Following a similar pathway to South Sydney second-rower Angus Crichton, Rorke played for the Australian Schoolboys, but also played junior rugby league.

It's also a similar background to Stuart, with the Canberra mentor having excelled at both rugby codes as a junior before going on to star for the Green Machine as a triple premiership player.

Raiders recruitment boss Peter Mulholland felt a sit down with Stuart had helped seal the deal.

"He's a good kid - Australian Schoolboy rugby union, he captained [Saint Ignatius] Riverview College," Mulholland said.

"A lot of it's based on Ricky's experience, when Ricky met with the dad and the boy it was good to have Ricky there because he played both sports at schoolboy level and played for Australian Schoolboys, so there's a lot of synergies in their paths.

"Ricky's interview with him is probably the thing that swayed it all our way."

While Crichton made a name for himself on the Rabbitohs edge this year, the Raiders see blindside-flanker Rorke more as an option through the middle.

Mulholland said while the 18-year-old would start out playing under-20s for NSW Cup affiliate Mounties he would be based in Canberra along with about 14 others of the same age.

"It is similar, but [Rorke's] a different sort of player though. Angus is probably better suited on the edge, whereas this boy is going to be a middle for sure," he said.

"He's a good tough competitor, he's played quite a bit of league up until he was 15-16 so he knows the game. Really good style of kid.

"He'll play 20s most of the year, but if he's good enough and gets enough experience he'll go up and play reserve grade ... he's on a learning curve to start with so you don't need to push him too hard."

While the Raiders have lost some depth in their forward pack - Dave Taylor joined the Toronto Wolfpack, Scott Sorensen's off to Cronulla and Clay Priest's potentially going to Canterbury in a player swap for fullback Brad Abbey - Mulholland was expecting the arrival of New Zealand Warriors prop Charlie Gubb and development of their young forwards to cover the loss.

He said Royce Hunt, Liam Knight, Makahesi Makatoa and under-20s prop Fabien Paletua-Kiri should all push their cases this season.

"We didn't sign them because they couldn't play. Ricky's great at bringing young ones through ... I'm expecting big things of the four of those," Mulholland said.

"You're not always going to be blessed with a Dave Taylor landing on your door step."