Englishman Ryan Sutton says the Canberra Raiders have hit the reset button this preseason in an effort to banish the ghosts of a horror 2021.
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And despite a disjointed past month at the club during which time several players, including himself, tested positive for COVID-19, the 26-year-old was confident coach Ricky Stuart and his new conditioning staff were laying the foundations for a swift return to premiership contention.
This time last year the Raiders were being touted as possible grand finalists, but the club failed to even qualify for the top eight after a disjointed season on and off the field.
Sutton was expecting a change in fortunes this year.
"You talk about rugby and you need luck, and I don't think we had a lot of it [last year]," Sutton said.
"It's a big learning curve too of what did happen. We've fully come into this year with a massive reset button, we've got a new strength and conditioner - [he's] using different tools and the players have really taken it on board.
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"There's a new alignment this year and a real refresh in everyone's mind. We don't want last year to happen again and we want to get back to where we was in 2019.
"With what happened up in Queensland last year, we didn't want to finish the way we did at all. We did look at ourselves and we want to get better this year.
"We're having a really good preseason so far and we're really looking forward to these friendlies and getting stuck into the season with hopefully no disruptions."
Sutton is preparing for his fourth season with the Raiders, since moving to the capital on a two-year deal from his home town club of Wigan.
So impressed were the Raiders with their new signing, they offered him a two-year contract extension at the end of his first regular season. Twelve months later he was awarded the Coach's Award, having played a key role in Canberra's injury-ravaged season before hurting his knee and missing the finals.
His Raiders deal is set to expire at the end of this year, making Sutton one of several Raiders stars off contract in 2022 including hooker Tom Starling, Corey Harawira-Naera and Corey Horsburgh.
"I really just want to concentrate on having a good preseason because you can get really distracted by that stuff," Sutton said.
"If the Raiders want to move or if other things are there, I don't know, I've just got to make sure I concentrate on myself and what's going on in the present rather than thinking about the future."
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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.
