Matt Frawley is determined to resurrect his NRL career at the Canberra Raiders after a "crazy roller coaster" ride gave him one more shot at his hometown club.
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The 24-year-old has returned home to join the Raiders at pre-season training this week to bolster the club's playmaking stocks on a one-year development contract.
The former Canterbury and Huddersfield half will join Sam Williams in pushing for an NRL berth behind first grade starters Jack Wighton and George Williams.
Frawley played 31 NRL games across two seasons with the Bulldogs before shifting to Huddersfield for a 22-game stint in England.
The Giants have rolled out the red carpet for ex-Raiders halfback Aidan Sezer on a two-year deal to leave Frawley seeking greener pastures.
Then a serendipitous meeting with Raiders chief executive Don Furner paved the way for a homecoming the Belconnen junior thought may never happen.
The message from Canberra coach Ricky Stuart throughout a handful of meetings has been simple: depth breeds success.
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"There are some players there that are quite established with Jack and George there," Frawley said.
"I'll be there to push them along and I'm going to hope to play as much NRL as I can. It's just strengthening the squad and providing that depth.
"Hopefully Jack is going to be playing Origin again but I definitely want to be playing before then. I want to play as much NRL as I can this year.
"I'm not getting too far ahead of myself. I'll just focus on pre-season, strong trials, and the rest will look after itself.
"It's a pretty crazy roller coaster you ride and you never rule out anything.
"It's something I always hoped for but something I didn't know was going to happen. Now it has happened, I'm just thankful to the club for the opportunity."
Frawley joins NSW under 20s forward Darby Medlyn, Andre Niko, Jarrett Subloo and Kai O'Donnell in the Raiders' development group.
Tongan international Ata Hingano has left the Raiders to pursue an opportunity elsewhere having originally signed a development deal to stay in Canberra.
Raiders recruitment guru Peter Mulholland says 22-year-old Hingano's departure meant the club needed someone to add more depth to the roster.
The chance to re-sign Canberra's former under 20s captain was a simple one as the Raiders look to build a squad designed for the rigours of an NRL campaign.
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"He epitomises the values Ricky wants around the place, and he is a local junior on top of it.
"It's tremendous [to have Frawley providing depth alongside Sam Williams]. People will say they're much the same, they're a similar sort of player.
"But I don't see anything wrong with having similar players on the left and right side of the park.
"At the end of the day, George Williams can run, Jack Wighton runs, it gives us that depth we need."
The Raiders squad will remain at their Bruce headquarters for the bulk of pre-season before moving to their new Braddon base.
Furner says "we're not in any rush to get out of here" with administration staff likely to move in January.
The football department will follow potentially six to eight weeks later once the new grass at the Braddon precinct is set ahead of the 2020 season.
"The club is in a really strong position. There was a real buzz around town this year with where the club is going," Frawley said.
"Moving into the new facility in the new year is going to help, so it's really exciting.
"Just from the two days I have had, it's a really tight-knit bunch of boys, a really good crew and I'm really happy with the people they've got in the team.
"It's just exciting for me to be a part of that."