2023 Preview: Canberra Raiders

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Ricky's Raiders seek top eight once more.

It was a rollercoaster of a 2022 season for Canberra, with injuries and inconsistency leaving their spot in the final eight hanging in the balance right up until the end of the final round. An awe-inspiring upset victory over Melbourne was to come, only for the Milk to be unceremoniously dumped out of the finals by Parra a week later.

In 2023, the Raiders have the potential to cause some damage. Young backs and an increasingly experienced and connected forward pack will cause their opponents plenty of headaches. Whether or not they can live up to their potential remains to be seen, but anything short of a serious run into September will be seen as a failure for Canberra.

Canberra will begin their 2023 NRL season against the Cowboys in round one, but before that they have the NRL's Pre-Season Challenge to get through. The Raiders will meet Canterbury in Moruya on Sunday, before playing against the Tigers at Belmore seven days later. Ricky Stuart's approach to these matches will be of interest - will he treat them as trials, or will the prize money offered by the NRL change his outlook?

Why They'll Win It

Ricky Stuart has been head coach of the Raiders since 2014, with over 200 games under his belt in the hot seat. The squad is almost entirely his making, and he has been around to see the number of promising youngsters now in the NRL squad come through the junior representative systems.

His passion and experience is world-renowned, and despite some rocky years since Canberra's heartbreaking grand final loss, Ricky Stuart is the man for the job. If the Raiders go all the way in 2023, it will be Sticky's magic that gets them there.

Why They Won't

Injuries throughout last season exposed the Raiders for their lack of depth. With experienced
back Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, and forwards Adam Elliott, Harry Rushton, and Ryan Sutton all leaving the club, Canberra fans will have their fingers crossed that their depth doesn't face testing during their 2023 campaign.

Consistency is another major issue for the Canberra side. It was a string of wins at the back end of 2022 that saved the Raiders from missing the eight entirely. After the first eight rounds of 2022, the Raiders were 14th on the table. They'll need a much better start in 2023.

Key Player

Coach Ricky Stuart showed plenty of faith in young fullback Xavier Savage last season.

Coming into 2022 with just two NRL games under his belt, Savage made the number one jersey his own during the second half of 2022. Favoured over the experienced Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Savage is almost a certainty at keeping the role in 2023.

With the role of starting fullback comes great responsibility. Savage is still lacking in NRL experience, and he will need to learn quickly in order to keep his head above the water.

Rookie to Watch

20 year old 2nd rower Clay Webb has earned himself a top 30 contract with the Raiders in 2023, and he'll be looking to make his NRL debut this season. A product of Canberra's junior systems, he captained their victorious SG Ball side in 2021 - a team that featured Xavier Savage and Trey Mooney.

He spent 2022 cementing his spot in the NSW Cup side, where he made 20 appearances, often playing the full 80 minutes. Having attended St Edmund's College in Canberra, Webb's rise through the systems is a promising one, and it gives Raiders fans plenty of reasons to get excited about their junior systems taking full advantage of Canberra's home grown talent.

2023 squad

Predicted 17

1. Xavier Savage
2. Nick Cotric
3. Jarrod Croker
4. Matthew Timoko
5. Jordan Rapana
6. Jack Wighton
7. Jamal Fogarty
8. Josh Papalii
9. Zac Woolford
10. Joseph Tapine
11. Hudson Young
12. Corey Harawira-Naera
13. Elliott Whitehead

14. Danny Levi
15. Corey Horsburgh
16. Emre Guler
17. Sebastian Kris

2023 Raiders Fixtures

Some statistics courtesy rugbyleagueproject.org.