Hudson Young has surprised the Canberra Raiders with his resilience.
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They probably shouldn't have been given he's already been through some tough times.
He'll return from a five-week suspension for an eye gouge in the Mounties' NSW Cup clash against Penrith at Panthers Stadium on Sunday - a curtain raiser to the Raiders-Panthers NRL clash.
Raiders veteran Sia Soliola said they rallied around Young, but realised how resilient he was.
Young served a two-year ban after accidentally taking a banned substance when he was 16.
"Yeah [we got around him], but not as much as [we thought] we would have needed to. He's a strong kid," Soliola said.
"He's gone through some stuff in his life, and he is very level-headed. He's just a kid that wants to play."
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Soliola thought the biggest test for Young would've been the inconsistent penalties handed out for similar incidents.
South Sydney prop George Burgess was banned for nine games for an eye gouge, while North Queensland forward Josh McGuire was twice given fines for similar acts.
Soliola said Young would bring the same enthusiasm as he did in his nine NRL games, just with a little more restraint.
"I think he is more relieved than anything, the poor kid. He has learnt a lot over the past seven weeks," he said.
"He is pretty pumped. I'd expect him [to come in] with a lot of energy, this time a little bit more controlled.
"He's an exciting young talent and you can definitely tell how much he is keen to play when he is out there doing scrimmage with us."
NRL ROUND 19
Sunday: Penrith Panthers v Canberra Raiders at Panthers Stadium, 4.05pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Michael Oldfield, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Sia Soliola, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Dunamis Lui, 18. Sam Williams, 20. Sebastian Kris.
Panthers squad: 1. Dylan Edwards, 2. Josh Mansour, 3. Dean Whare, 4. Brent Naden, 5. Brian To'o, 6. James Maloney, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. James Tamou, 9. Mitchell Kenny, 10. James Fisher-Harris, 13. Isaah Yeo, 12. Frank Winterstein, 21. Liam Martin. Interchange: 14. Wayden Egan, 15. Jahrome Luai, 16. Moses Leota, 17. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 18. Jed Cartwright, 20. Stephen Crichton.