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Canberra Raider re-sign four players including match-winning hero

(Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images)

Match-winning hero James Schiller is one of four Canberra players to re-sign in the wake of their famous NRL win in Melbourne on Sunday.

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Along with hooker Zac Woolford and young forward Ata Mariota, Schiller has added two years to deal to remain with the side until the end of 2024, while veteran half Matt Frawley has extended until the end of 2023.

Schiller, a 21-year-old who only joined the Raiders ahead of this NRL season on a train-and-trial contract, says sticking around longer at his local club is a no-brainer.

“Canberra’s home for me, it was a pretty easy decision when they sent an offer through so I’m glad to be staying here,” he told reporters.

“You wouldn’t expect this coming into a team on a train-and-trial, I wasn’t thinking I’d be anywhere near where I am in November last year.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given and hopefully I can continue with my form throughout the rest of the year.”

Of his spectacular winning try against the Storm that saw him grubber to himself and regather the ball to score after skipping around the corner post, Schiller urged his mates to stop sending him video of the heroics.

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“A lot of people have sent it to me as if I wasn’t there,” he said with a laugh.

“It’s something I can add to a highlight reel now and remember forever, but I want to also move on, there’s a lot more to produce.

“Not a lot was going through my head, I just had to wing it … I just acted off of instinct and thankfully it was the right act.”

The only thing tarnishing his dream week was an ankle injury suffered scoring the try that will rule him out of Saturday’s clash with the NZ Warriors.

Woolford has been a mainstay at No.9 for the Raiders since his debut in round 10, while Frawley has deputised in the halves seven times this season.

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Mariota, 21, is yet to make his NRL debut.

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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