Canberra Raiders halfback, Aidan Sezer, will be putting his jersey on with pride this weekend as he represents his heritage in the Indigenous Round this weekend against the Newcastle Knights.
The Raiders will sport an Indigenous jersey this weekend to recognise and celebrate Indigenous culture, as will the other 15 NRL clubs.
The match against the Knights has extra significance for Sezer, who himself has Indigenous heritage and has represented the Indigenous All Stars.
In 2013, the halfback’s hard work on the football field was recognised when he was selected to represent the Indigenous All Stars in the annual All Stars match at Suncorp Stadium, winning the match 32-6 in an impressive performance.
After a stellar season with the Raiders in 2016, Sezer was given the opportunity to represent the Indigenous All Stars earlier this year as they cruised to a 34-8 victory over the World All Stars.
Coming up against the Knights this Sunday, Sezer will be looking to have a big game to get his team’s season back on track.
“I guess for the boys who have that bit of heritage behind them it’s a bit more special to wear patterns by our elder indigenous leaders,” Sezer said. “With myself being an indigenous Australian, it’s a good week to come together and reconsolidate our indigenous culture.”
Coming off the back of two tight defeats, the Raiders will be looking to get things back on track when they travel to Newcastle.
Having lost by one converted try against the Bulldogs in round nine and by just two points against the Sea Eagles the week before, the Raiders will be hoping to use the added motivation of Indigenous Round to help them return to winning ways.
After enjoying a short break from training over the rep round break last week, Sezer says they have addressed any issues over the week and says effort on the field will be a big focus for the team.
“Our last two games haven’t been up to the Raiders standard and what we pride ourselves on, so we’ve been replicating that at training,” Sezer said. “We based ourselves on our effort of players and it hasn’t been there.”
“I guess those things are very important and we will be looking to get that right and that obviously goes a long way to winning the game.”
Article written by James Coman
