A selfless Raiders family full of fight
STRONG people make up great football clubs. Which is why great football clubs pull together in tough times.
Like they are doing down at Canberra right now.
Let’s just say it hasn’t been the greatest of weeks for the Raiders heading into Saturday’s big clash against Melbourne.
Ricky Stuart’s middle forwards have been dropping like flies. After losing Corey Horsburgh following the loss to Parramatta, now they’ll be without Sia Soliola and Emre Guler for an extended period.
Then on Tuesday they got news Pete Mulholland’s cancer was back. After the rugby league news cycle of this week, it sure puts a few things in perspective.
Mulholland, the Raiders’ recruitment boss, is not only one of rugby league’s most likeable blokes but one of the most respected as well.
It doesn’t matter who you talk to, they only speak fondly of “Skull”.
Which is easy to understand when you listen to the positivity with which Mulholland is tackling his latest fight.
Mulholland was on his way home on Tuesday after learning of his relapse.
I had phoned to ask about this young rookie forward, Kai O’Donnell, who will make his NRL debut off the bench against the Storm.
The way Mulholland put his own circumstances to the background so he could focus on a young man’s once-in-alifetime moment showed again why he is held with such great esteem.
Mulholland rattled off O’Donnell’s story like he does every player. How the youngster hailed from north Queensland and had been living on the Gold Coast when he signed him to come down last year and play Jersey Flegg.
“And by the time I’d negotiated the deal with his manager, his girlfriend had arranged an apartment in
Canberra,” Mulholland said proudly. “Not only that, she had arranged work and Kai had arranged a job for himself. And they were ready to come down here within three days.”
He loves kids with that gogetter attitude, and O’Donnell hasn’t looked back since.
But neither has Mulholland,
continuing to work throughout his ordeal, while the Raiders as a club have had his back the entire way.
Which is probably why Mulholland was so keen to get back to work this week, even when he had every reason to want some time off.
“Honestly, if I think too much about it I am not alright,” Mulholland conceded.
“So I try not to spend too much time thinking about it.
“That’s what I said to Rick and Don (Furner, Raiders CEO). ‘I’ll tell you what’s wrong and then we’ll just forget about it and get on with what we do’. That’s the best thing.”