Canberra will have to get through this week without Hudson Young and Ethan Strange, and the strain on the Raiders could run well beyond it. Strange, 21, is being recognized with his first Origin selection, while Young is also being congratulated for his own call-up, leaving Canberra to patch holes in a side that already had little spare depth.

Strange’s rise has been one of the season’s clearest gains for Canberra. In 2025 he has shown marked improvement, shifted his nominal side and produced a more rounded game while still looking every bit the brilliant ball runner. He has already proven himself one of the premier young playmakers in the game, and his Origin selection is the latest sign that his ceiling is moving up fast.

The timing is rough for the Raiders because their backrow depth is already stretched. Canberra currently has only one healthy backrower in Zac Hosking and one part-time option in Ata Mariota, with Joe Roddy due back in round 14 and Simi Sasagi returning in round 16. Matty Nicholson and Noah Martin remain indefinite and are not expected back until well after Origin.

That leaves Daine Laurie as the likeliest replacement for Strange, even though he is not a like-for-like swap. The concern is not just creativity but control. If Laurie takes Strange’s spot, the drop-off in defence would be substantial, and Canberra’s attack would lose one of the pieces it has leaned on most, alongside Sasagi and Moko.

For all the celebration around Strange’s first entrance into the Origin arena, the more immediate story for Canberra is survival. The Raiders are getting recognition for one of their best young talents at exactly the moment they can least afford to lose him, and the next few rounds will show how much structure they can preserve while the injuries and representative calls keep coming.