He wasn't part of the original Canberra Raiders flu crew, but prop Ryan Sutton could miss their crucial clash against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in Dubbo on Sunday. Sutton has been cleared of COVID-19, but the Raiders were still awaiting the results of his influenza test on Saturday night. Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said Sutton would be given until the last minute on game day to prove his fitness. Everyone else has been passed fit to front the Bunnies with a Raiders win set to bring them to the verge of the top eight. There was one change to the Green Machine's 17, with Stuart preferring Adam Elliott - returning from his own bout of flu that ruled him out last week - to Corey Harawira-Naera, who played NSW Cup for the Raiders on Saturday instead. Stuart has simply opted for Elliott in preference to Harawira-Naera. The Raiders were in the process of trying to re-sign Elliott, with a three-year deal currently on the table - although the Newcastle Knights were also in the hunt for the versatile forward. As revealed by The Canberra Times, Stuart has asked for Elliott to make a quick decision so they have time to search for a replacement for 2023. Canberra had a disrupted training week as they looked to prevent the spread of influenza throughout the squad. They split the squad up into two groups for training, with the initial infected group able to regain fitness in time to face Souths. But Sutton could be a late casualty to the new dreaded lurgy doing the NRL rounds. "He's negative to COVID, now he's just waiting on the results in regards to influenza," Stuart said. "I don't know when that will come through. We'll bring him down [on Sunday]. We'll just wait and see." Harawira-Naera was part of a dominant Raiders NSW Cup win over the Rabbitohs, 41-10, while the Jersey Flegg Cup under-21s also beat Souths 24-20. Stuart was full of praise after the week from hell, which had a flow-on effect to the lower grades. MORE RAIDERS NEWS "We've had a very, very disrupted week this week and that disruption always hits our lower grades worse," he said. "We had 16 playing second grade at one stage. We were short of numbers in under-21s and both teams have had really big wins [on Saturday] so it's a great win for the club. "They handled the adversity and disruptions that have been created, and it's a really good outcome for the club. "I was very impressed with how Justin Giteau and Joel Carbone, our lower-grade coaches, have rallied their teams together and got two significant wins." NRL ROUND 11 Sunday: Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs at Dubbo, 2pm. Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Matt Frawley, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Zac Woolford, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 18. Adam Elliott. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Ryan Sutton, 16. Xavier Savage, 17. Corey Horsburgh. Reserves: 19. Brad Schneider, 20. Harry Rushton. Rabbitohs squad: 1. Blake Taaffe, 2. Alex Johnston, 3. Jaxson Paulo, 4. Campbell Graham, 5. Taane Milne, 6. Cody Walker, 7. Lachlan Ilias, 8. Tevita Tatola, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Thomas Burgess, 11. Keaon Koloamatangi, 12. Trent Peoples, 13. Jai Arrow. Interchange: 14. Kodi Nikorima, 15. Davvy Moale, 16. Siliva Havili, 17. Liam Knight. Reserves: 19. Isaiah Tass, 24. Hame Sele. We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
