The Raiders will resist the urge to rush into signing a replacement halfback, and are willing to put their faith in veteran Sam Williams to wear the number seven for the rest of 2021.
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Canberra has missed out on the possibility of landing Melbourne Storm hot property Nicho Hynes, who has penned a three-year deal to join Cronulla from next season, but the club will not be drawn into a snap decision to fill the hole left by George Williams despite the recent frenzy of NRL player movement.
Hynes will join the Sharks after the Shire club missed out on South Sydney star Adam Reynolds, who opted instead to join the Broncos.
Tom Dearden has since left Brisbane immediately to join North Queensland, which allowed Cowboys half Jake Clifford to move straight to the Newcastle Knights.
George Williams' untimely release has thrust the Raiders into the halves merry go round, but recruiting staff are adamant there is enough depth at the club to invest time in assessing available options.
Sam Williams is a 10-year NRL veteran who has compiled 97 career games, and filled in at halfback in Saturday's heavy loss to the Sydney Roosters.
Local junior Matt Frawley and highly rated youngster Brad Schneider are also waiting in the wings.
"Sam Williams is there, he's done the job for us before and he deserves his opportunity," Raiders recruitment boss Peter Mulholland said.
"Brad Schneider he's a great kid. We've got to give him time, and Sam affords him the luxury of a bit of time to develop in reserve grade."
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Mulholland dismissed the majority of halves off contract at the end of this season as viable options, given the club would target a structured organiser to complement five-eighth Jack Wighton.
That would effectively rule out Shaun Johnson, Corey Norman and former Raider Anthony Milford.
Gold Coast playmaker Ash Taylor is off contract this year and potentially fits that mould, but the Raiders are likely to be turned off by his injury history.
English Super League star Gareth Widdop is another player potentially in the mix, but Mulholland said his name hadn't cropped up in internal discussions.
"You're open to look at everybody. . .from what I can gather he's settled down over there pretty well at the moment," Mulholland said.
"There's younger blokes out there, like a Sean O'Sullivan, or a Corey Paix or a Cade Cust but I don't think they're any better than Sam [Williams].
"It's really a matter of throwing some names at him [coach Ricky Stuart], throwing some footage of players at him and then Rick assessing what he wants from there."
Raiders players trained on Tuesday but have been given the rest of the bye week off. They'll return to training on Monday.