Raiders happy to front up with homegrown young gunsCANBERRA have turned their backs on approaches from the managers of Willie Mason and at least two other experienced props to place their faith in the club's young front-row talent.
After Brett White's season-ending knee injury last Monday, the club fielded inquiries from representatives of Mason, who last played in the NRL for North Queensland in 2010. It is understood the Raiders have also attracted interest from the managers of out-of-favour Eels pair Shane Shackleton and Justin Poore.
But Canberra are reluctant to recruit an outsider, as they are worried it may disillusion the young forwards in their system. Important forwards Shaun Fensom and Joel Thompson are also on the injured list, but will return to the fray soon.
''We develop our own players, and you don't want to bring people in over the top for the sake of it,'' said Raiders chief executive Don Furner yesterday.
''We want to make sure we still have the pathway there for our developed juniors …
''Jarrad Kennedy, Mark Nicholls, Mark Ioane and Shannon Boyd, they're good young forwards and have been in the system for a while and we're definitely better off pursuing them at this stage.''
Kennedy was solid in his NRL debut against the Warriors last Sunday, while Nicholls was denied his debut after Test prop David Shillington was a late inclusion.
Furner said the club believes focusing on long-term gain over a short-term fix was the best option.
''There was obviously discussions between the coaching staff and Willie's manager,'' he said.
''I'd imagine they certainly looked at the benefits he could bring, but thought we'd be better off bringing through the likes of Mark Nicholls and Jarrad Kennedy and Paul Vaughan.''
Even without former NSW Origin representative White, Canberra's front row, led by Shillington, Dane Tilse and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, is among the best in the NRL.
But while they'd prefer to adhere to their youth policy, Furner said the Raiders haven't ruled out looking at outside options should injuries further erode their forward depth.
''At the moment we have great experience in the front row, but if we lost a couple more and you lost that experience, you wouldn't want to have four front-rowers who are 21 years of age,'' he said.
Source: West Coast Sentinel
Topic: Raiders Turn Their Back on Willie Mason and Others in Favour of Young Guns
