After a lengthy stint on the sideline, 21 year-old second-rower Matty Nicholson is fit and ready to go as he returns to the NRL this weekend just in time for finals.
Over from England’s Warrington Wolves on a three-year deal, Nicholson was a standout performer for the Raiders for the first half of the season, scoring five tries in his first nine appearances.
But after leaving the field on one leg in round ten's sold-out clash against the Bulldogs, Nicholson was staring down the barrel of a 3-month recovery with a syndesmosis and fractured fibula.
Despite the extended period, Nicholson has hit the ground running, returning to play through the Raiders NSW Cup squad where he scored against the Panthers last week in round 26.
“The goal’s always been to get back to playing and I’m feeling like myself again.”
But the Englishman is now ready to get back into first grade.
“I’m very excited. I had a quite good start to the year but then obviously the injury happened so it kind of stalled me a bit. But like I said, really excited to get back playing NRL and testing myself against the best.”
Although the new-look Raiders squad named this week is a far cry from the boys on the field when he came off in round nine, Nicholson expressed his excitement to be playing with a few faces – especially those on debut.
“It’s great for the club and it’s great for the lads and their families as well. They’ve all worked hard, and they’ve all been playing really well in cup all year so now they deserve their chance and I’m excited to get out there with the lads and hopefully get the two points.”
Addressing the mood around HQ, Nicholson agreed that it was one of the bigger weeks he’d had in terms of excitement – in a whirlwind of festivities surrounding the debutants.
“When one of my mates debut, it’s always an exciting week. Obviously there’s the debutant dinners which we had yesterday where the families are there and it’s a really special occasion for them and it’s a great thing that the club do.”
But despite the Raiders’ having already secured the 2025 minor premiership, Nicholson maintained the importance of a win this weekend.
“Whenever someone’s making their debut, we always want to make sure that their debut game’s a win so it’s another important week for us to get our performance right.”
Looking inward, the edge forward also admitted he was personally looking to make a statement and lock down a position for finals. The depth in the backrow is as strong as it has ever been at the club.
“On a personal note, I need to make sure I play really well and give Stick a bit of a headache about the team. So yeah, I’m looking to play well this week at right edge.”
In terms of his opponents, Nicholson recognised how much of a threat a full-strength Dolphins outfit playing for their season would be, but showed unwavering faith in his side
“A win would be huge. Obviously, the Dolphins are pretty much full strength and they’ve still got a chance of making the eight as long as the Roosters lose. So, we expect a very good version of the Dolphins and we’re going to have to play very well to beat them but we’re more than capable.”
“We played them earlier in the year, I think we ended up winning, but they put a lot of points on us early doors and they’re a very dangerous team. They’ve got a lot of flare out wide so we’re expecting that again from the Dolphins again this week.”
