Jarrod Croker brings calmness to the chaos. Not only on the left edge, but talking to the referees as well.
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It's not surprising given his 292 NRL games of experience.
Croker will take one step closer to a possible 300-game milestone with his return against Brisbane at Lang Park on Saturday.
It will be the Canberra co-captain's first game of the 2023 season and his first game since May 6 last year.
He's put knee and shoulder injuries behind him and has been plying his trade for the Raiders in the NSW Cup this season.
But the Green Machine's stuttering start to the season has led to his return, with Harley Smith-Shields dropping to an extended bench.
Both Raiders' edges have been found wanting in recent weeks, with Penrith slicing through their right side in their 41-point demolition at Canberra Stadium last week and Newcastle doing the same to the left the previous week.
Canberra halfback Jamal Fogarty said Croker's blood pressure never got much about 80 - such was the calmness he went about his work.
"He's definitely going to bring calmness to the chaos and that's what we need at the moment," Fogarty said.
"When things get a little bit heated and we get a bit fatigued people want to try and solve things by ourselves and having 'Toots' in the team with his calmness he's going to reinforce that we're doing things together and I think that's the big part for us to getting a win this weekend."
Raiders co-captain Elliott Whitehead said he'd also benefit from having Croker's cool head on the field.
Whitehead has been leading the Green Machine in his absence, but will have another leader in a young group of outside backs where veteran winger Jordan Rapana was the only one older than 23.
He said he'd probably continue to talk to the referee while he was on the field, but was looking forward to having Croker to lean on as well.
Croker also added a handy goal-kicking option with a career accuracy of 80.7 per cent from the tee - compared with Fogarty's 77.7 per cent.
The Raiders co-captain kicked a match-winning conversion against Newcastle's reserves two weeks ago, while Fogarty has made a strong start to the season from the tee with an accuracy of 92.3 per cent.
"He's been a great for this club, played many games and is going to bring a lot of experience," Whitehead said.
"Just to have his leadership as well is going to help me a lot and it's good to see him back out there with us.
"I'll probably get to argue with the referee. Nothing will change in that aspect I don't think.
"It'll just be good to have Toots out there helping me lead the team around.
"He's very calm - I'm a bit over the top sometimes - it'll be good to have him there."
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