The reason Hudson Young re-signed for the Canberra Raiders

And he's predicted the likes of Ata Mariota, Trey Mooney and Hohepa Puru could form the next wave of Green Machine front-row stars.

Young re-signed with the Raiders until the end of 2027, with The Canberra Times expecting the club to announce a similar extension for Corey Horsburgh in the coming days.

Raiders prop Emre Guler and Young will head to Papua New Guinea on Tuesday to play for the PM's 13 at Port Moresby Saturday week.

The Raiders have brought through a wave of young gun backs in recent years and now Young felt a similar thing was set to happen with the forwards.

Mariota, Mooney and Puru were just 21 years' old for their NRL finals initiation, with the first two staking a claim for more game time in 2024.

Unfortunately Puru's game lasted just three minutes before he was knocked out, but he showed enough the previous week against Cronulla to show he belonged at NRL level.

Their promise wasn't lost on Young, especially in the absence of star middles Josh Papali'i (biceps) and Horsburgh (suspension) - two State of Origin quality forwards.

And Young said that finals experience - especially in front of a feral Newcastle crowd of almost 30,000 - would be "really important" for their development.

"It's the reason why I re-signed and wanted to stay is I could see the potential these young kids have got," he told The Canberra Times.

"If we get a bit of experience around them and keep building they could be the next Josh Papali'i and Joe Tapines.

"Really proud of our efforts with the experience that we had out - two Origin players and an international in Sebby [Kris].

"It just goes to show what young boys we have pushing up, putting pressure on the older boys now and myself.

"Really proud of the boys how we fell behind and to get it back in there in a semi-final shows really good signs for next year."

Mariota announced himself on the NRL stage in Canberra's elimination final loss to Newcastle last Sunday.

He was immense covering the absence of Papali'i and Horsburgh, starting alongside Mal Menina Medallist Tapine in the front row.

The 21-year-old ran for 193 metres, made three tackle busts and 33 tackles in a break-out performance against the Knights.

It was his 17^th NRL game and showed why the Raiders held him in such high regard.

He's been compared with Papali'i - they're both of Samoan decent and have a similar physique - but he showed he's the first Mariota rather than the next Papali'i.

"One hundred per cent mate. He's his own self and while he looks like big Josh, they play similar as well," Young said.

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"I thought he was really strong [against Newcastle]."

Mooney scored his first NRL try - off a short Knights restart - ran for 84m, made three tackle busts, one offload and 29 tackles.

Puru didn't have enough time to show his wares against Newcastle, but he'd already impressed the week before.

What impressed Young even more was their age.

The Raiders had young backs like Kris, Matt Toomua, Albert Hopoate and James Schiller all either establish themselves or show their potential this season.

Now the forwards were in a similar situation for 2024.

"The young middles are coming through," Young said.

"If they went back and played their own age group in Jersey Flegg [under-20s] the Raiders wouldn't lose a game.

"It's great to see the young outside backs shining this year. It's disappointing to see [Puru] get knocked out, but he'll be in the mix next year."

NRLW ROUND NINE

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans at Canberra Stadium, 3.15pm.

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