Raiders two-try hero wants more game time after dismantling Warriors

Canberra forward Corey Harawira-Naera says he’s got plenty more to offer the Raiders after notching two tries off the bench in their comeback win against the Warriors.

Harawira-Naera had to wait 54 minutes to hit the field but wasted no time making an impact, his first try putting the home side in front and his second sealing their 26-14 win.

But having only made one appearance in the Raiders’ past six matches before a late call-up to the side last weekend to face Melbourne, Harawira-Naera insisted he could be of more use to the team.

“I don’t know how (coach Ricky Stuart is) gonna work it in the next few weeks, but I feel like it’d be a good idea if Elliott (Whitehead’s) old body isn’t getting bashed around every week and to try and give him a little bit of a spell,” he told reporters.

“But I’m happy to play anywhere, centre, back row, middle, wherever ‘Stick’ wants to chuck me.

“It’s hard to hold it back, you’ve gotta start getting a little bit dirty at your coach because you want to get out there.

“It would be wrong for me not to feel like that, being hungry to get back on the field … I’m just happy to get the win and hopefully we can keep on towards finals.”

Harawira-Naera said it was a vital win for his side, having rallied from a 14-0 hole to gain a vital two points in the race for finals.

“After beating Storm last week we obviously were favourites to win this game and they’re ones we normally struggle with,” he said.

“Think of games like when we played the Warriors earlier, we should have won, the Dragons game we probably should have …. we’re thinking back when we didn’t make finals like ‘oh, we should have won those games’.

“It’s in the back of our minds that we don’t want to miss finals by one game so I think we’ve gained a little bit of momentum around there.”