By Alex Mitchell in Sydney

Ethan Sanders waited patiently to inherit Canberra’s No.7 jersey, but he’s grabbed his moment to announce himself to the NRL in a hurry.

Two years after he left Parramatta to become the Raiders’ halfback heir-apparent, the 22-year-old made the starting job his own with a match-winning field goal to sink Manly at Brookvale Oval on Saturday night.

In a play that seemed to catch all involved off-guard, Sanders, in just his fifth NRL outing, had no qualms firing a 35-metre drop goal with the Raiders’ first set in golden point in an instinctive play that earned them the 29-28 win.

“We weren’t planning on doing it, but we ended up getting a quick play-the-ball and I just took it, I didn’t really think about it,” Sanders said.

“We were planning a kick to the corner then got a quick ruck, and it was a perfect opportunity.”

While Canberra won last year’s minor premiership, some have feared the loss of veteran halfback Jamal Fogarty – and the ascension of Sanders to the starting job – might see the side slide down the ladder.

Sanders got two NRL games in 2025 but was mainly forced to wait his turn and play NSW Cup.

Embracing the learning opportunity at a young age rather than becoming desperate to play first grade was key, he said.

“There’s a bunch of great leaders in this side … it was just good to sort of pick their brains and be around them, 24/7,” Sanders said.

“There’s a few of the boys in the team that I look up to, Jamal included last year.

“Just to be able to play with these boys and rub shoulders with them on the weekend is a dream come true. To be able to get the halfback role in round one is yet another tick on the goal list.”

Sanders paired with breakout star Ethan Strange, whose scintillating 2025 campaign saw him score 14 tries and win Dally M five-eighth of the year honours.

With Strange even younger at 21, the duo appear poised to run the Canberra side for years to come.

“Strangey is awesome … the best thing is he’s a good mate off the field too so it makes training a lot easier, having fun and trying to get better,” Sanders said.