Raiders re-sign Toyota Cup Captain
Canberra Raiders Toyota Cup Captain and hard working back rower Shaun Fensom will remain with a the club until at least the end of 2010, after he secured a new two year deal with the Green Machine today.
Fensom, 19, has been one of the stand-out players for the Raiders under 20's team this season, and his workmanlike performances have already drawn parallel to the Raiders NRL skipper Alan Tongue.
After moving to Canberra this year from Urunga on the Mid-North Coast of NSW, Fensom has proven himself on and off the field for the Raiders, with the club seeing him as a potential first grade player of the future.
An excited Fensom said signing the new deal with the Raiders was a great pressure relief heading into this years finals series, where the young Raiders are currently well entrenched in the top four.
"It's definitely a huge relief to put pen to paper, and it's great to have my future with the Raiders a bit more secure," Fensom said. "We have a real chance at going all the way this year in the Toyota Cup, and I can now concentrate on leading the team into the finals."
Fensom said he was looking forward to joining the Raiders senior squad next season, and said the Toyota Cup was proving itself to be a strong stepping stone into senior football.
"At this stage I will be training with the top squad during the pre-season, and hopefully I can get a spot in there at some stage," he said. "There's no doubt the Toyota Cup is a strong enough competition to grow future NRL players and hopefully I can be one of them."
Raiders Toyota Cup Coach Tony Adam said Fensom has all the right attributes to go on and play NRL football, and he had shown this year what a positive impact he has on his team.
"Shaun reminds me a lot of Alan Tongue as he's very similar in terms of Alan's professionalism and work ethic," Adam said. "He works hard on self improvement and he's very analytical. His work rate over 80 minutes last week was 40 tackles and 17 hit ups, and that's a typical Shaun Fensom game.
"On top of that he's very mature and professional for a young guy, and he just maximizes what he gets from himself, with a great attitude towards his football."
Raiders CEO Don Furner said Fensom's re-signing continued the clubs policy on developing their own talent, and looked forward to watching Shaun grow as a player for the club.
"Shaun is a talented and committed young player who we think has a strong future here at the Raiders," Furner said. "As always we look to reward the young players coming through who have proven themselves, and Shaun has certainly done that this year with strong leadership of the Raiders Toyota Cup team."
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