Canberra fight to retain Cotric as Bulldogs circle

Canterbury have expressed an interesting in signing Canberra’s Nick Cotric as they look to strengthen their side for next season.

Canberra’s Nick Cotric is a local junior who has played State of Origin for NSW

Canberra are under siege from cashed-up Canterbury after the Bulldogs expressed an interest in signing Nick Cotric to strengthen their outside backs next season.

Cotric, off contract at the end of the season, has been haggling over a new deal with the Raiders, leaving him vulnerable to approaches from rivals.

Those fears have now been realised after the Bulldogs contacted Cotric’s camp this week to express their interest in signing the 21-year-old, raising the prospect that he could join Raiders teammate John Bateman at Belmore in 2021.

The Bulldogs are believed to have tabled a three-year-offer for Bateman as the Canberra forward weighs up whether to stay in the NRL or return to England, where he has family and a deal on the table from Super League giants Wigan.

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The Bulldogs have money to spend and a burning desire to use it. They have been linked with a host of players and their ranks will be strengthened next week when English forward Luke Thompson comes out of quarantine and drives from Melbourne to Sydney to join his teammates.

Thompson will add strength and stamina to the forward pack. Cotric has been targeted as a surefire way to add class and quality to the Raiders backline – it is understood he wants to play centre and Canterbury are willing to consider him in the position.

Canberra are well stocked at centre thanks to captain Jarrod Croker and Curtis Scott and regard Cotric as a winger.

Scott is coming off a difficult week where he was caught out by Manly and their classy fullback Tom Trbojevic. Canberra coach Ricky Stuart, however, has backed the former Melbourne centre to respond when the Raiders face Parramatta at Bankwest Stadium on Saturday night.

“It will take a little bit of time but it’s not something I’m concerned about,” Stuart said of his side’s defensive problems last week.

“If you see the work the boys put in and see the combinations and cohesion at training, you’d know yourself it’s not far away from the boys clicking.

“I said at the start of the season that it’s going to take a bit of time for a couple of important positions to find a bit of cohesion and rhythm but we’ll get there.

“The boys are putting in their work and George (Williams) and Curtis are both very studious towards what they need to do, they take it very personally and that’s a good thing.”

Of greater concern to Stuart is the way his side is attacking.

“I don’t think we’re attacking very intelligently at the moment,” he said.

“We’ll find our mojo soon there.”

Meanwhile, Gold Coast coach Justin Holbrook has confirmed that former Test prop Shannon Boyd is considering a premature retirement as he grapples with changes to the game.

“He’s been battling injury for a long time,” Holbrook said. “He’s a big boy and the game is getting really quick. So it’s up to Boyd. He is having a think about it at the moment.”

The NRL have capped practice games for fringe players at five per club this season.

More inter-club scrimmages have been organised this weekend after Melbourne and Penrith faced off in a modified game last week.

Clubs have been looking to find ways to give fringe players much needed game time after being forced to gauge their form at training following the scrapping of the second tier NSW and Queensland Cup competitions in March.

Scrimmages will feature NRL referees but will be capped at five per team to ensure clubs don’t receive an unfair advantage by organising more practice games than others.