Returning Raiders assistant coach Mick Crawley has been tasked with helping to overhaul Canberra's spluttering attack next season and says the Green Machine has the potential to click quick.
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Having started his NRL career as a deputy to Neil Henry at Canberra in 2007, Crawley will return to the Raiders coaching ranks as an assistant to Ricky Stuart, having served three seasons under Wayne Bennett at Newcastle.
Crawley helped oversee Canberra's attacking revival in 2008, when the underrated Raiders finished the season with a finals flurry and were second only to eventual premiers Manly in points scored.
As an example of how quickly things can change, Crawley recalled waking up to a photograph of the Raiders squad in a dragon boat plastered across the front page of a 2007 Sydney newspaper's sport's section.
"The headline said 'Up the creek without a paddle'," Crawley says laughing.
"The article said we were wooden spoon favourites and all the rest of it, so we came in with no one having any expectations on us other than to fail. A lot of the senior players had been moved on the year before ... we had a young squad, we had no big names.
"The best part of rugby league is every year you get a fresh slate to start again. I know Rick's working hard to get things right.
"He talked about me looking after a bit of the attack which for me is always the way I like to work. Going to Canberra and knowing a few of the players who were there before, and a lot of the young guys who were in the 20s but are now seasoned first-graders, I'm sort of going back to what I know."
Raiders skipper Terry Campese was in the form of his NRL career in 2008, his attacking flair earning him a World Cup call-up for Australia. While speculation continues about Campese's future at the club beyond this season, Crawley wasn't so quick to write-off the 30-year-old.
"The years we were there with Terry his confidence grew with the team's success," Crawley said. "There's a lot of players in the NRL who are confidence players. What experienced blokes bring you, you can't teach, either. I watch Terry and I can still see all those things he was good at are still there, but the side isn't playing with a lot of confidence ... it makes it difficult for the ball players
"The one thing we had [in 2008] was a group of players who all wanted to do well for the club. It obviously clicked for us."
Crawley was contracted to the Knights for another year and had no intention of leaving Newcastle, but he reassessed after Nathan Tinkler's ownership collapse made all staff contracts void beyond this season. Crawley is also in charge of the Newcastle under-20s, who are leading the Holden Cup.
While Bennett's other assistant Rick Stone looks set to be given to top job again at the Knights, Crawley said he was content playing a role behind the scenes.
"I think in footy you work out what your niche is and I think mine's being an assistant coach. When you watch what's going on in the NRL at the moment [with head coaches], I'm happy to be doing what I'm doing," he said.
Crawley replaces assistant Matt Parish, who has returned to Sydney for family reasons, while Stuart is still looking to bolster his back-room staff with a replacement for Brett Kimmorley.
