He's muscled his way into Ricky Stuart's starting pack, but Englishman Ryan Sutton refuses to rest on his laurels after lauding the depth of the Raiders forward pack this season.
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Sutton's early-season form and the offseason arrival of ex-Gold Coast captain Ryan James has forced Queensland prop Dunamis Lui into the NSW Cup this weekend, with Stuart unable to find room for the 161-game veteran.
Lui will run out alongside the likes of Corey Horsburgh and Emre Guler in a curtain raiser to the Raiders' clash with Penrith on Friday.
"That NSW Cup team we've got you could probably play against top NRL squads week in week out," Sutton said.
"It's not just Nami, you've got Big Red [Horsburgh] who's a really talented younger player, and Emre who's a talented young player, and we've got Corey Harawira Naera in that team.
"The competitiveness has been there all preseason and is still there this year. If someone has a good game in the NSW Cup and someone doesn't have a good game in the NRL, Stick is more than happy to swap and change it up, it keeps us all on our toes really.
"If anything, it's a bit of an headache for Stick because he knows he can leave players on but he's also got players on the bench that can do a job as well."
Sutton has scored two tries in four matches to start the year, and has racked up huge minutes already proving his adaptability to the NRL's rule changes.
He managed 73 minutes against the Warriors when the Raiders were down to no fit players on the bench, and another 64 minutes last week in the win over Gold Coast.
It comes after a late-season knee injury cost Sutton a second-straight finals campaign at the end of last season.
"Credit to the conditioning staff, they've been really training us over speed in the off season. and with the new rule changes, and the ball staying in play a lot longer, we've had to be a bit more physically ready for this year," Sutton said.
"I came back into the preseason in better shape and better condition than what I'd been before. That's given me a really good incentive to have a good start to the year."
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The Raiders will complete their Captain's Run on Thursday morning in West Belconnen before heading to Sydney later that day.
They're up against a Penrith side which has won 21 of its last 22, the only blemish being last year's grand final loss to Melbourne.
"They're probably the form team of the comp at the minute after four rounds, all round the park they're a really good side," Sutton said.
"They've got big middles and really strong outside backs. We're going to have to hit the ground running, we can't take two or three sets to get into the game, we're going to have to make sure when we get there we're ready to go."
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.
