He might've been training as a back-up hooker, but the halves is still where Matt Frawley feels at home.
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And the Canberra Raiders five-eighth credited a return to his natural left edge for his sparkling performance in the win over Canterbury.
But the 27-year-old said it was really important the Green Machine backed up their effort because they still believed they could get something out of the 2022 NRL season.
That will be no easy ask, given they come up against a Cronulla side that produced a gutsy man-short win over the New Zealand Warriors on the weekend.
But the Sharks could be without fullback Will Kennedy and centre Jesse Ramien due to suspension for the Magic Round clash at Lang Park on Sunday.
Frawley scored a try, almost set up another and forced two dropouts in an especially impressive first half.
It was the perfect performance in the absence of Jack Wighton (suspended), who will also miss the Sharks game.
He's spent a lot of the pre-season working as a back-up hooker, with Raiders coach Ricky Stuart saying he'd thrown Frawley under the bus to some extent when he played him at halfback in round two.
But Frawley said the halves was his natural home - especially on the left edge, where Wighton would normally be and was in that round two clash against North Queensland.
Frawley said Wighton would come straight back into the side following his suspension.
But if Frawley's form continues he could be an option to partner Wighton in the halves - albeit from the right edge.
"I've played all my career in the halves - hooker's still more foreign to me than halves," he told The Canberra Times.
"Especially on that left side if the field where I'm a left footer so it gives me a bit more time on my kicking game, which helps, and I've played there all my career - in terms of being a left side half.
"It just worked out well, It was unfortunate for Jacko. He's been unreal all year, even though we haven't had the results he's been our best player.
"It was always going to be big shoes to fill, but everyone took a bit of ownership and we all put in a good performance."
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Frawley said the win lifted the club's spirits - it snapped a five-game losing streak - and hoped they'd be able to go on a roll.
"Really important [to back it up]. We've still got hope we can make something of the season and still early days," Frawley said.
"We've got to string some wins together. Looking forward, there's some challenging games there so we're going to have to be at our best to win those games, but I think we can definitely do it.
"We'll gain some confidence out of that and if we can play like we did [on Friday] we'll give ourselves a chance to actually win a game of footy and we'll be in most games."
NRL ROUND 10
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Cronulla Sharks at Lang Park, 1.50pm.
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