NRL Rookie Watch: Which Raiders are worth keeping an eye on in 2023?

With the 2023 NRL season nearing, we list the crop of rookies from each club worth keeping tabs on as they aim to join the elite list of budding stars with a Rookie of the Year award to their name.

As per the NRL, “players are eligible for the Rookie of the Year in their debut season and the subsequent two NRL seasons. Once a player plays five (5) NRL Premiership matches (or English Super League matches), he becomes ineligible for the Rookie of the Year in any subsequent seasons”.

Trey Mooney

A 6-foot-2-inch, 106-kilogram back-rower, Mooney made his NRL debut off the bench in Canberra’s Round 13 win over the Roosters last year. Still just 20, Mooney started at lock for the U19s Blues last season and put together a dominant showing in the side’s win over Queensland. In 16 NSW Cup outings last season, Mooney averaged 99 run metres, scored five tries, broke 46 tackles and came up with 18 offloads. He showed an ability to play big minutes – he played 80 on three occasions and above 60 another seven times – and proved a damaging carrier of the football highlighted by his 170-metre, eight-tackle break effort against Penrith in Round 14. With Adam Elliott and Ryan Sutton having moved on from the club, Mooney will like his chances of cracking Ricky Stuart’s 17 for Round 1 and playing behind a pack already boasting the likes of Joseph Tapine and Josh Papali’i.

Brad Morkos

The Raiders have hardly been strangers to talented outside backs under Stuart’s tutelage with the likes of Xavier Savage, Matt Timoko, Sebastian Kris and Harley Smith-Shields among the names who have debuted for the club in recent years. Junior Blue and Lebanon international Brad Morkos looks poised to join the list of highly-touted outside backs to graduate through to NRL level under Stuart perhaps as early as this season. Also an Australian Schoolboy, Morkos started in the centres in the U19s Blues’ win in June of last year before starting in four games for Lebanon at the World Cup and bagging a try in their decisive win over Ireland in Leigh. The soon-to-be 20-year-old made 18 appearances in NSW Cup this past season averaging 83 run metres and breaking 27 tackles. Still on a development deal, Morkos may have to ply his trade in reserve grade for a little longer before breaking through into first grade but has certainly looked the part thus far.

Ata Mariota

Perhaps having flown a little more under the radar than several of Canberra’s other rising stars, Mariota had a strong season in NSW Cup starting 18 games in the front-row and proving to be a stalwart of the side’s pack. He averaged 121 run metres with 46 tackle breaks and made 433 tackles at almost 95 per cent efficiency in his 18 starts. He also played 50-plus minutes in 12 of his 18 appearances including an 89-minute, 219-metre outing in Canberra’s Round 22 win over Western Suburbs. Still without a first grade cap under his belt, the 21-year-old Apia-native will aim to cash in on the departures of Elliott and Sutton and earn a spot in Stuart’s 17.

Michael Asomua

Another Australian Schoolboy, Asomua made 16 NSW Cup appearances last season and made a name for himself after scoring a double for the NSW U19s in June. The Players’ Player of Canberra’s premiership-winning S.G. Ball squad in 2021, Asomua is a stout, tackle-breaking winger who will most likely spend the majority of 2023 playing NSW Cup but may be leant upon should any injury concerns bother the NRL squad. The youngster put together several major performances in reserve grade last season including a two-try, nine-tackle break outing in Canberra’s win over North Sydney and a 142-metre, 10-tackle break performance in a winning effort over Blacktown Workers to cap off the season. Canberra’s outside back stocks are flourishing with talent, however, Asomua has a number of fans among the club so expect to hear his name more often in coming years.

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