Raiders recruit Ryan James is upfront about what he came to Canberra for.
โIโd love to come down and win a premiership,โ he said.
The 29-year-old middle forward signed a two-year deal with the Raiders last year, having spent the entirety of his career with the Gold Coast Titans.
Only playing one final in 11 years of NRL so far, heโs keen to add to that tally in Canberra.
โI just think the depth, the players that weโve got and just the calibre of player and coaching staff, weโre going to give it a red-hot crack,โ he said.
Having suffered back-to-back ACL injuries in 2019 and on the eve of the 2020 season, itโs now been nearly 700 days since James last played first grade in round 6 of the 2019 season.
After sitting on the sidelines for that long, James is keen to get back on the paddock for the trial against the Sydney Roosters at Seiffert Oval in Queanbeyan this weekend.
โIโll see if I can do it anymore, it should be right,โ he smiled. โItโs been a long time.
โOnce Iโve played the scrimmages and stuff here, it gets that weight off your shoulders. Itโs just transferring that to the field.โ
James joins Canberra as part of a forward pack with formidable depth that will see him competing with the likes of Josh Papalii, Dunamis Lui, Joe Tapine, Corey Horsburgh, Sia Soliola, Emre Guler and Ryan Sutton for a spot in the middle forward rotation.
โIt just creates competition between everyone,โ he said.
โThe level of training down here is something Iโve noticed, itโs a lot different.
โDown here everyoneโs fighting for your spot so everyoneโs going hard โฆ If you can get close to game simulation at training, footy doesnโt become that hard.โ
James arrived in Canberra before Christmas and joined the clubโs under-21 squad to rip into pre-season a few weeks before the first-grade squad came back.
Having relocated here with his young family, James says theyโve all settled in well over summer.
โItโs been humid the last couple of days so itโs sort of like the Gold Coast,โ he smiled.
โEveryoneโs been welcoming โ the coaching staff, the players, the community; they love the Raiders.
โThe kids are in school, the other oneโs in day care, so weโre into a good routine.โ
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