Raiders to renew Souths-Logan link
November 8, 2013
Jon Tuxworth
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times
The Canberra Raiders are set to revive their affiliation with the Queensland Cup, confident it will help them address issues of homesickness among their promising juniors and give them more power in the south-Brisbane turf war with the Broncos.
Two years after being ordered by the NSW Rugby League to cut their affiliation with Souths Logan Magpies, the Raiders are confident a meeting of the Australian Rugby League Commission next week will clear the path for them to restore a formal feeder system with them again. It would enable the Raiders to send their developing players on the fringe of the NRL to either Souths Logan in the Queensland Cup, or Mounties in the NSW Rugby League competition.
It could prove to be a major boost for the Raiders in the south Brisbane region, regarded as one of rugby league's richest junior talent pools.
The Raiders have recruited a host of NRL stars from the area, including Anthony Milford, Josh Papalii and Edrick Lee, who have all suffered homesickness as they adapted to new lives in Canberra.
Milford is still threatening to follow through with a requested release to return to Brisbane after the World Cup.
The bonus of a formal feeder relationship with Souths Logan is that the Raiders best junior talent from Queensland could still play more often in Queensland during their development.
The Raiders were prevented from sending contracted players to Souths Logan in mid-2011 by the NSW Rugby League, which also threatened to ban them from competing in the under-16 and under-18 junior competitions.
A change of NSWRL management has since helped put it back on the agenda and NRL chief operating officer Jim Doyle has completed a review into the issue. Other Raiders juniors from the Souths Logan nursery include Luke Bateman, Patrick Mago and Brenko Lee.
''It helps with the homesickness factor with these kids,'' Souths Logan chief executive Jim McClelland said. ''It's good for those kids that are Souths kids if they're not required in the top 18 [NRL] they can fly home, see mum and dad and play in the jersey they started with.
''We've given the Raiders a lot of quality players and we want that process to continue, but it's very difficult if they're devoting resources and not getting anything out of it.
''We're fighting against other codes, it's a waste of time fighting against ourselves.''
Raiders development boss David Hamilton said players could be shared among Mounties and Souths Logan, depending on the origin of the players.
''We'll send local players to Mounties and the Queensland boys can go up there [to Brisbane].
''It's just common sense and solves a lot of problems.''
The Raiders are in a fight with the Broncos over the recruiting territory in south Brisbane. The Broncos are establishing a $6.5-million junior academy in Logan and poached Raiders scout Brian Edwards.
McClelland said two of the biggest rugby league schools in Queensland, Marsden High and Redbank Plains, had guaranteed a commitment to the Raiders. ''These other NRL clubs certainly don't do what the Raiders do for junior football here,'' McClelland said.
