 2, 2020, 9:32 pm Agree Ruben, Rapa gives his all and is a big unit who runs good yardage every match. I reckon he is the Raiders best ever right winger. He also can play fullback but I'd prefer he is allowed to concentrate on the right wing position.

I also see Oldy as mostly a winger. With Cotric leaving I reckon he would not let us down. Sure we have Valemi and Simmonson to go with Rapa but Oldy brings pace and experience. I see HSS as a center. We have some depth.

Ken Nagas? Sean Hoppe? It's an argument I guess...

Lui_Bon wrote:

RedRaider wrote: ↑August 2, 2020, 9:32 pm Agree Ruben, Rapa gives his all and is a big unit who runs good yardage every match. I reckon he is the Raiders best ever right winger. He also can play fullback but I'd prefer he is allowed to concentrate on the right wing position.

I also see Oldy as mostly a winger. With Cotric leaving I reckon he would not let us down. Sure we have Valemi and Simmonson to go with Rapa but Oldy brings pace and experience. I see HSS as a center. We have some depth.

Ken Nagas? Sean Hoppe? It's an argument I guess...

Kenny and Noa switched a fair bit back then, Vanikolo had the opportunity too I'll always be devastated he left us so soon

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Until the Bulldogs offer some ridiculous amount and steal him from under our noses..

I hope the club and JordyRaps can come to an agreement..

Great wingman..

He's not quite what he was in his peak but he's still a very valuable member of the team and offers us a lot as a winger.
After losing Nick, if we lost Raps, we'd REALLY need to find a big back who can help us early in the sets

Rapana brings the intangible of a highly competitive attitude. Sometimes it gets away from him and transfers into poor discipline. While that last part can be frustrating for fans the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Northern Raider wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 9:00 am Rapana brings the intangible of a highly competitive attitude. Sometimes it gets away from him and transfers into poor discipline. While that last part can be frustrating for fans the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Its far less likely to turn into poor discipline when the team is doing well. As long as we contend, its competitive

One of my all-time favourite Raiders. Lock him in Ed.

simo wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 9:14 am

Northern Raider wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 9:00 am Rapana brings the intangible of a highly competitive attitude. Sometimes it gets away from him and transfers into poor discipline. While that last part can be frustrating for fans the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Its far less likely to turn into poor discipline when the team is doing well. As long as we contend, its competitive

Yeah, he puts in 120% all the time but when things are really working out he goes in tilt. I'd rather that than give up.

Definitely like oldie to stick around if the price is right. He'd be spending a lot of time in reggies but has proven his worth every time we needed him. He wouldn't stand in anyone's way if we were looking to give someone else the 2-3 week taste of firsts.
If Rona is coming and we are looking to push one of the younger guys along then it's hard to find a place for oldie.

Hoping Timoko is headed into the top squad as well.

The Rapana signing is a no brainer.

A season full of adversity has highlighted Rapana's best qualities- never say die attitude and experience. He doesn't quite seem capable of hitting the clear or shredding a team anymore but he can still finish, positionally/defensively/catching an excellent winger and if asked to do another position- well he's enthusiastic!

If it came down to a squeeze I'd be keeping Rapana and Oldy- clearly Rapana is the one to keep. He's the most likely to end up nailing down a FG spot and if young stars shine brighter then he'd also do well as the "new Oldy" backup winger/backline Mr Fixit or #14.

Keeping Oldy or not will come down to if we DO have a quality outside back coming in. If the other outside backs are all Simo, HSS, Timoko then having one more experienced campaigner wouldn't hurt the side nor the cap at all. If we do have a Rona like player coming in then we probably go with the youth for the other spots.

Happy to have him stay, but it can't or shouldn't be for anywhere near what he wanted last year.

It's not just what rapana brings on the field. You can tell the boys or love him.

Having watched Toots’ attempts to lead the team song earlier this year, I say we sign Rapa for as long as possible

Coastalraider wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 2:41 pm Having watched Toots’ attempts to lead the team song earlier this year, I say we sign Rapa for as long as possible

I think we should be grooming Hors for this role long term

Botman wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 2:53 pm

Coastalraider wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 2:41 pm Having watched Toots’ attempts to lead the team song earlier this year, I say we sign Rapa for as long as possible

I think we should be grooming Hors for this role long term

On a related note did you see the Warriors had to put the team song words up on a whiteboard? Half the guys in there had never sung it before.

Have to admit it gave me a real buzz watching them sing it. They've been through a lot and there was plenty of passion flowing.

Get Raps and Oldy signed and sealed, Don. Valemei and HSS are good but they need time and experience. Nothing wrong with having a couple of highly experienced, superbly talented backs to help with that.

Botman wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 2:53 pm

Coastalraider wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 2:41 pm Having watched Toots’ attempts to lead the team song earlier this year, I say we sign Rapa for as long as possible

I think we should be grooming Hors for this role long term

I reckon smelly would be a candidate

Which of our juniors are you going to sacrifice to keep Rapana?



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FROG wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 7:49 pm

Botman wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 2:53 pm

Coastalraider wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 2:41 pm Having watched Toots’ attempts to lead the team song earlier this year, I say we sign Rapa for as long as possible

I think we should be grooming Hors for this role long term

I reckon smelly would be a candidate

Only 4 blokes would understand the words...

I love him. Gives everything he has got and has nearly been lost to the game a number of times, only to return with the same great attitude everytime.

This time we need to hang onto him.

I like the cut of his jib

T_R wrote: ↑August 3, 2020, 7:54 pm Which of our juniors are you going to sacrifice to keep Rapana?

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I don’t know that we need to sacrifice one, I think HSS needs a spot sooner or later, but that’s a Scott problem more than a Raps but Semi probably could use another 12 months developing and simo replaces Cotric

But even if we sign a back to replace Cotric
We’re talking Raps, Simo, Croker, Scott, new signing, HSS, Semi
Once you account for injury/suspensions, and the possibility of Simo in 14... I think we can make it work

Clubman of the year has his name all over it this season. His mere presence is inspiring, lock him in asap. #RapGod

I've been calling for Rapana to have a go at fullback for years. I like the idea of him spending more time there.

He is a great clubman and will most likely be happy playing wherever required.

A must sign in my opinion. He 2 or 3 solid years in him.

His 81 post contact metres from Saturday’s game is a pretty inspiring stat, and an example of attitude and effort.

For context, only 2 players in the NRL are averaging more than that per game (Taumalolo and Addin Fonua-Blake). Closest fullback is RTS who is averaging 70m per game.