Why a Raiders rookie's heart was in his mouth while chasing the No.6 jersey

The 19-year-old has been locked in a pre-season battle with Kaeo Weekes as Raiders coach Ricky Stuart looks for a new five-eighth to partner Jamal Fogarty in the halves.

A stellar showing at Seiffert Oval may have put Strange in the box seat to face the Newcastle Knights in round one - but there was a moment he feared his dream could fall flat.

Strange copped a $1000 fine after being charged with a grade one dangerous throw charge on North Queensland Cowboys forward Thomas Mikaele during last weekend's trial.

"I was stressing out a little bit," Strange said.

"I'm happy with the result, as long as I don't get any games, it's good."

Now one of the game's brightest prospects is chasing a place in a Raiders halves pairing under the tutelage of one of rugby league's greatest halves in NRL Hall of Famer Stuart.

"I remember we had a meeting with him, me and mum. When we were walking there, I was so nervous, and when I saw him it was like it just wasn't real," Strange said.

"When I was sitting there speaking to him, I was like 'what's going on?' It was a bit of a wig out. Sometimes I still look around and pinch myself that I'm doing what I dreamed of as a kid.

"You can take so much from [Stuart and Fogarty]. They're really good footy players, they've had really good careers, and they're actually really good people as well, which makes it even better because they're always willing to help. I learn every day from them."

Strange comes from strong rugby league stock - his sister Jasmin is an NRLW premiership winner at the Knights, and now she has returned to Sydney to play at the Roosters under their father John Strange.

For an idea of what the Raiders rookie's NRL debut meant to the family last year, John coached the Roosters' NRLW side remotely from Melbourne - while the team played in Cronulla - so he could watch his son in action.

"We've grown up as a footy family to be honest. [Jasmin] was actually an AFL player when she was younger, she was into that," Strange said.

"Me and dad used to just go one-on-one in knee footy, that was our thing. It was pretty fiery, he didn't give me much. He reckons he let me win, I don't think he did though."

Strange started turning heads when he claimed man of the match honours at centre in the under-19s State of Origin clash last year with a hat-trick and two try assists. His NRL debut came in the same position.

But Stuart sees the rising star's future at five-eighth, and Strange has no doubts about which jersey he wants to wear.

To get there, he needs to unseat Raiders recruit Weekes, who is three years his senior and arrived from Manly during the off-season.

"I'd prefer to be at six but I'll just do whatever for the team to be honest, I just love playing footy really," Strange said.

"Obviously I'm a young player so I'll keep trying to mature and being a sponge with all the older boys with my talk. That's something I definitely can work on, but everyone has got stuff to work on, you can work on everything."