Nearly a year after his last NRL appearance for the Raiders, NSW Cup star Peter Hola has been called up to first grade to take on the Sydney Roosters this weekend.
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The 25-year-old earned the vacant bench prop spot for Saturday's Indigenous Round clash at Canberra Stadium after forward Emre Guler was promoted to the Raiders' starting line-up following Josh Papali'i's one-game ban.
Raiders half Kaeo Weekes was involved in the controversial hip-drop tackle against the Bulldogs that led to Papali'i's suspension - clashing heads with him in the process - and felt the Raiders veteran was dudded by the decision.
"It wasn't intentional and you don't want to see anyone go down like that, but I thought Paps was a bit hard done by," he said.
Papali'i will be missed by the Raiders in a tantalising showdown at home, but the Green Machine have backed Guler and Hola to deliver.
"The mentality is 'next man up' and they'll have confidence to get the job done," Weekes said.
"There's been a lot of great boys playing Cup this whole year that are pushing their case to play first grade each week."
Hola smashed down the door to get his opportunity thanks to some fine NSW Cup form, averaging a career-high 141 metres a game.
Hola has been at the Raiders since 2022, but played just one NRL game last year off the bench in round 19. In his first season in Canberra after arriving from North Queensland Cowboys, Hola was named NSW Cup player of the year, however he's struggled to crack into first grade regularly in a stacked forward pack.
Off-contract after 2024, there was speculation earlier this year that Hola was eyeing a move to the Super League, though his management shut down those rumours and said he was committed to landing another contract with the Raiders.
"He's going to put his head down, bum up and focus on securing his Raiders jersey," Hola's agent Chris Orr told The Canberra Times in January.
"Super League clubs came knocking and we discussed it, but he's made the decision to stay and fight for a starting 17 jersey. It's a very important season for him ahead."
Now Hola has been given a shot with the NRL side, he'll be no doubt wanting to make an impression on coach Ricky Stuart.
There'll be extra motivation for the Raiders pack this weekend with international prop Joe Tapine playing his 200th game.
"He's turned into a real leader, especially for someone like myself," Raiders centre Sebastian Kris said of Tapine.
"I look up to him and I know he'll put his [best] foot forward and I know the rest of the boys will too."
Kris was also excited to showcase his Indigenous culture during the "special" round, and hopes it inspires a better performance than the Raiders' last home game where the team were thrashed 40-0 by Cronulla.
"I'm Indigenous every day of the year, but it is special to bring our culture to the spotlight," Kris said.
"We will take the same mindset from the Manly and Bulldogs games in our defence and just turn up for one another."
NRL - Round 12 (Indigenous round)
Raiders squad: 1. Jordan Rapana, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Ethan Strange, 7. Kaeo Weekes, 8. Emre Guler, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Morgan Smithies. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Ata Mariota, 16. Trey Mooney, 17. Peter Hola. Reserves: 18. Albert Hopoate, 19. Zac Woolford, 20. Simi Sasagi, 21. Michael Asomua, 22. Hohepa Puru.