The Raiders Are Quietly Winning Recruitment. Here Is Why Nobody Is Talking About It

Joel Johnston

Editor

Last updated: Wed 07 Jan 2026 12:07

Joel Johnston 07 Jan 2026

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Raiders focus on building through development, not marquee signings.
Key signings create internal competition and depth.
Junior recruitment strategy offers stability and growth potential.

Ethan Strange of the Canberra Raiders. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

The Canberra Raiders are doing something this off-season that barely anyone is paying attention to. They are winning the recruitment battle. Not through splashy marquee signings or headline-chasing offers, but through a long-term strategy that is starting to look very smart.

Coby Black Changes the Conversation About the Raiders' Future
Ethan Sanders and Ethan Strange Create Genuine Competition
The Spine of the Future Might Already Be at the Club
Canberra’s Junior Strategy Has Become a Serious Advantage
Why the Raiders Are Being Overlooked in the Recruitment Conversation

Canberra has always been a club that thrives when it builds from within. This next wave fits that identity perfectly.

Coby Black Changes the Conversation About the Raiders' Future

Coby Black is the type of signing that can shift the direction of a club. He is calm, composed, and well beyond his age in terms of rugby league IQ. What makes him dangerous is not just his talent. It is the environment he is walking into.

Canberra gives him space to breathe. There is no demand for instant stardom. No pressure to be the saviour in round one. He has time to learn the game next to players who are also part of the next generation of Raiders football. It is the perfect storm for a young half to develop properly.

Ethan Sanders and Ethan Strange Create Genuine Competition

When the Raiders signed Ethan Sanders from Parramatta, it barely registered in the wider media cycle. It should have. Sanders wanted a clear pathway and Canberra offered exactly that. Now he finds himself in an intriguing battle with Ethan Strange, one of the brightest young talents to debut last season.

Having two high-potential halves competing for a long-term role is exactly what successful clubs thrive on. Depth creates pressure. Pressure creates growth. The Raiders suddenly have both.

The Spine of the Future Might Already Be at the Club

Chevy Stewart is another reason Canberra fans should feel confident. He moves like a player who has been in first grade for three years, not someone still learning the ropes. He reads the game well. He has the pace to punish mistakes. And most importantly, he fits the club’s timeline for elite fullback development.

A Stewart-Black-Strange-Sanders combination is not a dream scenario. It is a realistic one. The Raiders are building a spine through development, not desperation.

Canberra’s Junior Strategy Has Become a Serious Advantage

One of the biggest reasons the Raiders are recruiting so well is the work they do behind the scenes. They scout aggressively. They sell a lifestyle that is genuine. They talk to families, not just managers. They explain the pathway clearly. And they limit the noise that comes with Sydney-based clubs.

Young players want stability. Canberra offers that better than most. It is no coincidence that the best young halves are suddenly choosing the capital.

Why the Raiders Are Being Overlooked in the Recruitment Conversation

Clubs that make big-money signings usually dominate the off-season chatter. Canberra is doing the opposite. Their approach is subtle, patient, and built around the next three to five years. That is why nobody is talking about them.

But they should be.

The Raiders are assembling one of the most exciting young cores in the NRL. They are doing it quietly. They are doing it deliberately. And if this group hits its potential, we will look back on this period as the moment Canberra rebuilt its identity.

The recruitment wins are happening now. The results will come later. And when they do, the Raiders will not be flying under the radar anymore.