Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has vowed to continue an aggressive recruitment campaign in his bid to rebuild the club, with Sydney Roosters and New Zealand Test forward Frank-Paul Nu'uausala agreeing to immediately join Canberra on a three-year deal.
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The Raiders and Roosters effectively swapped players on Wednesday, Canberra releasing forward utility Matt McIlwrick to join the Bondi club and Nu'uausala granted leave from the final year of his contract at the Roosters.
The Raiders have snared Nu'uausala and Wests Tigers five-eighth Blake Austin since the end of the 2014 NRL season, signings Stuart described as a "great bonus".
It has kick-started Canberra's recruitment strategy after the Raiders came under heavy scrutiny for missing out on high-profile players such as Melbourne forward Kevin Proctor, Penrith winger Josh Mansour, Tigers fullback James Tedesco and Manly fullback Brett Stewart.
But Stuart stood his ground, saying he would not be backing down in the NRL's recruitment war.
"There's another four to five players we're chasing, but it's not my go to be announcing them," Stuart said.
"We're talking footballers that are going to keep growing our list of players. Whether it's this year or next year I want to keep developing around the team we have today.
"My plan is to build the best possible football team I can for our supporters and sponsors. It's going to take some time. The [player] market's bubbling along a bit at the moment in regards to players coming off contract and managers wanting to talk. It gets earlier every year.
"We are not the only club in the market for players. There were a number of other clubs in the market for Frank-Paul Nu'uausala too and we won the battle."
The Raiders are interested in Roosters and New Zealand enforcer Jared Warea-Hargreaves, who comes off contract at the end of 2015.
But asked about media reports linking Warea-Hargreaves to the Raiders, Stuart laughed: "There's also media links that I missed out on two players that I said no to and another player [Stewart] that wasn't released off contract.
"When Jared comes off contract, us and another eight clubs will probably be interested in him, but the Canberra Raiders will probably be the only club reported if we miss out on him."
Nu'uausala is expected to be in Canberra as early as next week to begin training. Stuart denied the Nu'uausala deal was reliant on the Raiders giving up McIlwrick in exchange.
The Roosters had been trying to find a back-up hooker for Jake Friend, given that he is likely to miss the first 10 rounds of next season because of shoulder surgery.
The Raiders had turned down an approach from the Roosters to release hooker Glen Buttriss or McIlwrick, but the club spoke with McIlwrick again on Tuesday and reached an agreement.
"We're not swapping players, it's purely an opportunity for Matty to play more first grade games there than here," Stuart said. "That's not to take away from Matty's ability as a player, he's welcome back at our club any time."
Nu'uausala is a strong addition to the Raiders pack, given Canberra lost experienced props Brett White and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs.
Nu'uausala, 27, is a 114-kilogram wrecking ball who has played 153 NRL games for the Roosters, including the 2013 premiership, and 15 Tests for New Zealand.
"Frank will change the environment overnight," Stuart said. "He's played international football, he's won a grand final, he's come from a successful club and they're the sorts of players that are going to help our younger players develop."
