Canberra's $1.3million man, Josh Dugan, will give one of the rivals chasing his signature an up-close view of why he's worth breaking the bank.
Dugan, who is close to agreeing to a new two-year deal with the Raiders, reportedly worth $650,000 a season, will face the Canterbury Bulldogs in Saturday night's trial at Wagga Wagga. The NSW Origin fullback emerged unscathed after a solid 45-minute performance for the Raiders in their 27-18 win against the Melbourne Storm in Albury.
The Bulldogs, along with the Sydney Roosters and the St George Illawarra Dragons, were considered the major threats to keeping the 21-year-old in the national capital.
However, Dragons coach Steve Price told The Canberra Times last month his club had pulled out of the race to sign the former Tuggeranong junior.
Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg said he hadn't considered what next year's roster would look like, or if Dugan was in their sights.
''We very rarely talk about our recruitment and retention,'' Greenberg said.
''We won't do it publicly and any discussions we have are behind closed doors but we haven't even looked at the 2013 roster.
''We've focused very much on our 2012 roster and I know [coach] Des [Hasler] and the other coaching staff are very much worried about what's in front of us and not next year.''
Discussions between the Raiders and Dugan's manager, Paul Sutton, are expected to continue this week, with Dugan's future likely to be sorted out one way or another before March 2.
The two sticking points are understood to be cementing third-party sponsorship arrangements and agreeing how to address contingency clauses if there's an increase in the 2013 salary cap.
Dugan backed up from the All Stars game on the Gold Coast on February4 to renew his attacking partnership with returning five-eighth Terry Campese.
The pair combined on several occasions before Dugan was substituted midway through the second of three periods.
In contrast to previous seasons, the Raiders are set to be at full strength for their final pre-season hitout.
Indigenous All Stars representative Tom Learoyd-Lahrs sustained a minor foot injury while Joel Thompson hyper-extended his elbow, but both are expected to play.
Centre Jarrod Croker will be monitored in his comeback from a knee injury but Kangaroos prop David Shillington is a definite starter after sitting out the match against the Storm with an elbow infection.
Shillington got a bird's eye view from the sideline as the Raiders forward pack looked to establish itself as the best in the competition.
Brett White and Dane Tilse laid a solid foundation from kick-off before Tom Learoyd-Lahrs and Trevor Thurling provided plenty of impetus from the bench.
''Late 2010 we were rolling through teams pretty easily, we got ourselves a good reputation and earned that respect,'' Shillington said.
''Last year the respect for us dropped off a fair bit, we weren't doing as much as we could have.
''We'd love to earn that back because everyone needs a good forward pack otherwise Campo and the other backs won't have any room to play.
''It'll be a big task for us, but we definitely want to get there.''
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