sport, raiders, canberra raiders, raiders, nrl, green machine, parramatta eels, eels, charnze nicoll-klokstad

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad always knew it would be tough. Six weeks alone in Canberra, with his young family still in Auckland. But he only found out how tough when his eldest son Rio stopped talking to him. Why was dad away for so long? Thankfully, the family's back together. Rio, his brother Kyrie and partner Sarah are all starting to settle in to Canberra life. While that six weeks was tough, there was also some sweet to go with the bitter. It gave him the chance to focus on his football. Do everything he could to nail down the Raiders No.1 jersey and get his NRL career back on track. He's done that in spades. In half a season he's not only established himself as the Canberra fullback, but as one of the best in the NRL as well. Certainly one of the recruits of the season, along with Raiders teammate John Bateman. Getting out of the shadow of Dally M Medallist Roger Tuivasa-Sheck at the New Zealand Warriors has been a resounding success for the 23-year-old. But it wasn't easy. All that time alone, until he finally saw his family again when the Raiders played the Titans on the Gold Coast. "It definitely was [tough]. I was there every single day with my boys [back home] and pre-season there every day and you're not travelling too much," Nicoll-Klokstad said. "To know that I was going to do a straight six weeks without them was pretty tough. "Especially because it got to a point where my oldest didn't even want to talk to me. "I couldn't blame him, it was like the last week or two weeks we had left. It was definitely emotional. "I saw them at the Gold Coast and it's been really good for me, not just on the field but off the field as well, having them here. "He hadn't seen me for so long and being at the Warriors last year travelling all the time I think my oldest had just had enough of it. "I can't blame him. He's really good now, he says bye to me when we go out, he's not crying and all of that. He's good." It's reassuring to hear, because the likeable Kiwi deserves everything he's getting this year. He played just seven NRL games with the Warriors, with the last of them coming in round 26 in 2017. But he's proven the answer to the Green Machine's fullback question this season. Not just doing a job, but he's been starring as well. It's helped former custodian Jack Wighton settle in to his new role at five-eighth and play his way into the NSW Blues State of Origin side. Nicoll-Klokstad is unsure about his statistics - that show just how well he's going - but he's had the support of Sarah in his ear letting him know. He leads the NRL for total runs (249) and kick return metres (886m), is second for run metres (2343m) and fourth for tackle breaks (80). The Cook Island international has even surprised himself with how well he's started the year. "I have. If you said to me last year, especially during the pre-season that you're going to be playing 15 games or playing some sort of a part at the Canberra Raiders in 2019 I would've laughed," Nicoll-Klokstad said. "I'm really stoked with how far I've come and the platform that I've laid this year. "The competition's really tight as it is and I just want to keep building on what I've laid and hopefully improve." Claiming the No.1 jersey was always the goal for Nicoll-Klokstad, who's bullocking running game has been an important cog in the Raiders' climb into the top four. But he wants to keep improving, with his support play the area he's looking to work on over the second half of the season. "I'm really grateful for [Raiders coach Ricky Stuart] for giving me the opportunity." he said. "I had a few tough welcomings to week-in, week-out NRL, but he stood by me and he gives me that confidence in myself and he gives me that improvement where I need it." NRL ROUND 15 Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels at Darwin, 7.35pm. Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Corey Horsburgh, 16. Sia Soliola, 17. Ryan Sutton. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams, 19. Emre Guler, 20. Royce Hunt, 21. Michael Oldfield. Eels squad: 1. Clint Gutherson (c), 2. Maika Sivo, 3. Brad Takairangi, 4. Josh Hoffman, 5. Blake Ferguson, 6. Dylan Brown, 7. Mitch Moses, 8. Kane Evans, 9. Reed Mahoney, 10. Junior Paulo, 11. Shaun Lane, 12. Manu Ma'u, 13. Nathan Brown. Interchange: 14. Jaeman Salmon, 15. Peni Terepo, 16. David Gower, 17. Marata Niukore. Reserves: 18. Daniel Alvaro, 19. Tepai Moeroa, 20. George Jennings, 21. Will Smith.

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