Former Warrington Wolves second-row forward Matty Nicholson is the latest entry in an expanding list of English imports to make the journey to Australia’s capital city and put on the lime green jersey with Canberra Raiders.
CANBERRA Raiders have a history of experiencing difficulty attracting big name Australian players to the city with a population of approximately 500,000 people.
The beaches and bright lights of Sydney and other east coast destinations have often won signatures over the ‘bush capital’ which is a two hour drive away from the closest beach on the south coast of NSW. Canberra’s weather is surprisingly cold in winter, dropping below zero degrees Celsius regularly at night.
The original ‘fix’ for Canberra was to recruit Queenslanders hungry for an opportunity. However with the inclusion of Brisbane, Gold Coast, North Queensland and the Dolphins into the NRL that pipeline has all but dried up.
Raiders head coach Ricky Stuart found the solution 17,000 kilometres away in the north of England. Starting with hooker Josh Hodgson in 2015, a steady stream of Englishman have made Canberra their home for various lengths of time.
Recently fan favourite Elliott Whitehead called time and headed to the south of France, joining the Catalans Dragons. Whitehead played 205 matches in the lime green jersey over nine seasons. The England international captained the Raiders on a number of occasions after debuting for the club as a 25 year old in 2016.
As a 21 year old highly rated English backrower, there is an expectation that Nicholson will be the one to replace Whitehead but he wasn’t feeling that pressure when Rugby League World caught up with him after just one training session with his new club.
“No I don’t think so (on feeling pressure). Everyone’s different, everyone’s got different plays. I’ve never really thought of it that way but obviously what an unbelievable career he (Whitehead) has had over here. If I could match that somehow I’d be really happy but I’ve never thought about being under pressure.”
Nicholson has found a familiar face at his new club in fellow Halifax-born teammate Morgan Smithies, who spent last season at Canberra. The two friends, who both played their amateur rugby league at Siddal, are sharing accommodation a five minute walk away from the Raiders training headquarters in Braddon.
“It always helps when you know at least one person at a new club and me and Morgs are really close. So that is good. Moving in with Morgan has helped me settle in massively. Canberra seems like a really nice place to live from what vibes I’ve got so far. Nice and quiet. All the people are friendly so I’m really enjoying it at the moment.”
Before signing a three-year deal with Canberra Nicholson was able to do some solid research via two of his Warrington teammates in George Williams and John Bateman. Despite both players cutting their time short at the club and returning to England, he says they only had positive reports on the Raiders advising him to take the opportunity.
“I’m quite close to George Williams and John Bateman was at Warrington last year so I had a couple of chats with them. They both loved it here so it made it easier for me to make decisions.”
Another good source of information was Warrington coach Sam Burgess, who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest English players to test himself in the NRL, playing a total of 182 matches for South Sydney and winning the Clive Churchill Medal as man of the match in their 2014 Grand Final victory.
“We had a couple of tough years (at Warrington) before Sam came in and he just raised the standards and changed the culture of the club. Sam obviously played a lot of backrow in his career so it was unbelievable for me to learn from someone like that. I picked his brains a lot and he was really good with me.
“He just said go out there (to Australia) and back yourself and show them what you’re made of. We had a couple of chats during the season about what I was going to do and I think he would have liked me to stay another year but I think he also understood my ambition to come out here and test myself.”
Nicholson arrived in Australia feeling a bit surprised and disappointed he wasn’t selected in the England squad to face the touring Samoa team after playing two international matches for his country in 2023 but has vowed to keep working hard and regain his position.
“It was disappointing because I felt like I had a good year at Warrington but I respect Shaun Wane’s decision not to pick me. I just want to keep working on my game and if I keep working on areas where I can improve then hopefully I get picked next time.”
After talking on the phone prior to making the long journey down under, Nicholson was glad to finally shake hands with Ricky Stuart and the coaching staff. He is yet to have a proper chat with the coach about goals and expectations but is looking forward to working with his new mentor.
“I’m just looking to keep improving on my game every year and hopefully I can play a bit of NRL. That’s why I came here, I didn’t come here not to play. So hopefully I get as much game time as possible and keep developing my game under Ricky and the coaches.
“I grew up watching the NRL. I think it’s the benchmark of rugby league so it’s always been an ambition of mine. I’m just happy I got a chance to come to Canberra to show what I can do.”
The Canberra Raiders finished ninth on the table last season, missing out on the finals, so Ricky Stuart will be looking for improvement in 2025 and hoping for another English winner with Matty Nicholson.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 504 (January 2025)
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