'No one knew': Why this Raiders star moonlighted as a team mascot

Bartlett, a former NRLW winger of the year, spent some of her off season moonlighting as Velda, the Valkyrie mascot, at the Raiders-Sharks men's game last weekend.

No one at the game had any clue, but she was outed on the Raiders' social media channels this week. Apparently it has been Bartlett's long-term goal and the opportunity came up when the lady normally in the Velda suit hurt her knee.

Bartlett missed her initial chance for the Gold Coast game, but didn't hesitate when the chance came up again.

"I'm not really claustrophobic or anything like that, but you do have to breathe a little bit differently to get used to it - it's pretty tight and you can hardly see so you have to be careful not to knock over the kids in front of you," Bartlett said.

"It was so fun because no one had any idea it was me except my partner [Raiders centre Seb Kris]. I could do anything - just run around with the kids, I was stealing the flags off fans in the front row and being silly, and the Sharks fans were having fun giving me so much grief."

The hardest part? Struggling to see. "The funniest part was when kids wanted me to sign their shirts and I can barely see. I was worried at one point whether I was signing the right thing," Bartlett said.

"I did really enjoy it and I'd love to do it again, but at a game, I'd probably like to watch the game more next time. It might be a rotating role a little bit now. I'm sure some of my teammates will be lining up now."

It might even be good preparation for the NRLW pre-season, which starts in three weeks.

The ACT Brumbies are ramping up contract negotiations with a host of key stars, and the club is hopeful they will commit to help secure the next generation of players.

It can be revealed the Brumbies are deep in negotiations with Charlie Cale, Tom Hooper, Corey Toole and Noah Lolesio, who have all indicated they are keen to stay in the capital.

No deals are done and plenty could change with the future of the Melbourne Rebels up in the air, a Wallabies squad to be named soon and cashed-up overseas clubs monitoring the rising stars. But with the Lions tour looming next year and a home World Cup in 2027, players keen to stay is a bright spot for the game.

Cale is believed to be the closest of the quartet to a deal, while Lolesio has expressed his desire to stay despite interest from overseas and a rocky road with the Wallabies over the past two years.

There is a slight complication to the deals, though. General manager of rugby Chris Thomson had been the club's main negotiator with agents and players before moving into a new role at the Wallabies at the end of last month.

The good news is Thomson is going to finalise negotiations while he navigates his new role as the Wallabies' team manager.

The NSW Waratahs made a massive play to try to get Cale back to Sydney, but he is keen to stay in Canberra after the Brumbies gave him a Super Rugby opportunity.

Toole, who is out for at least three weeks with an ankle injury, is also close to a new deal. If he doesn't get picked in the Wallabies this year, expect to see him at the Paris Olympic Games.

The Raiders are still working out their plan for Zac Hosking's recovery from a shoulder injury. This week was supposed to be the decisive moment, with Hosking scheduled to meet with medical staff to make a call on whether to have surgery and spend a long time on the sideline, or push through pain and play on.

Hosking is facing an extended stint either way. But avoiding surgery would mean he plays again this year.

He has been put through a two-week intensive rehabilitation process to monitor how the shoulder responded to treatment, and Wednesday was set as the medical meeting. But coach Ricky Stuart revealed the meeting was postponed until next week because of illness.

"It's unfortunate the doctor fell ill so Zac missed out on his appointment yesterday. But that'll be [rescheduled for] early next week. There's no hold up to the process though," Stuart said.

"It was only going to be a meeting for Zac to hear whether it was rehabbing well enough to keep moving along with rehabilitation or going in for a season-ending surgery. It hasn't really held up the process too much."

We hear Hosking's situation is very similar to the one faced by Brumbies prop Blake Schoupp, who dislocated his shoulder last week.

The Brumbies are hoping Shoupp may be able to play again this year if mobility and strength is good enough for him to pack down in scrums and delay surgery to the off season.