It's the form that gives Ricky Stuart the luxury of waiting until Jarrod Croker's fully fit.
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Whether that's next week against Cronulla. Or the week after against the New Zealand Warriors.
Stuart knows he can rely on Sebastian Kris at left centre while the Canberra Raiders co-captain gets himself 100 per cent ready.
And it was there for the 15,680 fans who turned up for the Green Machine's 30-12 victory over the Wests Tigers at Canberra Stadium on Sunday to see. And Stuart knows he can make that call again.
Kris looked right at home on the Raiders' left edge, having been one of the leaders on the training track during the pre-season.
Whether it was keeping up with Jack Wighton on a kick chase. Or looking dangerous with the football when he ran at the Tigers defence. It didn't matter.
Kris thought he'd scored, but the bunker ruled out the try as George Williams lined up the kick.
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Croker's shoulder is back where it needs to be following post-season surgery last year. Now Stuart wants to make sure his fitness is too before picking him.
"It's lovely to be able to replace a player like Jarrod with Seb and it gave me all the confidence last week to sit with Jarrod and say, 'Listen mate, I've got to protect you from you'," Stuart said.
"I just don't think Jarrod had enough conditioning. His shoulder's fine, I just don't think he had enough conditioning to be where Jarrod needs to be to be the level of player he is.
"I didn't want him to just play for the team and make that sacrifice for the team when I had a player like Seb.
"So we can get Jarrod back to 100 per cent right before he plays. Whether that's next week or the week after I'll leave that with the high-performance team."
While there's been plenty of debate about the NRL's new rules, Stuart was full of praise for the way the referees have controlled the game over the opening round.
He felt they were showing the right amount of discretion, especially with offsides and their inclusion in the six-again rule.
Stuart pointed to what happened a couple of years ago when the referees cracked down and penalty counts climbed. And the uproar that ensued.
"Our game's not black and white ... if you want to be black and white the penalty count's going to be 55-60," he said.
"If you want that type of game - we've seen that two years ago when there was 30-odd penalties at Cronulla. We don't want that.
"We have not got a game where it's a game of chess and there's black and white rules.
"We've got a game of rugby league that we all love the continuity and attacking of it. We also want to make sure we're respecting and appreciating defence.
"I think the referees' discretion so far over the weekend - they've got it right."
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