He's fully fit after the most tumultuous season of his life, and now Curtis Scott is out to show Raiders fans exactly why Ricky Stuart was so keen to bring him to the capital.
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The NRL premiership winner has been training the house down over the summer, since recovering from surgery to repair the fibula he rebroke towards the end of last season.
But more importantly he heads into 2021 with a clear head, no longer being followed by a dark cloud of anxiety which swirled above him last year following his January arrest.
That dissipated when the erroneous charges levelled against him by NSW Police were thrown out of court in September last year.
"It's good to see him without the cloud hanging over his head," Raiders star Jack Wighton said.
"He went through a lot last year, and a lot of doubt not on the field but just with everything going on. And you could really see it.
"As one of his mates it's really good to see him with that spark in his eye again.
"He's on top of the ground, he's been training the house down. I'm really excited to pull a jumper on with him again."
Scott and Wighton spent part of the offseason fishing in Queensland, chasing marlin at Hervey Bay, and barramundi at Awoonga Lake and Gladstone.
But the pair has bigger fish to fry in 2021 as two key elements of a rejigged Raiders backline.
Bullocking winger Nick Cotric has left for Canterbury, but Bailey Simonsson is back from shoulder surgery and ready to join Scott in Stuart's round-one squad.
It'll be the ex-Melbourne Storm centre's first NRL match since Canberra's win over Canterbury in round 16 last season.
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The 23-year-old left the field that night with a limp, and doctors discovered he'd fractured his lower leg underneath a metal plate which had been inserted following a broken leg in 2016.
That untimely injury robbed him of the chance to take the field after being cleared by a Sydney magistrate. Wighton said Scott's predicament had been a tough situation for the entire playing squad.
"It was one of them ones you're there for him but you don't want to crowd him too, [you need to] let a person have their space," Wighton said.
"It was a long stint for him but she's all done now. The club always had his back, and the boys have all said the same thing. Hopefully he gets in and rips in for us this year."
Scott is set to play in the Raiders' trial match against the Sydney Roosters at Seiffert Oval in Queanbeyan later this month.
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
