The Canberra Raiders have continued their search to uncover talent abroad, with NRL Recruitment and High Performance Manager Peter Mulholland recently returning from a two week trip to England to uncover the next stars from the UK.
Mulholland attended the Super League Magic weekend in Newcastle during his time in the UK, along with meetings with Super League clubs and a trip to the Everton Football Academy to assess their High Performance set-up.
It’s the first time the Raiders have undertaken a trip like this in the UK and Mulholland said the purpose was to determine and identify any potential players for the Raiders in the future.
“We all know the success that we’ve had with the signings of Josh Hodgson and Elliott Whitehead, so we wanted to see if there were any other players in the Super League or at a junior level who we think we might like to give an opportunity to at the Raiders,” Mulholland said. “It makes it a lot easier to talk to these players and their managers if we can see them in person and determine if there is potential for us to begin a relationship.”
Mulholland said the Magic Weekend was an amazing event and a fantastic opportunity to see the Super League as a whole.
“The Magic Weekends is a wonderful event and it saves you trekking all over the country and trying to watch six different games as it’s all at one venue,” he said. “I think the players lift for it, because the atmosphere is absolutely amazing. I think it was 68,000 people [that] attended over the weekend and I noticed the players do lift. There were five or six youngsters that really took my eye, who in two or three years we could certainly have a look at.”
The trip was also a chance for Mulholland to catch up with Andy Clarke, the Manager of current Raiders star Elliott Whitehead, in a bid to open discussions on extending his contract with the club.
“We’ve started the discussions about Elliott in earnest as we’re keen to have him secure with the club for a longer period,” he said. I know he’s keen to stay and we are working through a process to make that happen. He’s been tremendous for us since arriving and we think he has a future at the Raiders.”
