They will never admit it publicly, but in recent weeks the Sydney Roosters have begun asking whose idea it was to let Ethan Strange swap Bondi for the warm embrace of Ricky Stuart in Canberra.
The five-eighth was a standout for the Raiders last year. Had he not been struck down by a virus on the morning of the semi-final against Cronulla, the Green Machine might well have advanced to a preliminary final – and maybe even the premiership decider.
The rugby league world sat up and took notice of Strange when he had an absolute blinder on debut for NSW in Origin I, having been promoted to the starting team after Mitchell Moses broke down with a hamstring strain.
Strange and the Raiders welcome the Roosters to the nation’s capital on Friday night, and plenty in Bondi reckon the 21-year-old should be running out in the red, white and blue rather than Canberra’s lime green.
The Roosters rarely make mistakes when it comes to recruitment, and can point to Daly Cherry-Evans, Sam Walker, Naufahu Whyte, even James Tedesco, depending on how far you want to go back, as key acquisitions. But this one was a Strange decision – literally – that could haunt them for years to come.
Strange was a Roosters junior and the starting five-eighth in the Tricolours’ SG Ball grand final loss to Penrith in 2022.
Before that, he came through the Central Coast Roosters system – an affiliation which has been in place for around a decade and was run by Ethan’s father, John Strange – who is the Roosters’ NRLW coach and last month guided NSW Women to a 3-0 Origin clean sweep.
Ethan Strange came through the grades with current Roosters Rob Toia, Blake Steep and Benaiah Ioelu.
The late, great coach and recruiter Peter Mulholland spotted Strange in action, and quickly sent Stuart and the Raiders a highlights package.
Several clubs were already aware of his talents. The Titans were one of them, with then coach Justin Holbrook a good friend of John Strange.
John told this masthead on Thursday he had deliberately stayed out of negotiations when it came to Ethan because of the conflict of interest.
“Ethan met with a few clubs, but he really liked Ricky, and he got along with him – it’s as simple as that,” John said. “It’s not as if we didn’t want him.
“There’s been this narrative pop up about, ‘Why did the Roosters let him go?’. But it’s not true. We actually wanted to keep him. [Former recruitment manager] Daniel Anderson met with Ethan and his mother Adele, and tabled an offer. I guess Ricky did a really good job.
“Ethan had that connection with ‘Stick’ straight away. Sticky laid out a plan about what he wanted to do with Ethan, and when you’re a 17-year-old wanting to play in the NRL, Sticky’s message was pretty powerful.
“I certainly wasn’t going to try and persuade him to stay where I was working. Ethan was always going to do what was right for him, and not take the easiest option, which was staying.
“I’d never met Sticky at the time. He rang me after he had met with Ethan, he told me how impressed he was by him, and from a father’s point of view, he was going to look after him off the field more so than on the field, which put my mind at ease.”
Strange told the Roosters he would be joining the Raiders for the back half of the 2022 season. To their credit, the Roosters kept the lid on their chai lattes, and kept picking Strange in SG Ball.
The three-year deal had Strange on the Raiders’ development list the first year, before being upgraded to the NRL squad the following two seasons.
Around the same time, the Raiders had offered Jack Wighton a four-year, $4 million contract – the first time the club had been prepared to pay a player seven figures annually.
When an emotional Wighton informed Stuart he would be joining South Sydney, the Raiders immediately turned their attention to Strange as the club’s long-term No. 6 option.
That decision was justified when Strange scored a hat-trick for NSW in an under-19s Origin game.
Canberra CEO Don Furner recalls meeting Strange in his office before an Anzac Day game shortly after his arrival at the Raiders.
“All our Kiwi boys were meeting the New Zealand high commissioner to Australia at the time [Dame Annette Faye King],” Furner said. “Ethan rocked up. I said, ‘Mate, this is just for the New Zealand boys’, and he said, ‘Don, I’m part Kiwi’.
“I didn’t know about his heritage at the time. I know all about him now. We’re glad we’ve got him. He is a wonderful young man.
“This club has already had two outstanding five-eighths in Laurie Daley and Jack Wighton – they were great runners, tough defenders, and outstanding talents. Hopefully, Ethan is regarded in the same company by the time he finishes his career.”
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