Canberra Raiders look to lock in Charnze NIcoll-Klokstad

Nicoll-Klokstad joined the Canberra Raiders at the start of the year on a two-year contract until the end of 2020 and looking for opportunities.

He's played all 17 games so far this season and made the No.1 jersey his own.

The 23-year-old's the Green Machine's leading try scorer with nine, he's fifth in the NRL for tackle breaks (75), second for runs (314), third for run metres (3015) and leading the league for kick return metres (1196) - more than 300m more than the New Zealand Warrior whose shadow he was looking to get out of, Dally M Medallist Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

He'll return to Auckland to face the Warriors for the first time next weekend, with the Raiders staying in Sydney after playing the Penrith Panthers at Penrith on Sunday.

Raiders chief executive Don Furner said they'll meet with Nicoll-Klokstad's New Zealand-based manager with the view to ensuring he remains in Canberra.

Furner will begin a similar process with the Raiders' other boom recruit John Bateman.

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Bateman's manager, who also looks after Ryan Sutton and Elliott Whitehead, will visit in early August.

All three Englishmen, but especially Bateman, will be on the agenda.

Bateman arrived on a three-year deal, but - like Nicoll-Klokstad - has been such a success the Raiders will begin talks with him as well.

Sutton and Whitehead are contracted until the end of 2020.

"Without a doubt we want to keep [Nicoll-Klokstad], we want to extend him, all of the above and we'll meet with him then," Furner said.

"A couple of weeks after that, John's agent is visiting us, he's coming from England. By chance he happens to manage John, Ryan Sutton and Elliott.

"We're going to sit down when he gets here and talk about it.

"He's coming in the first week of August and we certainly would like to get that all out of the road before the semi-finals."

While there have been reports of a revised offer for star winger Jordan Rapana, who is off contract at the end of the season, Furner said nothing had been finalised.

The emergence of players like Nicoll-Klokstad, Hudson Young, Corey Horsburgh and Bailey Simonsson is a double-edged sword - on one hand it's helped drive the Raiders' climb into the top four, but it also leads to salary cap pressure through match payments.

"We'd like to keep Jordan. We're still working on it," Furner said.

The Raiders also want to re-sign halfback Sam Williams and forward Luke Bateman, who are both off-contract at the end of the year.

Bateman's been struggling with a knee injury and hasn't played since he ran out for Mounties in the NSW Cup on April 21, while Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has opted for Aidan Sezer to wear the Green Machine's No.7 jersey ahead of Williams since round 13.

"I've spoken to his agent, I've spoken to Sammy. He knows we'd like to keep him," Furner said.

"We've had a fair few chats with Luke. He knows where he's at and we'd love to keep him.

"He's one of us, he's a Raider. It's really, really tough for players. He's out injured when you're off contract and then the other young blokes come through and take their opportunity.

"I think he's been contracted with the Raiders since he was 15. He's like Sammy, he's a Raider. We'd like to keep him and we aim to keep him."

Nicoll-Klokstad's journey to Canberra began in 2010 - a year that hit him hard, but was also the catalyst for his career.

His brother Tyson, who had muscular dystrophy, died, his mother had been sentenced to eight years' jail and the rest of the family moved to Melbourne.

It was there he went into the Melbourne Storm system, before he joined the Warriors to be closer to home.

"Every time I run onto a field, still, I feel grateful. Blessed to be in the position I'm in," Nicoll-Klokstad told PlayersVoice.

"Every time I run out, I always look up knowing that [Tyson] and some other family members who have passed are watching over me."

NRL ROUND 19

Sunday: Penrith Panthers v Canberra Raiders at Panthers Stadium, 4pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Michael Oldfield, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Sia Soliola, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Dunamis Lui, 18. Sam Williams, 19. Royce Hunt, 20. Sebastian Kris, 21. JJ Collins.

Panthers squad: 1. Dylan Edwards, 2. Josh Mansour, 3. Dean Whare, 4. Brent Naden, 5. Brian To'o, 6. James Maloney, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. James Tamou, 9. Mitchell Kenny, 10. James Fisher-Harris, 11, Viliame Kikau, 12. Frank Winterstein, 13. Isaah Yeo. Interchange: 14. Wayden Egan, 15. Jahrome Luai, 16. Moses Leota, 17. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 18. Jed Cartwright, 19. Spencer Leniu, 20. Stephen Crichton, 21. Liam Martin.