The future of Canberra’s NRL spine is looking bright after young gun Ethan Strange penned a long-term contract extension with the Green Machine.
The 19-year-old, who won the club’s vacant No.6 jersey after Jack Wighton’s off-season departure, is now tied with the club until the end of 2028 after greatly impressing in his first month in the side.
His signature ends any speculation he could be tempted by a move to the Sydney Roosters, where his father John coaches the NRLW side in which his sister Jasmin plays.
“It’s become home, and I’ve got a new family down here now so I’m very excited for what the future holds,” Strange said.
“I definitely feel (moving away from family) has been worth it. If you want to be successful, you need to make sacrifices and I love it here.
“I love…the faith that all the coaching staff and the boys have shown me. I’m a very loyal person and this is a loyal club so I feel like it’s a decision that felt right.”
Strange burst onto the scene with a three-try, two-assist display for NSW in last season’s Under-19 State of Origin, but had an NRL debut to forget later in the campaign with his Raiders belted 48-2 by Melbourne.
He and recruit Kaeo Weekes were the two leading candidates to start at five-eighth in pre-season but Strange has since made the jersey his own.
He paid tribute to the coaching of Ricky Stuart and the leadership of halves partner Jamal Fogarty for allowing him the freedom to find his feet at the top level.
“(Stuart) has made it just feel like footy has (for) my whole life to be honest … just go out there and run the ball and have fun with your mates,” he said.
Raiders management will turn their attention to locking down wing speedster James Schiller and emerging prop Trey Mooney, with both out of contract at the end of the season and currently available on the open market.
Veteran back Jordan Rapana is also out of contract.
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![Teacher Vanessa Jones has been living in Higgins since 2001, and while she loves the area, she says she is “fed up” with the neglectful ACT government.
The Higgins shops have been completely abandoned, says Vanessa, preventing the opportunity for residents to have a community-centred space to socialise.
They only received bins nine months ago, she says, and requests for a water station and repairs to the bus station have gone unanswered.
“It’s very, very slow,” says Vanessa.
“I asked for the zebra crossing on Fullagar [Crescent] to be repainted, and we had to wait about six or nine months.
“That’s just such a long time… we pay a lot of rates.”
Vanessa says assistance from the government only seems to go to communities with time-rich and assertive communities, leaving places such as Higgins, where the majority of households have both adults working full-time and English may not be the first language of the family, at an automatic disadvantage.
“If you’ve got two people working, paying a mortgage, raising two or three kids, they don’t have the time,” says Vanessa.
Vanessa says the lack of attention quieter places such as Higgins is receiving is starting to look a lot like favouritism.
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