Buttriss is the key for Raiders - Canberra Times - The Canberra Times

Glenn Buttriss is vital to the Raiders' attack. Photo: Stuart Walmsley

Hooker has long been considered Canberra’s Achilles heel, but premiership-winning coach Warren Ryan says the return of Glen Buttriss can help unleash the Raiders' dangerous outside backs.

Strike centres Blake Ferguson and Jack Wighton were emphatically shut down by Cronulla in Sunday’s 30-20 loss, and Ryan believes dummy half Buttriss is the key to unlocking their brilliance.

Buttriss is rated a 50-50 chance of returning from a two-week layoff with a calf injury at Manly on Saturday, but isn’t expected to be named in Canberra’s side on Tuesday.

Ryan said Buttriss’ ability to scoot out of dummy half and trouble defenders was sorely missed against the Sharks after his outstanding display in Canberra’s round eight upset of Melbourne.

A respected commentator for ABC Radio, Ryan said the 27-year-old was the major reason why Canberra was able to tear the Storm’s edge defence apart.

The Raiders have made a marquee dummy half a recruitment priority in recent seasons, highlighted by last year’s aggressive pursuit of Manly stalwart Matt Ballin.

‘‘I watched him against Melbourne, and he was very important in that win I felt,’’ Ryan said.

‘‘His ability to move out, bother defenders and still let the ball go, it stops the defence from sliding and you get an advantage on the edges.

‘‘It’s like throwing a pebble in a pond, the ripples go outwards forever.

‘‘He was a huge contributor to the room they got, whether they realise it or not.’’

Canberra’s dummy half rotation against Cronulla was shot to pieces when Josh McCrone exited the field with a hip pointer injury early in the match.

The halfback has successfully switched to hooker to give the starting no.9 a rest in recent weeks. But his absence forced youngster Matt McIlwrick to play 80 minutes for the first time in his NRL career.

Ryan was highly critical on-air of McIlwrick’s lack of run out of dummy half, but fatigue was clearly a factor with McCrone and back rower Joel Edwards (hamstring) playing no part in the second half.

‘‘All McIlwrick did was play the whole game passing the ball from the ground, that tricks nobody,’’ Ryan said.

‘‘The runs he did make came as a shock to his own players, so he was never supported.

‘‘The middle third drive was missing altogether, because of the failure on the part of the dummy half to do anything but pass the ball.’’

McCrone was cleared of serious injury on Monday and is likely to play Manly, but isn’t expected to train until late in the week.

He has his fingers crossed Buttriss returns this week to help break down one of the NRL’s strongest defences.

‘‘I thought he was one of the main differences against Melbourne, it’s no coincidence we play good footy when Buttsy’s at hooker,’’ he said.

‘‘His passing’s pretty crisp and is a solid defender. His all-round game is a pretty big bonus for us.’’