{"id":371614,"date":"2024-02-29T18:28:52","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T19:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=371614"},"modified":"2024-02-29T21:03:50","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T21:03:50","slug":"raiders-star-lifts-lid-on-plan-for-english-recruit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=371614","title":{"rendered":"Raiders star lifts lid on plan for English recruit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canberra Raiders<\/a> captain Elliott Whitehead<\/a> has given an insight into the club's new recruit Morgan Smithies<\/a> as the Englishman looks to complement a forward pack full of representative stars.<\/p>\n

Smithies packed down at lock for the Raiders' second trial match against the Cowboys, seemingly an indication to how coach Ricky Stuart<\/a> will look to utilise the 23-year-old.<\/p>\n

The former Wigan forward will join fellow England star Whitehead, State of Origin representatives Hudson Young and Josh Papalii along with Kiwis prop Joseph Tapine in a strong forward pack.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Snake causes chaos moments before game starts<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> Where Ricciardo sits in multi-million dollar F1 silly season<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Marnus 'skating on thin ice' as dire form laid bare<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking before trials, Whitehead admitted he wasn't overly aware of \ufeffSmithies' talents before he joined the club.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI didn't really know Morgan before we signed him, he's really settled in well," he told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

"I knew he was a good defender but in training he's showed he's got a lot of quality in attack as well so I'm looking forward to playing alongside him, hopefully he brings us that little bit of ball-playing in the middle."<\/p>\n

The second-rower added there was more to Smithies than he expected in training. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

"I'd heard good things about his defence and he works hard, does all the little things and one percenters not many people see\ufeff but like I said, he's showed a lot more than what I'd heard of him," he said.<\/p>\n

"He's a fit kid, works hard in training with his fitness and his ball-playing skills are really good … hopefully he brings that kind of Isaah Yeo kind of role."<\/p>\n

Having signed with the Raiders in 2016, Whitehead is in the last year of his contract and it's likely that's where his playing career will end.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The former Bradford Bulls and Catalans Dragons forward has seen many Englishmen leave the club during his time and is grateful for Smithies' presence, admitting "I was the last one standing".<\/p>\n

\ufeff"It helps to have someone else understanding me instead of no one, it's good to have him," he said.<\/p>\n

"We've had a few Englishmen over the last eight years I've been here and I was the last one standing so to get another one on board is good and hopefully we can get a few more in the years to come."<\/p>\n

A veteran of 24 Test matches, Whitehead ended his career with England during the recent three-Test series against Tonga.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

England dominated all three encounters\ufeff, winning Whitehead's final match 26-4 with the forward going over to score in his last hurrah.<\/p>\n

\ufeffThe 34-year-old revealed the original plan was to retire a year earlier.<\/p>\n

"I thought it'd be my last time in the World Cup but unfortunately we probably didn't go as well as I thought we would've done and I thought it wasn't the right time to hang them up so I had a crack against Tonga," he said.<\/p>\n

"We were lucky enough to win 3-0, Tonga came over with a great side and put on some great performances but I just felt like every game we played we just played like a team and that showed there in the last game when we put a lot better score on them than the first two.<\/p>\n

"It's really pleasing to go out with a win and to score a try probably tops it off, I had all my family and friends in the crowd so it meant a lot. Waney (coach Shaun Wane) made it a big, special week for me and it was pretty touching to lead the team out in my last game."<\/p>\n

Now, in what's likely to be his last NRL season, Whitehead's goal for the Raiders is clear. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"We definitely want to compete for a premiership, I know we've got a young team and there's not a lot of people out there giving us a chance but since I've been at the Raiders we've never really been given any chances any year I've been here so I think that works to our benefit," he said.<\/p>\n

"We've got a young team with a lot of potential and hopefully they can all stand up and show that potential they've got and we can gel and get off to a good start and get some confidence behind us and keep building towards that premiership we all want."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canberra Raiders captain Elliott Whitehead has given an insight into the club's new recruit Morgan Smithies as the Englishman looks to complement a forward pack […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":371616,"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\/371614"}],"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=371614"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":371620,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371614\/revisions\/371620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/371616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=371614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=371614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=371614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}