The Canberra Raiders have been rocked by a bombshell decision from young gun Brad Morkos to quit the NRL.
Just 20 years of age, Morkos has been widely rated as one of the game's best young talents despite not yet breaking through for a debut at the Raiders.
A centre, Morkos played four Tests for Lebanon at the 2022 Rugby League World Cup which was held in England and has made 40 appearances already for the Canberra NSW Cup team, scoring ten tries.
Nine of those tries came in 22 games during a successful 2023 which also saw 77 tackle breaks, 3 try assists, 115 metres per contest and a tackle efficiency of 92.1 per cent.
A former New South Wales junior State of Origin player, Morkos could well have been in line for an increased role at the Raiders in 2024 following the retirement of club captain and veteran centre Jarrod Croker, but according to The Canberra Times, told the club he was wanting to walk away from the game a few weeks into the pre-season.
The publication are reporting he will now return to Wollongong where he is likely to play in the local Illawarra comp with friends, but not pursue a career in the NRL beyond that.
Morkos moved to the Raiders ahead of the 2022 season, having originally been part of the Illawarra Steelers (and by extension St George Illawarra Dragons' system) where he also played for the Australian Schoolboys.
Given Morkos had a Top 30 spot with the Raiders, Canberra now have a spot to fill, but under NRL contract rules, have until midway through the 2024 season to do it so may not be in any rush and are instead likely to monitor a number of situations across the competition, as well as their own needs throughout the first half of the campaign.
Canberra have made no secret of their desire to sign second-rowers, having had multiple cracks at David Fifita in the last 18 months, and could well go down that path to use the final spot in their Top 30.
