Canberra veteran Iosia Soliola has signed a new one-year deal with the Raiders, taking his career into a 17th season.
Soliola joined the Raiders in 2015 and stated his enjoyment playing with the Green Machine despite a challenging year.
“I’m really pumped. First and foremost, I want to thank the club for giving me another opportunity to play,” Soliola said.
“The year I’ve had has been a strange one but it its really nice at 34 to be playing the game I love. I’m really enjoying it and it’s a great group of guys and I think this club is going to be a consistent title contender for the future and I want to be part of that.”
Soliola joined Sydney in 2005 and eventually move to Super League outfit St Helens, before returning to the NRL with Canberra five years ago.
Speaking on his early days with the club, Soliola discussed the vision he and Ricky Stuart had in 2015.
“The discussions I first had with Ricky, he outlined his vision to me and when I arrived at the start of 2015 you could tell right from the start where he wanted to go with it,” Soliola said.
“You build and obviously have to chop and change as you go, but it’s great to be part of the journey and see the progression of the club in general. The players obviously, but also the connection between the fans and the club and the growth and buy-in between everyone spreads out into the community.”
The Raiders veteran touched on his connection and relationship he was built with the city.
“I guess it’s just an automatic reflection on how I feel about the place, I love this game, I love this club and I want to give back because its given me so much and I’ve generated so much from it that its only right that I give something back,” he said.
“It’s an amazing game, so many people get so much out of it and everyone wins at the end of the day.
“My family and I love it here. The kids love it here especially my oldest boy. He was actually quite emotional given the potential idea of moving away because he loves this place and it's all he knows.
“Canberra is an awesome place and I’m very thankful for the club for introducing me to it.”