2 weeks Ago By David Polkinghorne
Elliott Whitehead's departure has opened a second-row door at the Canberra Raiders and NSW Cup coach Brock Shepperd expects Noah Martin to be in the mix to step through it next season. Subscribe now for unlimited access . Login or signup to continue reading All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today's Paper Breaking news alerts direct to your inbox Interactive Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia All articles from the other regional websites in your area Continue It's high praise for the 19-year-old forward, who sports the same flowing mullet as his older brother Jordan.
Shepperd's Cup team are playing against the Newtown Jets at Leichhardt on Saturday for a spot in the grand final. Martin's been named in the second row alongside Simi Sasagi, who made his Raiders NRL debut this year. One of the motivating factors will be to ensure departing Canberra product Nick Cotric hasn't played his last game due to suspension .
He'll miss the next two games for a grade-two hip-drop tackle - so the Catalans-bound winger will only play for the Green Machine again if they make the NRL State Championships. Noah Martin is in the second-row mix for the Raiders NRL side next season. Picture by Kelly Grainger Whitehead's also off to Catalans to finish his decorated playing career, opening up a spot in the Raiders' second row.
Hudson Young and Zac Hosking would be first choice with Sasagi having put his hand up this season to be next in the pecking order. But the Raiders will welcome England international Matty Nicholson from Warrington for pre-season and now Shepperd's thrown Martin's name in the ring as well. "Noah hasn't been far away all year," Shepperd said.
"Projecting forward to next year Noah's going to be right in the mix for that position to start next year. "He's obviously got to earn his way there. He's going to have to have a big pre-season and trial well, but his performances at this level .
.. he's been super consistent at the back end of the year.
"He's one player that I've had discussions with [Ricky Stuart] around in regards to his form and what next year looks like, so there's only a bright future for him. "It would be nice to see him exposed there at some stage next year." The Raiders NSW Cup side is using Nick Cotric's suspension as motivation.
Picture by Karleen Minney The Raiders play in a preliminary final this weekend as they look to win their first NSW Cup premiership since 2003. If they can reverse their 38-16 loss to the Jets two weeks ago then they'll face the North Sydney Bears in the decider. A win over the Bears would see them face the Queensland Cup premiers in the State Championships at Homebush on NRL grand final day.
The Raiders have to make it that far for Cotric to play for them again before he joins Catalans in the English Super League. He's one of a number of players in the team departing at the end of the season, along with Zac Woolford, James Schiller and Peter Hola. Shepperd felt they had a strong case to have Cotric's grading reduced and he now had "less clarity" about how hip-drops were graded.
They've already spoken about that as one of the motivating factors through the play-offs after Cotric's grading was upheld at the judiciary on Wednesday night. "Absolutely. We've only spoken about that in our team meeting now," Shepperd said.
"We don't want to see Nick go out on the back of a suspension. "That's going to be part of our motivation for the next two weeks definitely - to give him another game in the green jersey would be fantastic and to send him out the right way. "So that's certainly part of our motivation for the next two weeks.
" NSW CUP PRELIMINARY FINAL Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Newtown Jets at Leichhardt Oval, 1pm. Share Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Email Copy David Polkinghorne Sports journo Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job.
Email: [email protected].
au Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.
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