Peter Sterling and Andrew Johns have backed Raiders centre Joey Leilua for an Origin spot in the future, while Joey has gone as far as saying that Canberra are legitimate chances to take out the Premiership this season.
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Speaking on the Triple M Rush Hour, both rugby league greats agreed with host Dan Ginnane that Leilua could be a hit on the game’s biggest stage.
“I think he’s on his way,” said Sterlo.
“I don’t know if I’d have played him there this year, but if he maintains the form that we’ve seen…he was their best player yesterday afternoon (against the Bulldogs) and he’s been that pretty much every week.
“He looks fit. I always thought Joey Leilua looked like he was never quite rock hard, match fit, but under Ricky down there and his combination with Rapana, aren’t they dangerous?”
Leilua (four tries) and wing partner Jordan Rapana (10 tries) have become one of the most lethal attacking combinations in the NRL in 2016, with Rapana sitting atop the try-scoring ladder.
They both crossed for four-pointers in the Raiders' 32-20 win over the Bulldogs on Sunday.
Sitting sixth on the table and with only one player – Josh Papali’i – involved in Origin, Johns believes the Raiders are perfectly poised to make a shock run at the title.
“I think Canberra’s a bit of a smoky for the competition,” Joey said.
“They get Junior Paulo next week, they’ve got a great run in and they’ll finish close to top four, and if they’ve got no injuries, they could be a real smoky.”
Ricky Stuart’s side still has two byes and of their last 12 games, only four of them are against teams currently above them on the table.