Canberra Raiders star Sia Soliola comes out of retirement to join the Queanbeyan Kangaroos

Now the Queanbeyan Kangaroos recruit will need to buy some new boots for next year's Canberra Raiders Cup.

Soliola retired from the NRL last year - with almost 350 senior games in the NRL and Super League to his name - and has been working as a well-being officer for the Green Machine.

But next year he'll bolster the Kangaroos forward pack, with captain-coach Williams pulling the strings at halfback behind him.

It's launched them into premiership contention after missing out on the finals this year.

Soliola was not only looking forward to being part of the club, but part of the Queanbeyan community as well.

He works with the NSW Police once a month doing the Fit For Life program at the PCYC in Queanbeyan.

"I didn't really have any intentions of returning to the game at any level to be honest," Soliola said.

"I was actually really enjoying retirement, but Samuel was the biggest influence in the decision.

"Obviously the connection that we have and the history that we have was the biggest one."

The 36-year-old wasn't sure how he was going to cope with pre-season after a year out of the game.

But he thought he might be able to sneak a few extra training sessions in with the Raiders under-21s or under-19s to help get him ready.

He won't have any official coaching role - he'll leave that to Williams - but expected he'd naturally mentor his teammates.

"I'm still coming to terms with the fact I'm going to get back into training, that'll be the hardest part," Soliola said.

"I spoke to my wife and she was happy with the decisions that I made. I'm pretty excited to see what everything's about.

"It's a different experience that I'm looking forward to and hopefully I can contribute in a really positive way.

"I'm not going to put too much expectation on myself.

"I'm fortunate I'm in an environment where I can probably do a few sessions here and there with the 21s maybe or the SG Ball boys.

"That'll probably be a good gauge of where I'm at.

"Making the time and effort to get out to training will probably be my biggest challenge right now."

It's a further boost to the former NRL player ranks in the Canberra Raiders Cup, with Derby Medlyn, Zac Saddler and Shaun Fensom others who could continue to bring their NRL experience to the league.

Plus some of the Raiders under-21's players will be sprinkled throughout the competition as they continue their push to play NRL.

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"We hope to bring the level up to a pretty cool standard - a very competitive one as well," Soliola said.

"A lot of our 21s [at the Raiders], there's a bit of a group there that wouldn't make 21s and would have to go back and play local footy.

"We'd like to think that with the distribution of a couple of our squad players throughout the region it will definitely lift the level of football to a really good standard that a lot of people can enjoy.

"I'm also looking forward to the Queanbeyan community too. I've done little bits with them.

"It just adds another level to that relationship that not only I have with them, but from the club's perspective, too."

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