Jake Foster only played in the one match for the Raiders in 2014 however he proved to be one of Mounties’ best all year in the VB NSW Cup, taking out the side’s Player of the Year Award as well as a host of accolades along the way.
Canberra is fortunate to have tremendous depth in the back-row, headlined by Queensland and Australian representative Josh Papalii and dual Meninga Medallist Shaun Fensom and ably supported by the likes of Joel Edwards, Jarrad Kennedy and even Matt McIlwrick late in the season.
Given the quality and depth of the Raiders back-row stocks, Foster found it hard to break into the top 17 despite his stellar form for Mounties.
Making it even harder for the former Indigenous All Stars representative to break into the side was the fact that Papalii, Fensom, Edwards and Kennedy all played close to 20 games each this season.
Foster’s only game for the season was in Round 5 against the Penrith Panthers, in which the Raiders went down 12-6 at Sportingbet Stadium.
In his 67 minutes on the field, Foster compiled the solid statistics of 33 tackles, 72.6 metres and one tackle break, proving he is a more than capable first grade player.
Unfortunately, due to the loss and the quality of the Raiders back-row, Foster spent the rest of the year with Mounties in the VB NSW Cup.
Foster’s misfortune in terms of his NRL aspirations proved to be undoubtedly Mounties’ gain with the talented back-rower guiding the side into the semi-finals.
The 25 year old was simply outstanding for Mounties on the left edge and captained the side with class.
His terrific performances in the first half of the year resulted in him being named in the starting second-row for the VB NSW Cup representative side which took on the Queensland Residents before Game Three of the State of Origin series at Suncorp Stadium.
Foster then continued to lead from the front for Mounties and finished the year with the team's Player of the Year Award after his 12 tries from his 22 appearances.
The Guildford Owls junior’s form over the course of the year also resulted in him being named in the second row and as captain of NSWRL.com.au’s team of the year.
Here is what NSWRL.com.au said of Foster:
“We felt that Foster picked himself. He is the consummate professional. Foster made 22 starts for Mounties this year and also bagged himself 12 tries, many of those coming early in the year when he was scoring them for fun. Foster was one of the VB NSW Cup Representative sides best in their loss to QLD, but his endeavour and leadership both on and off the park sees him as a standout candidate for not only this side, but as its captain.”
Foster has not been re-signed for the 2015 season and as such, on behalf of the Raiders, we would like to wish him all the very best in the next stage of his career.
Games: 1
Average Minutes: 67
Tries: 0
Try Assists: 0
Line Breaks: 0
Line Break Assists: 0
Tackle Breaks: 1
Average Metres: 72.6
Average Tackles: 33
Offloads: 0
