{"id":434230,"date":"2026-01-24T10:23:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T10:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/434230\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T10:23:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T10:23:20","slug":"raiders-recruit-reveals-why-he-left-the-dragons-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/434230\/","title":{"rendered":"Raiders recruit reveals why he left the Dragons – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Canberra Raiders’ newest high flyer, Sione Finau<\/a>, is hoping to take a major leap in 2026 as he looks to cement his place in first grade.<\/p>\n

While he’s faced with an uphill battle as he prepares to fight his way into a stacked Raiders backline, Finau believes he’s more likely to earn it now than he was at the St George Illawarra Dragons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Having swapped his red and white jumper for a green one over the offseason, Finau has revealed the real reason why he departed the Dragons in an exclusive chat with Zero Tackle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at that point, when I was at the Dragons, I felt like I needed some change,\u201d Finau admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I needed more game time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NRLPENRITH, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 01: Sione Finau of the Dragons celebrateS victory following the round 13 NRL match between Penrith Panthers and St George Illawarra Dragons at BlueBet Stadium on June 01, 2024 in Penrith, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

He said that when the chance to join the Raiders came to light, he was eager to explore it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the opportunity opened up there [at the Raiders], I thought I might get more game time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Raiders finished first in 2025 in an epic display of resilience and teamwork, which was also a major contributor in Finau’s decision to join the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way they were going last year definitely did influence my decision [to join the Raiders],\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He also addressed rumours at the time that the deal could have fallen through after talks of negotiations were leaked to the media.<\/p>\n

When asked if he was ever concerned the move would fall apart as a result, he was confident in his response.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn’t actually too worried [about the deal falling through],\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn’t really worried because I felt the Raiders’ interest in me was already there, and I felt that what I could do on the field could prove to [Ricky Stuart<\/a> that he had a reason to be] keen on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

While hopes of success and game time both contributed to his move to the nation’s capital, his friendship with Savelio Tamale<\/a> played a huge role in his decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Sav moved over, I thought he made the best decision,\u201d he said of his best friend, Tamale.<\/p>\n

\"NRLLAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 01: Savelio Tamale of the Raiders is tackled during the round one NRL match between the Canberra Raiders and the New Zealand Warriors at Allegiant Stadium on March 01, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe year that he had did really impact me, to see him succeed, I want to be a part of that journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully I follow through and can play with my best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finau’s excitement to be joining the Raiders cannot be understated, with the former Dragon confident he’s made the best decision of his career thus far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Canberra Raiders’ newest high flyer, Sione Finau, is hoping to take a major leap in 2026 as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-434230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}