Former Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves man Matty Nicholson scored two tries on his NRL debut with Canberra Raiders. Nicholson joined up with the Raiders at the start of pre-season after penning a three-year contract to swap the north west of England for the Australian capital.

Unfortunately Nicholson missed out on a debut a fortnight ago in Las Vegas, but he was named in the side for Saturday’s clash with Brisbane Broncos and he made an instant impact with two tries coming in the 32-22 win.

The first try came in just the seventh minute of the game, setting Canberra on their way to victory, before touching down again just before the break in front of almost 19,000 at the GIO Stadium. Nicholson was joined in the Raiders line-up by former Wigan man Morgan Smithies, who started on the bench and has been one of the standout young forwards in the competition since making the switch to the NRL.

Speaking after the game, head coach Ricky Stuart hailed Nicholson’s performance against the Broncos and detailed just how impressed he has been with the Englishman’s efforts: “I was happy for him.

“I gave his father a call on the way to the game actually, it was 6:20 over there and he’d already been up, he was as excited as Matty. On the way to the game I had a good chat with Jason, I sensed how proud he was and he said, ‘he won’t let you down’. I said, ‘that’s why I picked him’.

“He never did, he was wonderful tonight, Matty Nicholson. I had to make a decision between him and Hosko (Zac Hosking) for round one, I wish someone else could tell the boys if they’re out because I hate letting them down, it’s my hardest job of the week. I just don’t enjoy it but it’s part of the job.

“He was upset in Vegas and Andrew Bishop said it in our breakfast yesterday morning, the debutant breakfast, the way he handled the preparation being outside the 17 showed how good of a bloke he is. In our scrimmages and our opposed work he was professional and helped the boys prepare as best as they could, knowing he wasn’t going to be there.