The Canberra Raiders are pleased to announce the club’s four development players for the 2024 NRLW season.
Elise Smith, Ua Ravu and Ella Ryan return to the squad as development players for the 2024 season, with exciting young forward Claudia Finau also joining the squad.
Smith, Ravu and Ryan all debuted in the club’s inaugural NRLW season in 2023 and their experience will be valuable to this year’s squad.
Finau is the younger sister of Tatiana, who was recently announced as part of the club’s Top 24 squad.
The 17-year-old made the move from Auckland earlier in the year to join the Raiders Tarsha Gale Cup squad for the 2024 season. She recently received the Player’s Player award at the Raiders Junior Representative Presentation Night.
Raiders NRLW coach Darrin Borthwick is looking forward to having Smith, Ravu, Ryan and Finau as part of his squad for the 2024 season.
“I think with a little bit of experience that we’ve added to our development list, we are really big here on calling our squad a squad of 28. I know that the development title sits behind them but they are as big a part of our 28 as anyone,” Borthwick said.
“To have Ua, Elise and Ella now have the opportunity to play a bit more football through our feeder club Mounties, it’s a good opportunity for them to play week in, week out and improve their game.
“That’s why they are still here, they’ve got a lot to offer this team still and I’ll be watching just like the other girls on how they perform each week. I want them to put pressure on me to make a different decision next year.
“On the other end of our scale, Claudia is such a young girl still and was a powerhouse in our Tarsha Gale system and gets the opportunity. She dropped everything to come here to Canberra and take up the opportunity to play in our 19s.
“I’m really happy that she’s decided to come to this club and take the opportunity to be in our NRLW system. She’s one to really look out for and someone that we’ll nurture through and make sure she’s comfortable with everything. She’s got a big future and I’m looking forward to seeing how she goes with our feeder club.”
