Ethan Strange's father takes NRLW job on the road to watch Canberra Raider's debut

No mean feat when you're an NRLW coach - who has a game 900 kilometres away on the same day.

John will coach the Sydney Roosters NRLW team - who play Cronulla at Shark Park on Sunday at 12pm - remotely from Melbourne so he can be there when Strange runs out in the Canberra Raiders centres against the Storm at 2pm.

Both John and his wife Adele will not only be there for their son's debut, but they were in Canberra on Friday to present him with his jersey as well.

It came after Stuart said Strange could blaze a similar path to two of the biggest names in Raiders history - Laurie Daley and Jack Wighton.

Not that the Raiders coach was looking to put too much pressure on debutant Strange.

It's just the 18-year-old's making his NRL debut in the outside backs like the famous pair and has a similar running game.

Plus Stuart saw Strange's long-term future in the Green Machine halves - where both Daley and Wighton ended up.

The fact he's making his debut against NRL powerhouse Melbourne in Melbourne showed how much confidence Stuart and the Raiders had in the young gun.

Strange has played a number of positions for Canberra in the NSW Cup this season - five-eighth, centre, wing and on the bench.

He starred in the centre for NSW in the under-19 State of Origin, scoring a hat-trick and getting named man of the match.

But Stuart was clear where his long-term future lay.

"I do see him as a long-term half," he said.

"You've got players like Laurie Daley, Jack Wighton who came into first grade through fullback and centre.

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"I'm not going to put that tag on Ethan, but he's a very similar athlete to those two.

"Jack played fullback for a big part of his career before he came into six. Laurie played fullback, centre before moving into five-eighth.

"[Strange has] got a running game similar to the same strengths Laurie and Jack have in the way they run the football.

"It won't hurt him to learn how to be an NRL player, find out a little bit about the intensity of NRL in another position."

Stuart wouldn't have picked Strange if he wasn't ready for the NRL, coming in for injured centres Jarrod Croker (hamstring) and Sebastian Kris (hamstring).

The fact it's against the Storm showed how much confidence he had in Strange.

"It's a big game for him to make his debut in and if I didn't think he had the mental toughness to handle the build-up a game against Melbourne in Melbourne I wouldn't have picked him," Stuart said.

"But I certainly don't fear that."

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