NRL: Canberra Raiders Team of the Decade dominated by 2019 Grand Final 17
Canberra finished the 2010s with a bang by way of their first return to premiership relevance for the first time in a quarter century – but the newcomers don’t have it all their own way in the Raiders’ Team of the Decade.
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While it was tempting to simply select the 2019 grand final squad as Canberra’s team of the decade, there was more to the story of the club in the 2010s than just the end.
The Raiders may be defined by their recent history and the players who helped them return to true premiership relevance for the first time in a quarter century, but there’s no preliminary final victories without a few 14th-placed finishes along the way.
The highs don’t mean as much without the lows, so here’s Canberra’s team of the decade, warts and all.
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1. Josh Dugan: Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad nearly went all the way and Reece Robinson had his moments, but Canberra’s best fullback over the last 10 years is the chosen one who never came home, Josh Dugan. The Tuggeranong product was among the Raiders best from 2010 to 2013 and seemed the sort of player the club could build their future around – his 2010 season in particular remains the best of his career, and while Dugan has gone on to earn higher honours elsewhere since his acrimonious split with the club, he’s never been better than he was in green.
2. Nick Cotric: A veteran of 71 matches before his 21st birthday, Cotric is still just getting started but has already done so much in his three seasons in first grade. The 2017 rookie of the year is one of Canberra’s few homegrown representative players of recent years and beats out the likes of Edrick Lee, Robinson and Blake Ferguson for the spot.
3. Jarrod Croker: Croker scored 1948 points from 2010 to 2019 – nobody else scored more. Jarrod Croker scored 115 tries from 2010 to 2019 – only Akuila Uate scored more. Jarrod Croker played in 236 matches from 2010 to 2019 – only Cameron Smith and James Maloney played more. There’s more to the skipper than numbers, but they help to illustrate the sheer weight of his achievements. The rep jerseys might never come, but in Canberra Croker has a kingdom all his own.
4. Joey Leilua: Equal parts madness and brilliance, Joey Leilua’s wild ride has helped propel the Raiders to their highest highs since the glory days back in the 1990s. Leilua’s 2016 season is quite possibly the best year any centre has enjoyed this decade, as he played an integral role in Canberra’s return to finals relevance. There’s nobody else like him.
5. Jordan Rapana: It is against the laws of gods and men to mention Joey Leilua without Jordan Rapana following close behind. One of the game’s unlikeliest heroes, Rapana came in from the wilderness over the last six seasons to become one of the finest wingers of the decade, with his workrate, competitive and penchant for the improbable shining through whenever he took the field. Rapana’s 69 tries is the second-most of any Raider this decade, behind Jarrod Croker.
6. Jack Wighton: Blake Austin hit Canberra like a bolt of lightning with a Viking beard but there had to be room in the team for Jack Wighton, the club’s wild horse. Since making his debut in 2012, Wighton has played every position in the backline and impressed in four seasons at fullback, but his move to five-eighth in 2019 unlocked the greatness Ricky Stuart always insisted lurked within the Orange man. The best may still be yet to come for Wighton, but what’s happened is already pretty damn good.
7. Aidan Sezer: A polarising player in his four years with the club, Sezer nevertheless played a vital part in both the 2016 and 2019 finals runs and beats out Sam Williams and Josh McCrone to claim the halfback spot. Despite perhaps never reaching the full promise of his considerable talents, Sezer had some fine days for the Raiders and departs as an important figure in the club’s recent history.
8. Josh Papalii: Even before his seminal 2019 season, Papalii was already in with a chance of making an all-time Canberra XVII but now it would be foolish to have one without him. A three-time Mal Meninga medal winner, a Test and Origin regular and a modern legend of the club, Papalii is our pick for Canberra’s best overall player of the last 10 years.
9. Josh Hodgson: The most transformative recruit Canberra landed this century, Hodgson takes this spot by the length of the straight. His rise from unknown import to one of the best players in the game over his five seasons with the Raiders has been quite extraordinary and helped kickstart the English revolution which has helped define the club’s recent history.
10. David Shillington: This team is heavy on Raiders from the last few years, which is only natural given the club made the finals just twice from 2010 to 2015, but those lean years were never the fault of David Shillington. The club’s player of the year in 2010, and an occasional captain until his departure at the end of 2015, Shillington’s 14 Test appearances are the most of any Raider this decade, and the hardworking prop always put his best foot forward during some of the clubs toughest times.
11. Elliott Whitehead: Bronson Harrison had some good days for Canberra, and Joe Picker remains a fan favourite, but Elliott Whitehead claims this spot on the back of four excellent years with the Raiders. The Englishman’s deft skills and endless workrate have never yielded since he joined Canberra in 2015 – it’s difficult to recall him ever playing poorly as he blossomed into one of the Raiders most consistent players.
12. John Bateman: Is one year enough to earn a spot in the team of the decade? With due respect to Harrison, Picker and Joseph Tapine, it is enough if you’re John Bateman. The pride of Bradford was living proof of Canberra’s 2019 transformation, emerging as one of the best players on the best team the club has had in 25 years. The new Raiders fought for everything they could get, and no player typified that more than Bateman.
13. Shaun Fensom: Shaun Fensom would die for the cause, even if the cause was a valiant charge to the semi-finals that ultimately came up short. A two-time Raiders player of the year, Fensom’s death-defying willingness to play through pain and inhuman appetite for work made him a hero to Canberra fans and a shining light during some dark days for the green machine. He’ll get that Country Origin jersey some day.
14. Sia Soliola: Along with Hodgson and Blake Austin, Soliola helped bring the Raiders into a new era once he arrived at Canberra in 2015. Described by Ricky Stuart as “a leader of men”, Soliola’s hard-nosed experience has made him invaluable on the field while his work off it has helped reforge the links between the Raiders and the Canberra community, which has become a defining feature of the club’s success in recent years.
15. Junior Paulo: In the most hotly-contested spot, Paulo just gets home over Shannon Boyd, Dane Tilse, Harrison and Tapine. Boyd might have played for Australia and Tilse was around for much longer, but for much of his two and a half seasons with the club, Paulo was Canberra’s most important forward, more consistent than Boyd and with a higher-ceiling than Tilse.
16. Tom Learoyd-Lahrs: There’s a saying about candles burning twice as bright but for half as long, and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs was kind of like that only with more high-speed collisions. The kamikaze prop forward rose to Test and Origin selection in 2010 via an uncomplicated playing style which involved running as hard as he could until something, or someone, stopped him. A veteran of the 2010 and 2012 finals campaigns, injuries got the better of Learoyd-Lahrs in the end, but when it was good it was pretty great.
17. Blake Austin: Alan Tongue only played two seasons this decade and Terry Campese’s career was destroyed by injury, so the final spot on the bench comes down to Blake Austin and Sam Williams. Austin was the Dally M five-eighth of the year in 2015 at a time when the Raiders desperately needed stars they could believe in, and while it was never quite like that again Austin remains an important figure in Canberra history. That just gets him in ahead of Williams, who has travelled far since making his NRL debut in 2011 but always comes home to the Raiders in the end – the Cooma man is the consummate clubman.