Raiders return to boost Queanbeyan clubsTHE sight of Trevor Thurling ever running out for the Queanbeyan Blues again was probably not one many people would have anticipated.
Nor would the idea of David Milne or Daniel Vidot charging down the touchline at Freebody Oval have likely been entertained by the Queanbeyan Kangaroos.
But both scenarios have become very real possibilities after the Canberra Raiders were forced to find a new home for the club's fringe first-grade players for the rest of the 2011 season.
For the past several years, the Raiders have sent those members of the club's top squad not included in the matchday NRL side to turn out for the Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup.
That relationship however, has been brought up short by the NSW Rugby League, which has been determined to force Canberra into linking with a NSW-based side as opposed to one from north of the border.
In order to achieve that goal, the NSWRL decreed any Raiders player who represented the Magpies after June 30 will be ineligible to take to the field in the NRL again this season.
As an arrangement with a NSW Cup team has yet to be finalised, that ruling has left the club with no option but to turn to the local Canberra Raiders Cup competition.
In a move that will shake up the Canberra league, nine Raiders players (one for each local side) will be allocated across the CRC for the remaining seven rounds plus finals.
Where possible, club juniors will be sent back to their former teams meaning Thurling will likely return to his junior club at the Blues.
The Kangaroos are in no such position of certainty and will likely receive a player chosen at random from those made available by Canberra.
While those players are yet to confirmed, it's a list that will likely include names of the ilk of Josh Miller, Danny Galea, Milne and Vidot.
News of the decision has been welcomed by players from both of Queanbeyan's rugby league clubs and the Blues' Jay Lasscock said it was one that carried plenty of positives.
"It'll definitely strengthen the competition, hopefully it builds a bit of excitement and it might boost the crowds a little bit so it should be good,'' he said.
"We'll hopefully have the advantage of having local junior [Thurling] coming back as well, other blokes getting send to random clubs might not have that passion.''
And Travis Robinson from the Kangaroos dismissed suggestions the move would be unfair on the club players forced to make way for the new additions.
"It's always bad on the person who has to go back but it happens in every grade every week, no one has a guaranteed spot in the side,'' he said.
"It'll be good for the competition overall, a lot of people will benefit and some people won't, that's just how it is.
The Raiders players selected by Canberra will be available for selection from round 12, which starts Saturday, July 2.
Source: Queanbeyan Age
Topic: Raiders return to boost Queanbeyan clubs
