Englishman Harry Rushton will make his NRL debut for the Canberra Raiders in their crucial away clash against the Penrith Panthers on Sunday afternoon.

Rushton will become Raider #382 after being named on the bench, with Emre Guler dropping out of the 17.

Canberra have also made a reshuffle in the backline with Jordan Rapana named at fullback, Xavier Savage on the wing and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad moving to the bench.

Nicoll-Klokstad was taken off late in the Cowboys’ clash with Savage coming on at fullback where he came up with a costly late error.

Hudson Young remains on the extended bench after playing 80 minutes in the NSW Cup last week where he scored a try, recorded a linebreak and ran for 148 metres.

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart was fuming after the Raiders blew another double digit lead to the Cowboys last week and threatened to swing the axe.

“I’m sick of defending playing 40 or 50 minutes of football,” Stuart said.

“The way we started that second half was pathetic.

“There were some individuals that didn’t start with the way they should have to get us back onto the front foot.

“I’ll deal with that when we get back to work, but it is not on and I’m sick of it.”

Heading into the toughest test currently on the NRL schedule with the Panthers not having lost in Penrith since 2019, forward Ryan Sutton said his team simply had to bring the intensity.

“We’ve just got to fight fire with fire … the Panthers are the pinnacle of the competition at the minute, they’re top of the league and we’ve got to make sure we match them from minute one, all the way through to minute 80,” he told reporters.

“We know it’s a big game but it’s still early in the competition … we’ve got to get back on the horse and get the season rolling.”

Like Sutton, debutant Rushton is from Super League club Wigan Warriors’ youth system.

He caught the eye in the Raiders’ NSW Cup win against the Mounties in Wagga Wagga with an exquisite try that saw him grubber kick to himself before soccering the ball forward and gathering it to score in remarkable fashion.

“He’s done one good kick and he thinks he can play for Blackpool … if it comes off then great, and if it doesn’t he’s back out (of the team),” Sutton said with a laugh.

“He’s good Harry, he’s really good with the ball in hand as well … coming in and being given the freedom to play, it’s an insight into what he can do.

“He’s come from Wigan youth like me … he’s a tough kid and he knows what needs to be done.

“I’m really looking forward to it … he’s been knocking on the door for a few weeks now.”

While Canberra have endured a difficult start to the season, things couldn’t be better for the Panthers, with the reigning premiers still undefeated after 6 rounds.

Penrith sit on top of the ladder with a points differential of plus 106 and are primed to go back-to-back this year.

Raiders and Panthers team lists

With AAP