Mitch Cornish farewells the Raiders after climbing through the junior ranks and featuring in 15 NRL games across two seasons after making his long awaited debut in 2014.
Cornish finished 2014 as the club’s first choice halfback, leading the side to three consecutive wins to finish off the year, however he was faced with added pressure to retain his spot in the pre-season due to the arrival of five-eighth Blake Austin, the return of Sam Williams and the existing presence of the experienced Josh McCrone.
After a tremendous effort in the pre-season, coupled with flashes of brilliance in the trials and at the Auckland Nines, Cornish secured the hotly-contested number seven jersey for Round 1, with Williams relegated to Mounties and McCrone filling the utility role on the bench.
But some indifferent form from the Raiders over the first month saw Cornish replaced after four rounds by Sam Williams, with Williams doing enough to see him retain the number seven jersey for the majority of the season.
Cornish was recalled to the NRL team in round 10 for the hard road trip against the Dragons in Wollongong where he put forward a determined display in a close loss and was at the helm again the following week as the Raiders almost pulled off a miraculous come from behind win against the Bulldogs at GIO Stadium.
However when Williams was cleared to return from a punctured lung it seemed to spell the end for Cornish’s season, before an injury to Blake Austin in round 25 gave him a chance to have one final game for the club in the team’s final match of the season against the Parramatta Eels at Pirtek Stadium.
Cornish showed his professionalism and determination to help the Raiders secure an epic golden point win and tenth place on the competition ladder.
During his absence from the NRL team Cornish flourished at NSW Cup level for the Mounties, as he teamed up with Josh McCrone to help guide the Mounties to a Minor Premiership and preliminary final in the NSW Cup.
His efforts saw him named as the NSW Cup halfback of the year and he also represented NSW for the resident’s team in their narrow 36-32 loss against Queensland in the stand alone representative fixture.
Cornish has signed a one year deal with the Parramatta Eels in 2016 and the Raiders would like to wish him all the best for the future.
Statistics:
Matches |
Runs |
Metres |
Tackles |
Tries |
Try Assists |
Tackle Breaks |
Offloads |
Line Breaks |
7 |
32 |
255 |
94 |
1 |
5 |
13 |
1 |
1 |
