{"id":364593,"date":"2024-02-01T18:53:16","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T19:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=364593"},"modified":"2024-02-01T21:03:43","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T21:03:43","slug":"raiders-in-for-long-winter-unless-one-problem-fixed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=364593","title":{"rendered":"Raiders in for 'long winter' unless one problem fixed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most clubs already have an established spine for 2024 – but the Raiders<\/a> are a different beast with the season kick-off just weeks away.<\/p>\n

Ricky Stuart<\/a> has plenty of options – and potential headaches – as he attempts to make back-to-back finals series.<\/p>\n

The key fullback spot is up for grabs, with both Xavier Savage and Seb Kris vying for the No.1 jumper.<\/p>\n

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Then there's the giant hole at five-eighth following Jack Wighton's departure to Souths, with Manly recruit Kaeo Weekes the early favourite but no certainty to start alongside Jamal Fogarty.<\/p>\n

Move on to hooker and Stuart has three contenders – Zac Woolford, Danny Levi and Tom Starling.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On paper it's not looking among the elite spines in the NRL and the Raiders could be in for a long winter unless these guys all play above themselves.<\/p>\n

While the spine will often win or lose games, the Raiders' strength lies in other positions on the field.<\/p>\n

Utility back Jordan Rapana remains one of the game's most under-rated finishers, Matt Timoko was as good as any centre in the NRL last season and Joe Tapine and Josh Papalii give great go-forward.<\/p>\n

It's an experienced squad and if the Raiders can win 75 per cent of their home games – which they are capable of doing – they are well on their way to finals footy once again.<\/p>\n

ANOTHER ENGLISH STAR ARRIVES\ufeff<\/h3>\n

Unable to match the big city teams for elite talent, the Raiders have got great value in English recruits over the years – and look to have found another good one in Morgan Smithies.<\/p>\n

The former Wigan Warriors back-rower comes to the Raiders on a three-year deal – with quite a reputation.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old helped Wigan to victory in last year's Super League grand final, making a record 55 tackles – with no misses along the way.<\/p>\n

But Smithies is capable of even more – in his rookie season at age 18 he made a record 72 tackles in a game.<\/p>\n

That high work rate will enable the likes of Tapine and Papalii to save their energy for attack and they are certain to appreciate that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most clubs already have an established spine for 2024 – but the Raiders are a different beast with the season kick-off just weeks away. Ricky […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":347111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364593"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=364593"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":364595,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364593\/revisions\/364595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/347111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=364593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=364593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=364593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}