With a full pre-season under their belts, Raiders halves pairing Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer are ready to make their mark on the NRL in 2017.
Austin had a horror run with injuries, limiting the time he and Sezer were able to spend together at training and in matches in their first year as the club’s first-choice halves.
Now with an uninterrupted lead up to the season, they are ready to unleash a more developed combination as Canberra pushes for its first title since 1994.
“With the lack of time we spent on the paddock last pre-season other guys were filling in and I guess they were hearing less instructions from us,” Austin said.
“We’ve been able to stamp our mark on the team.
“We’re going to be able to really control things and really chime in.”
Having a strong voice in the group has been a focus for the duo, with Austin confident the duo have made a positive contribution in the pre-season.
“We’ve got a team where we don’t need to have our hands on the ball as much as some of the other halves in the competition,” Austin said.
“In saying that we certainly want to have more of a mark on this team. We really want to own the team.
“That’s something we’ve worked really hard on and our forwards and our backs have responded really well to that.”
While the Raiders were enjoying success Austin was forced to watch on in one of the toughest seasons of his career.
“Every time I found a bit of momentum it was halted again,” he said of 2016.
“As a guy that focuses a lot of his game on his running game, if your body is not 100 per cent then it’s going to suffer.”
Swannies
Guest
Agree...Stuart is not a good coach and will probably leave in 2018 after raiders slide out of finals. Manly have a much better record than Canberra too ...lots of silverware at brookvale!
Swannies
Guest
Raiders over-achieved last year and will face a tough battle to finish top 4 again. Had a good run with injuries too. Not a premiership contender just yet...too many better teams running around this year.
Silvertail47
Roar Rookie
Pretty close though ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Probably not as many commas as your comments.
Silvertail47
Roar Rookie
Zim ,,,il keep polishing the contents of our trophy cabinet ,,,, whilst I'm reminiscing, I can guarantee you one fact ,,Manly will win another comp ,,,an NRL prem ,,,, before the Raiders do ,,, on NRL prems ,,, how many do raiders have !??? Again ????
zim
Guest
Geez being a bit harsh on the Dally M coach of the year. I look forward to another year of excuses from Manly after they again miss the 8. Two rebuilds and they've made such awe inspiring signings as Shaun Lane and Akuila Uate and are still stuck with a below average forward pack.
Maxo
Guest
I note the Raiders have grabbed 2 NZ rugby schoolboys stars because perhaps they are good and their salary doesn't count in the salary cap for the first year. Note to Crosscoder - players go both ways.
Stanley Campbell
Roar Rookie
admittedly they lack chemistry last year it took half way through the season to have a meeting and figure each others roles but i think this year if both can stay on the park they will be as dangerous as any half combination in the comp especially with the forward pack the raiders have.
KingCowboy
Guest
agree Silvertail, Raiders won't win with him as coach!
Silvertail47
Roar Rookie
They blew it last year , nothing will change , looking forward to another year of sticky and his moaning
The Barry
Roar Guru
I was really looking forward to watching this combo last year after the 2015 they each had but they both went down in the first game. They seem to suit each other so well. If they can click and fire the Raiders will be bloody strong all over the park and as close to a lock for a top two finish as you can get these days.