Curtis Scott has the backing of senior teammates, who have rallied around the ex-Melbourne Storm centre in the wake of a late-night incident at a Canberra nightspot which has left the 23-year-old's Raiders career in serious jeopardy.
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Josh Hodgson and Josh Papalii both leapt to Scott's defence ahead of Saturday's home clash against the Brisbane Broncos, which the second-year Raider won't play in after being stood down indefinitely by the club.
The NRL Integrity Unit will investigate an incident which took place at Kokomo's in Civic just before midnight on May 30. CCTV footage shows a man believed to be Scott punching another patron in the face before he is restrained.
Canberra's board will then meet to decide whether or not Scott still has a Raiders future.
"I've spoken to him the last few days just check in with him see how he is, he's not great at the moment," Hodgson said.
"He's a great kid Scotty. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger how he is in and around the place, how he trains, just the kid he is in general.
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"You feel for those kids when these kind of times happen. I don't really know what's going to happen with it, I can't comment on that too much or comment on what happened because I don't really know myself.
"We spend a lot of time with blokes that are here and are our close mates and if your mates can't have your back than who can? We just got to make sure Scotty's all right, keep round him and keep his chin up.
"What will be will be, we can't change too much about that, but we can certainly be there for him as a mate and that's what we're trying to do as a team."
Scott's indiscretion has opened the door for young gun Matt Timoko, who is set to make his third NRL appearance as part of a new-look Raiders backline against the Broncos.
Ex-Panther Caleb Aekins has been dropped to the NSW Cup, with New Zealander Bailey Simonsson shifting to fullback.
Timoko will partner Sebastian Kris in the centres while Semi Valemei returns to the side on the wing.
Jack Wighton will play at five-eighth, pending fitness from Wednesday night's State of Origin clash, and he'll partner Sam Williams for a second straight match.
Coach Ricky Stuart has plenty of firepower returning in the forwards with Josh Papalii to start at prop after a three-match suspension, and Joseph Tapine named to come from the bench after shaking a knee injury.
Papalii hasn't played since he was sent off for a high shot on Canterbury's Tuipolotu Katoa in round 10. Since then halfback George Williams has been released from the club, and Scott has been stood down for the Civic incident.
The hulking prop also reached out to Scott.
"I've made plenty of mistakes in my career, good and bad, I've been to plenty of court cases myself, things that I'm not happy about," Papalii said.
"I can't judge on other people, I don't know what other people are going through. I can't comment too much on what's going on with Curtis, but I feel for the bloke.
"He's just got to stay low and I think he's got some things to worry about with the club and I guess with the other side of what happened that night.
"This is just a mistake he just has to cop on the chin, come in and just work hard and grind away. Main thing is his welfare, he's doing fine, most of the old boys have called in and he's doing well."
The Raiders will attempt to win their first match at home in three months against the battling Broncos on Saturday, which Hodgson has described as a chance to put to bed a horror start to the season.
"I don't feel like we're under the pump, the stuff that's come out with George [Williams] and the Scotty thing and other stories that come up, most of them come up because you're losing," Hodgson said.
"When Manly were losing at the start of the year I read an article on them nearly every day. As soon as you start winning, people tend to go a little bit quiet.
"It looks from the outside that all things are going wrong here, there's fires everywhere, everyone's having fights and nobody's getting along. That's for people from the outside to worry about.
"We know we're all right. There's been some tough things that have happened. We've got to move on from them and go forward. We're just looking forward - [we] can't keep worrying about what's been and gone."
Canberra Raiders v Brisbane Broncos
Saturday June 12, 7.35pm, Canberra Stadium
1. Bailey Simonsson 2. Semi Valemei 3. Sebastian Kris 4. Matt Timoko 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Jack Wighton 7. Sam Williams 8. Josh Papalii 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Dunamis Lui 11. Corey Harawira-Naera 12. Elliott Whitehead (C) 13. Ryan Sutton 14. Tom Starling 15. Emre Guler 16. Sia Soliola 17. Joe Tapine 18. Elijah Anderson 19. Hudson Young 20. Matt Frawley 21. Harry Rushton
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
