Canberra Raiders' Aidan Sezer happy to be in halves against New Zealand Warriors

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Canberra Raiders' Aidan Sezer happy to be in halves against New Zealand Warriors

By David Polkinghorne
Updated

Aidan Sezer's not a hooker, he's a half. The Canberra Raiders five-eighth has only come off the bench twice in his 121-game NRL career and he doesn't plan on getting used to it.

It's safe to say the 26-year-old's happy to be back where he wants to belong and thinks partnering Sam Williams in the playmaking roles will free up his running game.

Canberra Raiders five-eighth Aidan Sezer is happy to be back in the halves.

Canberra Raiders five-eighth Aidan Sezer is happy to be back in the halves.Credit: Jamila Toderas

The Raiders are desperate for a win having lost the opening two rounds, but they come up against a flying New Zealand Warriors side at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

The Warriors have opened their season with two wins - the first time they've managed that since 2009 - although they've never won their first three games of a campaign.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart returned Sezer to the halves when he named the team to face the Warriors, with Blake Austin moved to the bench.

Sezer will likely also shift to hooker when Siliva Havili needs a rest, with Austin's run then injected into five-eighth.

It's the set-up Stuart named for round one before opting to shift Sezer to the bench in a late change.

The opening two rounds were the only times Sezer's come off the bench in his NRL career.

"Being a professional footballer, you don't want to play on the bench," he said on Wednesday.

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"It's something I'm not used to, I've never really come off the bench in my career and I don't want to get used to it.

"It's good to be back in the team and we'll see how we go from there.

"I'm a half, not a hooker. I'll do a job for the team, but I'm definitely a half and that's my preference."

Sezer returned to the halves with a new-found appreciation for what the hookers do in the middle.

He found the transition from defence, where he was tackling opposition big boppers, to attack, where he had to organise his own big boppers, the hardest part of his new part-time job.

But those extra tackling duties could come in handy with his return to the edge.

The Raiders halves have been under the microscope this week, with former Cronulla hooker Michael Ennis saying the Newcastle Knights "terrorised" Austin and Williams on the weekend.

Sezer felt the Green Machine's defence had generally been good, but a few "errors in judgement" was costing them.

"Definitely the reads, rash decisions on the edge it affects the team and is affecting our result," he said.

"Yardage defence has been good, we're controlling the ruck really well, but I just think as you saw on the weekend just a few errors in judgement in defence is letting us down.

"On your goal line if you make an error on the edge it usually costs you in points.

"It's a difficult position to defend in, but as centres and halves and wingers we know what's at stake and we've just got to work on that and be better."

Sezer will return to the No.6 jersey he wore for a majority of his 71 games for the Gold Coast Titans before he moved to Canberra.

While he's back in the same number, Sezer said his role wouldn't change too much - he just might run the ball a bit more now he was teamed up with Williams rather than Austin.

"With the Titans I was probably the primary playmaker up there, I just wore the No.6 because when I first came into first grade Scott Prince was the halfback," he said.

"I just kept the No.6 on my back. We're both halves [Sam and I] and we both have the duty to get the boys around the park.

"Hopefully that can free me up to do a bit more running, with Sammy being there, but first and foremost our job is to get the boys around us organised and make sure we're flowing smoothly."

NRL ROUND THREE

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v New Zealand Warriors at Canberra Stadium, 3pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.

Raiders team: 1. Jack Wighton, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker (C), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Aidan Sezer, 7. Sam Williams, 8. Sia Soliola, 9. Siliva Havili, 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Josh Papalii, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Luke Bateman. Interchange from: 14. Blake Austin, 15. Junior Paulo, 16. Dunamis Lui, 17. Liam Knight, 18. Joe Tapine, 19. Ata Hingano, 20. Michael Oldfield, 21. Royce Hunt.

Warriors team: 1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (c), 2 David Fusitu'a, 3 Peta Hiku, 4 Solomone Kata, 5 Ken Maumalo, 6 Blake Green, 7 Shaun Johnson, 8 James Gavet, 9 Issac Luke, 10 Adam Blair, 11 Leivaha Pulu, 12 Tohu Harris, 13 Ligi Sao. Interchange from: 14 Jazz Tevaga, 15 Agnatius Paasi, 16 Sam Lisone, 17 Bunty Afoa, 18 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 20 Anthony Gelling, 21 Chris Satae, 22 Mason Lino.

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