The Canberra Raiders have locked down the best young centre in the NRL in a major boost towards getting their season back on track.
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Raiders centre Matt Timoko has re-signed for one more year, with mutual options for another two, keeping him at the club until at least the end of 2026.
Timoko has emerged as one of the best centres in the game over the past two seasons, forcing his way into the New Zealand team last year off the back of it.
His re-signing comes as a massive boost just days out from their crucial clash against Parramatta at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.
They're looking to end a two-game losing streak after a promising start to the season.
Timoko said the potential of the Raiders young crop of emerging stars was a big reason behind his decision to stick around in the capital.
The 24-year-old was part of a young backline where fullback Jordan Rapana was the only player older than that.
"We all see the direction the club's going in. We started off with a bang this year and we definitely want to try and work on that," Timoko said.
"We're only going to build on all our connections and trust. That's definitely the big thing."
Timoko's played three Tests for the Kiwis on top of his 66 NRL games for the Green Machine.
He made his New Zealand debut in the Pacific Championships in October last year, scoring a try in the Kiwis' historic 30-0 thrashing of Australia in the final.
Now he wants to make that centre role his own off the back of another strong campaign for the Raiders.
Timoko's scored 21 tries since the start of the 2022 season, having established himself as Canberra's right centre.
Now he wants to do the same for the Kiwis.
"It's definitely a goal of mine to be able to stay in that jersey, but at the moment I'm just trying to focus on playing good footy with the team," he said.
Timoko was confident the Raiders could rectify the errors that plagued their disappointing loss to Cronulla last weekend - where they let slip an 18-point lead to eventually lose to the Sharks by 14.
The Green Machine has lost their past two games after opening the season with back-to-back wins.
Timoko felt that was part and parcel of being a young team, but he felt consistency would come the longer the season went.
That's especially so on the Raiders right edge where Timoko's had three different wingers already this year, while there's been a similar number of changes in the second row.
Against the Eels he'll have James Schiller on the wing for the second time, while he could have both Ata Mariota and Simi Sasagi slotting into the second row - with Sasagi making his Raiders debut from the bench.
Injuries to Raiders captain Elliott Whitehead (calf), Zac Hosking (concussion) and Albert Hopoate (burns) have led to the changes on the right.
But Timoko was positive that every week they'd improve as a group.
"I think so. We've had a lot of boys coming through. We've had a lot of changes to key positions this year compared to last year," Timoko said.
"Everyone's still gelling and still trying to find our groove. We do know what we're capable of, but it all starts out on the training paddock."
NRL ROUND FIVE
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels at Canberra Stadium, 6.15pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Jordan Rapana, 2. James Schiller, 3. Matthew Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Ethan Strange, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Josh Papali'i, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Joseph Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Ata Mariota, 13. Morgan Smithies. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Corey Horsburgh, 16. Simi Sasagi, 17. Pasami Saulo. Reserves: 18. Kaeo Weekes, 19. Nick Cotric, 20. Trey Mooney, 21. Zac Woolford, 22. Emre Guler.
Eels squad: 1. Clinton Gutherson, 2. Maika Sivo, 3. Viliami Penisini, 4. Bailey Simonsson, 5. Sean Russell, 6. Blaize Talagi, 7. Dylan Brown, 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 9. Joey Lussick, 10. Junior Paulo, 11. Shaun Lane, 12. Ryan Matterson, 13. J'maine Hopgood. Interchange: 14. Luca Moretti, 15. Wiremu Greig, 16. Joe Ofahengaue, 17. Kelma Tuilagi. Reserves: 18. Ofahiki Ogden, 19. Daejarn Asi, 20. Brendan Hands, 21. Makahesi Makatoa, 22. Morgan Harper.