Raiders extend tenure of international back

New Zealand international centre Matthew Timoko has agreed to remain with the Canberra Raiders, inking a new contract extension.

The new deal will see Timoko stay at the club until at least the end of the 2026 season, with an option to extend for a further two seasons.

One of the club's best players to begin the season this year, the centre has played 66 games for the Raiders, scoring 21 tries.

He is coming off a career-best season, during which he represented the Kiwis in the Pacific Championships at the end of 2023.

“This club has done a lot. The big thing I can see with this club is there is a clear pathway of where they want to get to and there's a lot of emerging talent and I really believe that this club can do a lot of special things over the next couple of years, so I'm happy to be on board, be along with the journey and help some of the younger guys coming through too,” Timoko said in a statement.

“It's good seeing some of the young boys now coming in and not only playing a role but exceeding their roles and playing a really big part in these first couple of games.

“It's early days at the moment but I really feel this club is going to be special this year. Not only this year but the coming years as well.

"It's awesome to be part of the journey and to help guide those boys as well.”

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Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Timoko debuted for the club in Round 16 of 2020 against the Canterbury Bulldogs and has since cemented his spot in the backline.

Only playing 11 games in his first two years, the boom centre managed 26 and 25 appearances in the 2022 and 2023 season.

“[My goals this year is to] just keep improving. Keep finding little things in my game to work on, I think this year and in the pre-season I've worked a lot on my defence so that's something I want to change up a bit this year,” he added.

“Just learning little things I can along the way, especially with the Maori All Stars and also the NZ Kiwis, I was picking up little things to take back to the way I train and play at club level and I think that's helped my game massively.”