2010 - Late surge not quite enough
5 MIN READ
2010 started much like 2009 for the Canberra Raiders. Up until Round 18, Canberra had won just five matches. The Raiders were 13th on the competition ladder and had lost four straight matches. But in Round 18, Canberra came from behind at Brookvale Oval, to win narrowly over the Manly Sea Eagles, 24-22. It was the start of a late surge, led by Terry Campese, which ended in finals football. Campese demonstrated in 2008 that he could play at elite standard - and he replicated his 2008 purple patch of form at the back end of 2010. Canberra won nine of the last 10 matches - and lost only to the illegally assembled Melbourne Storm, a team playing for no competition points after massive salary cap cheating was revealed.
Ultimately, the Raiders were knocked out in Week 2 of the finals, a narrow two point loss in front of a sell out crowd at Canberra Stadium of 26,476. Sadly, Jarrod Croker had an opportunity to level the match with three minutes remaining, but his shot from an awkward position on the field missed - and the Tigers won 26-24. Terry Campese was lost to a serious knee injury, midway through the second half. Even if Canberra had been able to progress, to win a Preliminary Final against the Dragons would have been too big a hurdle without the Raiders' talisman. Unfortunately the injury meant Campese was never quite the same player again.
There were a number of remarkable victories along the way. The Raiders smashed the Knights 52-18, a match which featured a try from a David Shillington bomb! There were seven tries in the first half, and the Raiders led 40-0 at half time. It was also a smash up against the Cowboys, Alan Tongue's 200th game. It was a 48-4 win in front of a crowd full of red wigs. Reece Robinson scored four tries.
In the final round of the regular season, the Raiders visited Lang Park to face a Broncos outfit that needed to win by 15 points or more - or miss the finals for the first time since 1991. The Raiders needed to win to keep the momentum into the finals. It was semi final football a week early in front of 40,000 at Lang Park. There were Raiders fans everywhere, and were packed solid in the supporters bay in the corner. The Raiders seemed destined for a win when Daniel Vidot scored his second try near the 60th minute. That produced an 18-4 lead for the Green Machine. The Broncos came back in the last 20 minutes, scoring two tries. But, the Raiders showed desperation and hung on for a sweet 18-16 win.
Week 1 of the finals saw the Raiders travel to Penrith and a huge contingent of Raiders fans congregated in the corner of the ground and behind the posts. Terry Campese scored after just five minutes, and at half time, the Raiders led 18-12. When Reece Robinson scored in the 42nd minute off a Dugan pass, Canberra went to what looked like a comfortable 12 point lead over the Panthers. The opposition put on a huge comeback, but the Raiders held on in a thrilling finish, 24-22. When the Raiders went to the corner after the match, the fans surged and the fence could not contain them. It collapsed and supporters spilled onto the field. It was six wins in a row, something no other team had done all season.
The best performance of 2010, however, was the Round 24 clash with the Dragons - the eventual Grand Final winners. Canberra had beaten St George Illawarra earlier in the season, but the Dragons were placed first. The Raiders were still outside the top eight.
The Dragons put on a show of their typical impenetrable defence in the first half, but they led by just 4-0 at half time. The Raiders then blew the match apart in the second half. It started with a Daniel Vidot try eight minutes after the break. Terry Campese quickly took control, scoring under the posts. "He's invented a new grubber kick... it's like a grubber, chip kick!" commentator Gary Belcher marvelled. Adam Mogg followed up.
Then Canberra scored two classic tries. Josh Dugan diffused a dangerous Jamie Soward chip kick, bumped out of a Neville Costigan tackle, and just emerged out the other side of a group of Dragons defenders. He ran 80 metres to score under the posts. Shortly after, Jarrod Croker made a break wide out, 80 metres from the line. He flew and Joe Picker was backing up on the inside. He pushed Jamie Soward to one side with ease and scored in the corner. Terry Campese swarmed in, taking Picker to the fence to the arms of the fans. It was five tries in 12 minutes. The commentary was ecstatic: "The Green Machine is rolling again! The glory days are back here in Canberra!"
It was an inspirational 32-16 win over the premiership favourites. The Raiders had posted 11 wins in their past 12 matches against the Dragons, leaving St George Illawarra without a win at Canberra Stadium since 2000. The Raiders were still in the hunt.
Dragons coach Wayne Bennett could only say Canberra was ''certainly as good as anyone we've played''.
''Everyone wants to play finals football,'' Terry Campese said, after the match.
''If we can bring the attitude that we brought in the second half you never know what we can do. If we make the semis, if we make the top eight we're going to give it a real crack. We've got a very good squad and on our day we can beat anyone. We're starting to get the confidence and that's big in this game.''
It is no wonder many Raiders fans still ask themselves about the 2010 season: "What if?"
2010 Round 24 - Canberra Raiders 32 (Glen Buttriss, Terry Campese, Josh Dugan, Adam Mogg, Joe Picker, Daniel Vidot tries, Jarrod Croker 4 goals) defeated St George Illawarra Dragons 16
Canberra Raiders: 1. Josh Dugan 2. Joel Monaghan 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Adam Mogg 5. Daniel Vidot 6. Terry Campese 7. Josh McCrone 8. Tom Learoyd Lahrs 9. Alan Tongue 10. David Shillington 11. Joe Picker 12. Bronson Harrison 13. Trevor Thurling
14. Glen Buttriss 16. Dane Tilse 17. Scott Logan 18. Shaun Fensom
Coach David Furner
Crowd: 20,445
40 years - 40 great games
Moderator: GH Moderators
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2011 - Do you believe in hoodoos?
4 MIN READ
The Raiders' 2010 bubble burst, hard, in 2011. Terry Campese ended up missing the entire season, save for one interchange appearance against the North Queensland Cowboys in Round 13. The ACL injury Campese suffered in the 2010 finals loss to the Wests Tigers kept him sidelined for the first half of the 2011 season. Then just eight minutes into his return, he suffered a season ending injury, a torn adductor muscle requiring surgery.
The Raiders recruited Matt Orford, who was playing in the English Super League - but he suffered an injury riddled season and made just six appearances. He was horribly out of form in the matches he did play, a shadow of the player he was with the Sea Eagles and the Storm. Canberra lost every match in which he appeared. He orchestrated what is possibly the worst loss ever in Raiders history - the golden point loss to Gold Coast Titans, which was essentially wrapped up, save for an Orford knock on in the dying moments at the base of a Raiders scrum win. A Titans try saw them level after the siren and they went on to win in extra time.
Canberra produced a stylish win in Round 1 over the Sharks at home - with Sam Williams making an immediate impact on debut in a 40-12 victory.
The Raiders then went on a record equalling losing streak, eight losses in a row. The only other time that had happened was in 1986. The season finished with six losses in a row, as well, including the farewell matches for Alan Tongue. The captain's final game in Canberra was a one point loss to the Panthers, while Tongue's very last NRL match was a defeat at the hands of the Bulldogs at Stadium Australia. There were just six wins during the season, and Canberra just barely avoided the wooden spoon - points differential separating the Raiders from the Titans.
As awful as the season was, there were some high points. The Raiders went to Melbourne to face the Storm in Round 10 - having not won in the Victorian capital since 2000. Winger Reece Robinson scored after four minutes and that was followed by a Josh McCrone try shortly after. As always, the Storm fought back, with tries before and after half time allowing them to draw level 12-12. But a Jarrod Croker penalty goal gave the Raiders a two point advantage, and seven minutes from full time, an amazing try to Blake Ferguson secured an upset 20-12 win. It ended that record losing streak.
"One of the things that I'm most pleased coming out of that game is that we played with a fair bit of confidence," Alan Tongue said after the game.
"With the amount of losses that we've had there, to come out and play that against Melbourne and throw the ball around a bit and be pretty creative there ... that's really pleasing because you can go into your shell. But we've played some footy tonight and we did it for the full 80 minutes and this is one of the toughest road trips in the competition, so there's plenty to take out of it."
The best win of the season came, again, over the St George Illawarra Dragons. The Dragons visited Canberra Stadium, winless in the national capital since 2000, in Round 20. The Dragons led 18-6 at half time, and Jamie Soward surely thought he had won his team the match when he landed a 40 metre field goal with just a minute left - giving the Dragons a 19-18 lead. But the hoodoo was still to play its part.
Canberra regained the ball from the kick off and Josh Dugan scored an incredible last ditch try, chasing a Josh McCrone kick. The moment will live on through the classic call: "Do you believe in hoodoos? Do you believe in miracles?!" It gave Canberra the 24-19 victory.
"Duges called for the ball. All credit goes to him," Josh McCrone said after the match. "We'd seen Ben Creagh rush up outside, we thought there was an opportunity, we had the numbers on them, he shouted for it, I kicked it, he flew through and put it down. As soon as he got there I knew it was down."
"To be 18-6 down at halftime, and then get back in the arm-wrestle and keep them to one point in the second half... They are one of the best attacking teams, and one of the best defensive teams, so to score three tries in the second half to their none, it was a great feeling," Josh Dugan said later.
"As soon as Jamie kicked his field goal, I knew it was going over. I ran to the ball boy on the sideline and grabbed the ball so we could kick off. I saw a bit of space behind, Josh's first couple of kicks in the first half went a bit long, but he was pin-pointing them in the second half and that's when they counted."
2011 Round 20 - Canberra Raiders 24 (Josh Dugan 2, Blake Ferguson, Josh McCrone tries, Jarrod Croker 4 goals) defeated St George Illawarra Dragons 19 (Matt Cooper, Ben Creagh, Mark Gasnier, Brett Morris tries, Jamie Soward 1 goal, 1 field goal) at Canberra Stadium
Canberra Raiders: 1. Josh Dugan 2. Blake Ferguson 19. Jarrod Croker 4. Joel Thompson 5. Daniel Vidot 6. Josh McCrone 7. Sam Williams 8. Brett White 9. Alan Tongue 10. Dane Tilse 18. Josh Papalii 12. Bronson Harrison 13. Shaun Fensom
3. Danny Galea 14. Glen Buttriss 16. Trevor Thurling 17. Sam Mataora
Coach David Furner
Crowd: 10,425
4 MIN READ
The Raiders' 2010 bubble burst, hard, in 2011. Terry Campese ended up missing the entire season, save for one interchange appearance against the North Queensland Cowboys in Round 13. The ACL injury Campese suffered in the 2010 finals loss to the Wests Tigers kept him sidelined for the first half of the 2011 season. Then just eight minutes into his return, he suffered a season ending injury, a torn adductor muscle requiring surgery.
The Raiders recruited Matt Orford, who was playing in the English Super League - but he suffered an injury riddled season and made just six appearances. He was horribly out of form in the matches he did play, a shadow of the player he was with the Sea Eagles and the Storm. Canberra lost every match in which he appeared. He orchestrated what is possibly the worst loss ever in Raiders history - the golden point loss to Gold Coast Titans, which was essentially wrapped up, save for an Orford knock on in the dying moments at the base of a Raiders scrum win. A Titans try saw them level after the siren and they went on to win in extra time.
Canberra produced a stylish win in Round 1 over the Sharks at home - with Sam Williams making an immediate impact on debut in a 40-12 victory.
The Raiders then went on a record equalling losing streak, eight losses in a row. The only other time that had happened was in 1986. The season finished with six losses in a row, as well, including the farewell matches for Alan Tongue. The captain's final game in Canberra was a one point loss to the Panthers, while Tongue's very last NRL match was a defeat at the hands of the Bulldogs at Stadium Australia. There were just six wins during the season, and Canberra just barely avoided the wooden spoon - points differential separating the Raiders from the Titans.
As awful as the season was, there were some high points. The Raiders went to Melbourne to face the Storm in Round 10 - having not won in the Victorian capital since 2000. Winger Reece Robinson scored after four minutes and that was followed by a Josh McCrone try shortly after. As always, the Storm fought back, with tries before and after half time allowing them to draw level 12-12. But a Jarrod Croker penalty goal gave the Raiders a two point advantage, and seven minutes from full time, an amazing try to Blake Ferguson secured an upset 20-12 win. It ended that record losing streak.
"One of the things that I'm most pleased coming out of that game is that we played with a fair bit of confidence," Alan Tongue said after the game.
"With the amount of losses that we've had there, to come out and play that against Melbourne and throw the ball around a bit and be pretty creative there ... that's really pleasing because you can go into your shell. But we've played some footy tonight and we did it for the full 80 minutes and this is one of the toughest road trips in the competition, so there's plenty to take out of it."
The best win of the season came, again, over the St George Illawarra Dragons. The Dragons visited Canberra Stadium, winless in the national capital since 2000, in Round 20. The Dragons led 18-6 at half time, and Jamie Soward surely thought he had won his team the match when he landed a 40 metre field goal with just a minute left - giving the Dragons a 19-18 lead. But the hoodoo was still to play its part.
Canberra regained the ball from the kick off and Josh Dugan scored an incredible last ditch try, chasing a Josh McCrone kick. The moment will live on through the classic call: "Do you believe in hoodoos? Do you believe in miracles?!" It gave Canberra the 24-19 victory.
"Duges called for the ball. All credit goes to him," Josh McCrone said after the match. "We'd seen Ben Creagh rush up outside, we thought there was an opportunity, we had the numbers on them, he shouted for it, I kicked it, he flew through and put it down. As soon as he got there I knew it was down."
"To be 18-6 down at halftime, and then get back in the arm-wrestle and keep them to one point in the second half... They are one of the best attacking teams, and one of the best defensive teams, so to score three tries in the second half to their none, it was a great feeling," Josh Dugan said later.
"As soon as Jamie kicked his field goal, I knew it was going over. I ran to the ball boy on the sideline and grabbed the ball so we could kick off. I saw a bit of space behind, Josh's first couple of kicks in the first half went a bit long, but he was pin-pointing them in the second half and that's when they counted."
2011 Round 20 - Canberra Raiders 24 (Josh Dugan 2, Blake Ferguson, Josh McCrone tries, Jarrod Croker 4 goals) defeated St George Illawarra Dragons 19 (Matt Cooper, Ben Creagh, Mark Gasnier, Brett Morris tries, Jamie Soward 1 goal, 1 field goal) at Canberra Stadium
Canberra Raiders: 1. Josh Dugan 2. Blake Ferguson 19. Jarrod Croker 4. Joel Thompson 5. Daniel Vidot 6. Josh McCrone 7. Sam Williams 8. Brett White 9. Alan Tongue 10. Dane Tilse 18. Josh Papalii 12. Bronson Harrison 13. Shaun Fensom
3. Danny Galea 14. Glen Buttriss 16. Trevor Thurling 17. Sam Mataora
Coach David Furner
Crowd: 10,425
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2012 - Another late finals run
5 MIN READ
Since 2005, the Canberra Raiders had been stuck in a boom-bust cycle - making the finals in one year, bombing out the next. For much of 2012, it looked like the Raiders would miss the finals in successive years, the first time that had happened since 1986.
Canberra captain Terry Campese again played little part in the campaign, making just seven appearances. He suffered another season ending injury in the loss to the Broncos in Round 7 at Lang Park. Jack Wighton made an impressive debut in Round 2 against the Titans, but did not play in the regular season after Round 10 due to a trampoline accident. Brett White was sidelined for the rest of the year after Round 5.
The team was in crisis in the middle of the season. In Round 13, the Raiders were defeated at home by the Wests Tigers, 40-0. At the time it was the club's worst defeat at Canberra Stadium and the second biggest defeat at home. Canberra fell to 15th on the ladder. Speculation mounted that Ricky Stuart would take over as coach, once his State of Origin commitments had concluded. Reports floated around that Furner would call a press conference to stand down on the Monday following the Tigers defeat. Instead, Furner called a press conference to announce he was taking the team into a camp for the week on the Central Coast - prior to the match against the Knights in Newcastle. Remarkably, Canberra defeated Newcastle 32-16.
Canberra went on to win nine of the last 12 matches of the regular season, finishing in sixth place. It was an amazing turnaround. Part of the winning formula was taking the team into camp for both home and away matches. The away form had been better than home form - so prior to the Canberra Stadium clash with the Brisbane Broncos, the team spent the night prior to the game at a hotel at Eaglehawk, a truck stop on the Federal Highway just outside of Canberra. The Raiders won 28-12, and the team stuck with that preparation for the rest of the season.
There were some great wins in the surge to the finals. In Round 18, the Raiders visited Melbourne to take on the Storm. Melbourne was missing Cameron Smith, who was rested after Origin III, and an injured Billy Slater. But Canberra dominated, running out 40-12 winners over the eventual premiers. Edrick Lee scored a hat trick and Sandor Earl, who was playing just his second match with the Raiders, scored a double. The Raiders led 20-6 after 30 minutes, and 20-12 at half time. But Canberra went on to crush any hope the Storm had of a comeback in the second half. It was the first time Canberra had produced back to back wins in over a year.
In Round 25, the Raiders ended the Canterbury Bulldogs' 12 game winning streak at Canberra Stadium - with a 34-6 thrashing. The Bulldogs had rested Michael Ennis from the match - as they had virtually secured their minor premiership. But Canberra was simply more enthusiastic and more determined to win. The Raiders led 24-6 at half time, and then kept the Bulldogs scoreless in the second half. Sandor Earl scored a hat trick, Reece Robinson a brace of tries. The win over the eventual grand finalists put Canberra into the top eight for the first time since the middle of April.
The best match of Canberra's season took place in the first week of the finals - an elimination finals match against the Cronulla Sharks. It was a perfect, blue sky afternoon. Canberra Stadium was sold out, a sea of green. The Raiders put on a spectacle for the crowd of 24,450, playing breath taking, attacking football. And Josh Papalii was a man on a mission - stop Paul Gallen. The Sharks were the first to score, after six minutes. But then Canberra turned it on.
In the 19th minute, Josh McCrone set up a try for Sandor Earl in the corner. Then just minutes later, Canberra scored a try for the ages. Sam Williams made a break down the left side, before passing to a flying Jarrod Croker. The Sharks circled him, but he was able to put in a kick to the corner for Sandor Earl. It was perfection, falling into the hands of the winger, to score his second try. "Stop it, it's starting to hurt!" came the classic commentary from Ray Warren. "Rugby league! Rugby league!" It was simply scintillating.
Another highlight was how Josh Papalii took on Paul Gallen. A memorable hit just before half time rocked the Sharks captain - and led to a war of words after the match. After the match, Gallen claimed: "I don't really care about Papalii. He hit me with a dog shot with a swinging arm and once in the back without the ball. Other than that, I don't think there was too much to it."
But Papalii had his measure and had got under Gallen's skin as well.
"'Papa' was matched up on 'Gal' and Furner gave him a few words of encouragement to get it over him early in the game," David Shillington explained. "'Papa' really stood up. He got under him a few times and Gal didn't handle it very well."
Canberra led 16-6 at half time, but the Sharks fought back. A Sharks try from a blatant forward pass in the 60th minute saw Canberra's lead cut to two points, 18-16. But then Canberra opened up again - scoring four magic tries in the final 15 minutes. The only down-side was that Jarrod Croker suffered a cheek bone fracture, after Jason Bukuya led with his knee in a tackle. The Raiders only scored three goals from eight attempts - with Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson missing four after Croker left the field. The Raiders could have put on 44 points.
Canberra would severely miss the season's top point scorer in Week 2 of the finals - and Canberra weren't able to handle the Rabbitohs at Stadium Australia, going down 38-16. Regardless, 2012 had been one hell of a ride for the Raiders fans.
2012 Finals Week 1 - Canberra Raiders 34 (Sandor Earl 2, Blake Ferguson 2, Glen Buttriss, Josh Papalii, Sam Williams tries, Jarrod Croker 3 goals) defeated Cronulla Sharks 16
Canberra Raiders: 1. Josh Dugan 2. Sandor Earl 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Blake Ferguson 5. Reece Robinson 6. Josh McCrone 7. Sam Williams 8. David Shillington 9. Glen Buttriss 10. Dane Tilse 11. Josh Papalii 12. Joel Thompson 13. Shaun Fensom
14. Shaun Berrigan 15. Joe Picker 16. Mark Nicholls 17. Tom Learoyd Lahrs
Coach David Furner
5 MIN READ
Since 2005, the Canberra Raiders had been stuck in a boom-bust cycle - making the finals in one year, bombing out the next. For much of 2012, it looked like the Raiders would miss the finals in successive years, the first time that had happened since 1986.
Canberra captain Terry Campese again played little part in the campaign, making just seven appearances. He suffered another season ending injury in the loss to the Broncos in Round 7 at Lang Park. Jack Wighton made an impressive debut in Round 2 against the Titans, but did not play in the regular season after Round 10 due to a trampoline accident. Brett White was sidelined for the rest of the year after Round 5.
The team was in crisis in the middle of the season. In Round 13, the Raiders were defeated at home by the Wests Tigers, 40-0. At the time it was the club's worst defeat at Canberra Stadium and the second biggest defeat at home. Canberra fell to 15th on the ladder. Speculation mounted that Ricky Stuart would take over as coach, once his State of Origin commitments had concluded. Reports floated around that Furner would call a press conference to stand down on the Monday following the Tigers defeat. Instead, Furner called a press conference to announce he was taking the team into a camp for the week on the Central Coast - prior to the match against the Knights in Newcastle. Remarkably, Canberra defeated Newcastle 32-16.
Canberra went on to win nine of the last 12 matches of the regular season, finishing in sixth place. It was an amazing turnaround. Part of the winning formula was taking the team into camp for both home and away matches. The away form had been better than home form - so prior to the Canberra Stadium clash with the Brisbane Broncos, the team spent the night prior to the game at a hotel at Eaglehawk, a truck stop on the Federal Highway just outside of Canberra. The Raiders won 28-12, and the team stuck with that preparation for the rest of the season.
There were some great wins in the surge to the finals. In Round 18, the Raiders visited Melbourne to take on the Storm. Melbourne was missing Cameron Smith, who was rested after Origin III, and an injured Billy Slater. But Canberra dominated, running out 40-12 winners over the eventual premiers. Edrick Lee scored a hat trick and Sandor Earl, who was playing just his second match with the Raiders, scored a double. The Raiders led 20-6 after 30 minutes, and 20-12 at half time. But Canberra went on to crush any hope the Storm had of a comeback in the second half. It was the first time Canberra had produced back to back wins in over a year.
In Round 25, the Raiders ended the Canterbury Bulldogs' 12 game winning streak at Canberra Stadium - with a 34-6 thrashing. The Bulldogs had rested Michael Ennis from the match - as they had virtually secured their minor premiership. But Canberra was simply more enthusiastic and more determined to win. The Raiders led 24-6 at half time, and then kept the Bulldogs scoreless in the second half. Sandor Earl scored a hat trick, Reece Robinson a brace of tries. The win over the eventual grand finalists put Canberra into the top eight for the first time since the middle of April.
The best match of Canberra's season took place in the first week of the finals - an elimination finals match against the Cronulla Sharks. It was a perfect, blue sky afternoon. Canberra Stadium was sold out, a sea of green. The Raiders put on a spectacle for the crowd of 24,450, playing breath taking, attacking football. And Josh Papalii was a man on a mission - stop Paul Gallen. The Sharks were the first to score, after six minutes. But then Canberra turned it on.
In the 19th minute, Josh McCrone set up a try for Sandor Earl in the corner. Then just minutes later, Canberra scored a try for the ages. Sam Williams made a break down the left side, before passing to a flying Jarrod Croker. The Sharks circled him, but he was able to put in a kick to the corner for Sandor Earl. It was perfection, falling into the hands of the winger, to score his second try. "Stop it, it's starting to hurt!" came the classic commentary from Ray Warren. "Rugby league! Rugby league!" It was simply scintillating.
Another highlight was how Josh Papalii took on Paul Gallen. A memorable hit just before half time rocked the Sharks captain - and led to a war of words after the match. After the match, Gallen claimed: "I don't really care about Papalii. He hit me with a dog shot with a swinging arm and once in the back without the ball. Other than that, I don't think there was too much to it."
But Papalii had his measure and had got under Gallen's skin as well.
"'Papa' was matched up on 'Gal' and Furner gave him a few words of encouragement to get it over him early in the game," David Shillington explained. "'Papa' really stood up. He got under him a few times and Gal didn't handle it very well."
Canberra led 16-6 at half time, but the Sharks fought back. A Sharks try from a blatant forward pass in the 60th minute saw Canberra's lead cut to two points, 18-16. But then Canberra opened up again - scoring four magic tries in the final 15 minutes. The only down-side was that Jarrod Croker suffered a cheek bone fracture, after Jason Bukuya led with his knee in a tackle. The Raiders only scored three goals from eight attempts - with Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson missing four after Croker left the field. The Raiders could have put on 44 points.
Canberra would severely miss the season's top point scorer in Week 2 of the finals - and Canberra weren't able to handle the Rabbitohs at Stadium Australia, going down 38-16. Regardless, 2012 had been one hell of a ride for the Raiders fans.
2012 Finals Week 1 - Canberra Raiders 34 (Sandor Earl 2, Blake Ferguson 2, Glen Buttriss, Josh Papalii, Sam Williams tries, Jarrod Croker 3 goals) defeated Cronulla Sharks 16
Canberra Raiders: 1. Josh Dugan 2. Sandor Earl 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Blake Ferguson 5. Reece Robinson 6. Josh McCrone 7. Sam Williams 8. David Shillington 9. Glen Buttriss 10. Dane Tilse 11. Josh Papalii 12. Joel Thompson 13. Shaun Fensom
14. Shaun Berrigan 15. Joe Picker 16. Mark Nicholls 17. Tom Learoyd Lahrs
Coach David Furner
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2013 - What else could go wrong?
6 MIN READ
2013 was a disaster both on and off field for the Canberra Raiders. Before the season even started, as Canberra prepared to meet Melbourne in a trial in Geelong, a press conference was held in Canberra revealing the results of an Australian Crime Commission report into drugs and corruption in Australian sport. It was the so-called "blackest day in Australian sport". On February 12, it was revealed the Canberra Raiders were one of the clubs named in the ACC report - but, as it turned out, it had nothing to do with the practices at the club. Rather, it had to do with winger Sandor Earl's involvement with "sports scientist" Stephen Dank while at the Penrith Panthers - well before Earl arrived in Canberra. That ended with Earl's suspension by the NRL in late August for taking performance enhancing drugs.
The season proper started with Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson climbing on Dugan's roof with pineapple cruisers, taking selfies and refusing to go back to training. Dugan had put in a substandard performance in the Round 1 loss to the Penrith Panthers - and it appears to have led to irreconcilable differences with coach David Furner. Ferguson ended up going back to training, but Dugan did not play for the Raiders again. His contract was terminated by the board.
Blake Ferguson went on to be selected for the Blues in Orgin. But prior to going into camp for Origin II, he met up with Dugan and the night ended in a Cronulla bar and allegations of inappropriate behaviour from a female patron - and resulted in an indecent assault charge. The NRL suspended him and the Raiders continued to assist him - but towards the end of the season, he simply walked out on the club. At one stage, while missing in action, Ferguson bizarrely appeared with acting manager Anthony Mundine in a press conference- but did not speak, with Mundine doing all the talking. In early September, the Raiders had no choice but to terminate Ferguson's contract.
On the field, the Raiders bumped around the bottom half of the ladder or the edge of the eight. Indeed, after defeating the Dragons 22-18 in Wollongong in Round 20, Canberra was in seventh and still a chance of making the finals. However, in Round 21, the Raiders suffered their worst defeat in history - 68-4 - at the hands of the Storm. It was the biggest home defeat in the history of the whole competition. The worst since 1908. The Storm equalled their own record for the biggest win in their history. The Storm scored 12 tries. The Raiders didn't win another match in 2013 after that. They finished by losing the last six games of the season.
After the loss to the Bulldogs in Round 23, time had run out for coach David Furner. He was sacked by the Raiders board - the first coach to be sacked in the club's history. It was clear there was player unrest, with senior players giving feedback to a director that concerns raised previously about Furner's coaching style had not been addressed. Furner's brother Don, the Raiders CEO, had to drive to a camp at Bateman's Bay to break the news. Assistant Andrew Dunemann was appointed interim coach for the final three games, but he couldn't work any magic either. On September 11, it was announced Raiders' legendary half back, Ricky Stuart was coming home to take over the coaching reins.
To add to the turmoil, the year ended with Meninga Medallist, Anthony Milford signing with the Brisbane Broncos from 2015. Milford was seen as the most talented youngster at the club since Todd Carney. And despite being contracted for 2014, a "homesick" Milford claimed he would not be returning to the Raiders. It was the perfect end to a season from hell - and the start of another long contract saga.
Despite all the turmoil, there were some good performances in 2013 - including a huge 44-14 win over the Knights mid season and a good 20-15 comeback win against the Warriors. Three matches stood out.
The Canberra Raiders played their first home match in Round 3, after suffering two disheartening losses on the road. What better way to kick start a campaign than against the Raiders' traditional whipping boys, the Dragons? The Dragons hadn't won at Canberra Stadium in 13 years... could the hoodoo continue? Absolutely. It was secured with a brilliant try to Jarrod Croker, a stunning break and run from Reece Robinson, with Croker backing up for the four pointer. Final score 30-17 to the Green Machine. Even better, the Raiders continued the winning form against the Dragons in their second meeting of the season.
Canberra produced a wonderful comeback over the eventual premiers, the Sydney Roosters, in Round 5. The Roosters led 16-0 at half time - and were hoping to become the first team since 1919 to hold their opponents to nil three weeks in a row in this match at Canberra Stadium. But Edrick Lee scored in the corner five minutes into the second half, and it was quickly followed by another try to Sam Williams, narrowing the gap to 16-12. The Roosters kicked away with a try to Anthony Minichello - but Canberra still had something left to prove. Sandor Earl scored from a bomb, and with just four minutes left, a Jarrod Croker try levelled the scores. His conversion secured a 24-22 victory. "When you do the kicking as a kid, they're the moments you dream of. That's what dreams are made of," Croker said after the match.
The best win of the year for Canberra, however, came in Round 8. The Raiders went to Melbourne Park hoping to build on their improving record against the Storm on the road. A Blake Ferguson double had the Green Machine right in the match at half time, 12-12. In the second half, the Raiders went to a 24-12 lead through a stunning try from Reece Robinson, when he ran straight past Billy Slater. And despite the Storm coming back, the Raiders held on in the final stages. The 24-12 upset made it three in a row for the Raiders in Bleak City. And it broke the 2012 Premiers' 15 game winning streak.
"I think we all just dug deep and we worked hard for each other," Blake Ferguson said after the game. "We knew it was going to be a tough ask coming down here in Melbourne, they've won what was it? Seventeen in a row? We came off a loss last week that we shouldn't have lost. I think we just all stepped up."
"We always get up against the good teams, but we have to be like that consistently," Raiders playmaker Terry Campese said. "We haven't been too good away from home but that starts our away form, beating Melbourne in Melbourne after 15 straight. We can beat anyone on our day."
2013 Round 8 - Canberra Raiders 24 (Blake Ferguson 2, Reece Robinson, Jack Wighton tries, Blake Ferguson 4 goals) defeated Melbourne Storm 20
Canberra Raiders: 1. Reece Robinson 2. Sandor Earl 3. Jack Wighton 4. Blake Ferguson 5. Edrick Lee 6. Terry Campese 7. Josh McCrone 8. Tom Learoyd Lahrs 20. Glen Buttriss 10. Brett White 11. Joel Edwards 15. Joe Picker 13. Shaun Fensom
12. Jake Foster 14. Anthony Milford 16. Dane Tilse 17. Paul Vaughan
Coach David Furner
6 MIN READ
2013 was a disaster both on and off field for the Canberra Raiders. Before the season even started, as Canberra prepared to meet Melbourne in a trial in Geelong, a press conference was held in Canberra revealing the results of an Australian Crime Commission report into drugs and corruption in Australian sport. It was the so-called "blackest day in Australian sport". On February 12, it was revealed the Canberra Raiders were one of the clubs named in the ACC report - but, as it turned out, it had nothing to do with the practices at the club. Rather, it had to do with winger Sandor Earl's involvement with "sports scientist" Stephen Dank while at the Penrith Panthers - well before Earl arrived in Canberra. That ended with Earl's suspension by the NRL in late August for taking performance enhancing drugs.
The season proper started with Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson climbing on Dugan's roof with pineapple cruisers, taking selfies and refusing to go back to training. Dugan had put in a substandard performance in the Round 1 loss to the Penrith Panthers - and it appears to have led to irreconcilable differences with coach David Furner. Ferguson ended up going back to training, but Dugan did not play for the Raiders again. His contract was terminated by the board.
Blake Ferguson went on to be selected for the Blues in Orgin. But prior to going into camp for Origin II, he met up with Dugan and the night ended in a Cronulla bar and allegations of inappropriate behaviour from a female patron - and resulted in an indecent assault charge. The NRL suspended him and the Raiders continued to assist him - but towards the end of the season, he simply walked out on the club. At one stage, while missing in action, Ferguson bizarrely appeared with acting manager Anthony Mundine in a press conference- but did not speak, with Mundine doing all the talking. In early September, the Raiders had no choice but to terminate Ferguson's contract.
On the field, the Raiders bumped around the bottom half of the ladder or the edge of the eight. Indeed, after defeating the Dragons 22-18 in Wollongong in Round 20, Canberra was in seventh and still a chance of making the finals. However, in Round 21, the Raiders suffered their worst defeat in history - 68-4 - at the hands of the Storm. It was the biggest home defeat in the history of the whole competition. The worst since 1908. The Storm equalled their own record for the biggest win in their history. The Storm scored 12 tries. The Raiders didn't win another match in 2013 after that. They finished by losing the last six games of the season.
After the loss to the Bulldogs in Round 23, time had run out for coach David Furner. He was sacked by the Raiders board - the first coach to be sacked in the club's history. It was clear there was player unrest, with senior players giving feedback to a director that concerns raised previously about Furner's coaching style had not been addressed. Furner's brother Don, the Raiders CEO, had to drive to a camp at Bateman's Bay to break the news. Assistant Andrew Dunemann was appointed interim coach for the final three games, but he couldn't work any magic either. On September 11, it was announced Raiders' legendary half back, Ricky Stuart was coming home to take over the coaching reins.
To add to the turmoil, the year ended with Meninga Medallist, Anthony Milford signing with the Brisbane Broncos from 2015. Milford was seen as the most talented youngster at the club since Todd Carney. And despite being contracted for 2014, a "homesick" Milford claimed he would not be returning to the Raiders. It was the perfect end to a season from hell - and the start of another long contract saga.
Despite all the turmoil, there were some good performances in 2013 - including a huge 44-14 win over the Knights mid season and a good 20-15 comeback win against the Warriors. Three matches stood out.
The Canberra Raiders played their first home match in Round 3, after suffering two disheartening losses on the road. What better way to kick start a campaign than against the Raiders' traditional whipping boys, the Dragons? The Dragons hadn't won at Canberra Stadium in 13 years... could the hoodoo continue? Absolutely. It was secured with a brilliant try to Jarrod Croker, a stunning break and run from Reece Robinson, with Croker backing up for the four pointer. Final score 30-17 to the Green Machine. Even better, the Raiders continued the winning form against the Dragons in their second meeting of the season.
Canberra produced a wonderful comeback over the eventual premiers, the Sydney Roosters, in Round 5. The Roosters led 16-0 at half time - and were hoping to become the first team since 1919 to hold their opponents to nil three weeks in a row in this match at Canberra Stadium. But Edrick Lee scored in the corner five minutes into the second half, and it was quickly followed by another try to Sam Williams, narrowing the gap to 16-12. The Roosters kicked away with a try to Anthony Minichello - but Canberra still had something left to prove. Sandor Earl scored from a bomb, and with just four minutes left, a Jarrod Croker try levelled the scores. His conversion secured a 24-22 victory. "When you do the kicking as a kid, they're the moments you dream of. That's what dreams are made of," Croker said after the match.
The best win of the year for Canberra, however, came in Round 8. The Raiders went to Melbourne Park hoping to build on their improving record against the Storm on the road. A Blake Ferguson double had the Green Machine right in the match at half time, 12-12. In the second half, the Raiders went to a 24-12 lead through a stunning try from Reece Robinson, when he ran straight past Billy Slater. And despite the Storm coming back, the Raiders held on in the final stages. The 24-12 upset made it three in a row for the Raiders in Bleak City. And it broke the 2012 Premiers' 15 game winning streak.
"I think we all just dug deep and we worked hard for each other," Blake Ferguson said after the game. "We knew it was going to be a tough ask coming down here in Melbourne, they've won what was it? Seventeen in a row? We came off a loss last week that we shouldn't have lost. I think we just all stepped up."
"We always get up against the good teams, but we have to be like that consistently," Raiders playmaker Terry Campese said. "We haven't been too good away from home but that starts our away form, beating Melbourne in Melbourne after 15 straight. We can beat anyone on our day."
2013 Round 8 - Canberra Raiders 24 (Blake Ferguson 2, Reece Robinson, Jack Wighton tries, Blake Ferguson 4 goals) defeated Melbourne Storm 20
Canberra Raiders: 1. Reece Robinson 2. Sandor Earl 3. Jack Wighton 4. Blake Ferguson 5. Edrick Lee 6. Terry Campese 7. Josh McCrone 8. Tom Learoyd Lahrs 20. Glen Buttriss 10. Brett White 11. Joel Edwards 15. Joe Picker 13. Shaun Fensom
12. Jake Foster 14. Anthony Milford 16. Dane Tilse 17. Paul Vaughan
Coach David Furner
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2014 - The start of a long haul back
4 MIN READ
New Canberra Raiders Ricky Stuart faced a huge job in rebuilding the club and its culture after the fractious 2013. He had no opportunity to affect the squad for 2014, and it was hard going in attempting to recruit players to the Raiders for 2015 and beyond.
He nearly secured James Tedesco and Kevin Proctor - Tedesco even signed a contract - but both players ended up back flipping on an agreement to join the Green Machine. Others like Josh Mansour, Michael Ennis and Junior Paulo could not be tempted. The Anthony Milford contract drama dragged on, with Stuart attempting to convince him he should do his own back flip. But the Broncos persuaded him to stick to his plan to move north in 2015.
Stuart eventually signed Storm winger Sisa Waqa, Wests Tigers utility Blake Austin, a little known hooker from England, Josh Hodgson, veteran forward Sia Soliola and former Raiders half Sam Williams for 2015. It was seen as a very modest list of recruits.
It looked grim on the field as well. Canberra spent most of the season amongst the bottom few teams on the ladder. In middle of the season, the Raiders won just two of 14 matches. Up until Round 24, the Raiders had won just five games. Even the Dragons hoodoo deserted the club. The one consolation for Raiders fans was that the team won the last three matches of the year, and showed some promise for 2015.
Strong performances were thin on the ground - but there were some good wins. In Round 4 the Raiders defeated the eventual premiers, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, at their own home ground. Canberra led 22-0 at half time and held on in the second half to run out 30-18 winners. Terry Campese and Anthony Milford starred for the Raiders, while Reece Robinson scored a double.
In Round 26, the Eels needed to defeat the Raiders at Canberra Stadium to secure a place in the top eight. The blue and gold army were also desperate for a double dose of "revenge" against former coach Ricky Stuart - after the Eels handed Canberra a defeat in Darwin a month earlier.
Raiders outside back Jeremy Hawkins went over in the corner in just the fifth minute - and just before the 20 minute mark, a Joel Edwards break set up hooker Glen Buttriss for a try under the posts. Canberra led 20-6 lead at half time - and tries to Paul Vaughan and Josh McCrone after the break gave Canberra a commanding lead. It was enough to withstand a comeback from Parramatta, led by Jarryd Hayne. In the end, a field goal to Anthony Milford sealed the 33-20 victory. It sent the retiring Brett White out a winner.
The best win of the season came in Round 7 over the Melbourne Storm at Canberra Stadium. After half an hour, the Raiders trailed 16-6, with the Storm putting on another professional performance. Just before half time, Canberra scored a brilliant try, desperately offloading on the last tackle and sending Reece Robinson over in the corner.
Canberra trailed by just four points at the break, but allowed Mahe Fonua in for a second try just three minutes into the second half. The Storm led 22-12 and it looked like the Storm would yet again be too good. But Canberra fought back. A try to Reece Robinson saw Canberra trail 22-18 - before great tackles by Josh Papalii and Jarrod Croker twice denied tries to Storm winger Sisa Waqa. Papalii somehow managed to hold Waqa up in the in goal, while a desperate Croker just managed to push Waqa into touch.
The Raiders trailed for the entire match, but a brilliant stepping run from prop Paul Vaughan saw him score under the posts in the final minutes - and Croker's conversion gave the Green Machine the exciting two point win. It was a brilliant effort from a big man.
After the match, Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy was upset with the video refereeing, specifically the decision which ruled Croker had stopped Sisa Waqa from scoring. But Paul Vaughan was having none of that.
"He's a freak, he's unbelievable,'' Vaughan said of Croker. "He's been playing unreal this year and I don't think he's far off rep duties. That try that he saved on [Sisa] Waqa at the end, that was something else. That gave us a lot of confidence to think we could still win it."
2014 Round 7 - Canberra Raiders 24 (Reece Robinson 2, Matthew Allwood, Paul Vaughan tries, Jarrod Croker 4 goals) defeated Melbourne Storm 22
Canberra Raiders: 1. Anthony Milford 2. Reece Robinson 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Matthew Allwood 5. Bill Tupou 6. Jack Wighton 7. Terry Campese 8. David Shillington 9. Glen Buttriss 10. Brett White 11. Josh Papalii 12. Joel Edwards 13. Shaun Fensom
14. Josh McCrone 15. Paul Vaughan 16. Dane Tilse 17. Shannon Boyd
Coach Ricky Stuart
4 MIN READ
New Canberra Raiders Ricky Stuart faced a huge job in rebuilding the club and its culture after the fractious 2013. He had no opportunity to affect the squad for 2014, and it was hard going in attempting to recruit players to the Raiders for 2015 and beyond.
He nearly secured James Tedesco and Kevin Proctor - Tedesco even signed a contract - but both players ended up back flipping on an agreement to join the Green Machine. Others like Josh Mansour, Michael Ennis and Junior Paulo could not be tempted. The Anthony Milford contract drama dragged on, with Stuart attempting to convince him he should do his own back flip. But the Broncos persuaded him to stick to his plan to move north in 2015.
Stuart eventually signed Storm winger Sisa Waqa, Wests Tigers utility Blake Austin, a little known hooker from England, Josh Hodgson, veteran forward Sia Soliola and former Raiders half Sam Williams for 2015. It was seen as a very modest list of recruits.
It looked grim on the field as well. Canberra spent most of the season amongst the bottom few teams on the ladder. In middle of the season, the Raiders won just two of 14 matches. Up until Round 24, the Raiders had won just five games. Even the Dragons hoodoo deserted the club. The one consolation for Raiders fans was that the team won the last three matches of the year, and showed some promise for 2015.
Strong performances were thin on the ground - but there were some good wins. In Round 4 the Raiders defeated the eventual premiers, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, at their own home ground. Canberra led 22-0 at half time and held on in the second half to run out 30-18 winners. Terry Campese and Anthony Milford starred for the Raiders, while Reece Robinson scored a double.
In Round 26, the Eels needed to defeat the Raiders at Canberra Stadium to secure a place in the top eight. The blue and gold army were also desperate for a double dose of "revenge" against former coach Ricky Stuart - after the Eels handed Canberra a defeat in Darwin a month earlier.
Raiders outside back Jeremy Hawkins went over in the corner in just the fifth minute - and just before the 20 minute mark, a Joel Edwards break set up hooker Glen Buttriss for a try under the posts. Canberra led 20-6 lead at half time - and tries to Paul Vaughan and Josh McCrone after the break gave Canberra a commanding lead. It was enough to withstand a comeback from Parramatta, led by Jarryd Hayne. In the end, a field goal to Anthony Milford sealed the 33-20 victory. It sent the retiring Brett White out a winner.
The best win of the season came in Round 7 over the Melbourne Storm at Canberra Stadium. After half an hour, the Raiders trailed 16-6, with the Storm putting on another professional performance. Just before half time, Canberra scored a brilliant try, desperately offloading on the last tackle and sending Reece Robinson over in the corner.
Canberra trailed by just four points at the break, but allowed Mahe Fonua in for a second try just three minutes into the second half. The Storm led 22-12 and it looked like the Storm would yet again be too good. But Canberra fought back. A try to Reece Robinson saw Canberra trail 22-18 - before great tackles by Josh Papalii and Jarrod Croker twice denied tries to Storm winger Sisa Waqa. Papalii somehow managed to hold Waqa up in the in goal, while a desperate Croker just managed to push Waqa into touch.
The Raiders trailed for the entire match, but a brilliant stepping run from prop Paul Vaughan saw him score under the posts in the final minutes - and Croker's conversion gave the Green Machine the exciting two point win. It was a brilliant effort from a big man.
After the match, Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy was upset with the video refereeing, specifically the decision which ruled Croker had stopped Sisa Waqa from scoring. But Paul Vaughan was having none of that.
"He's a freak, he's unbelievable,'' Vaughan said of Croker. "He's been playing unreal this year and I don't think he's far off rep duties. That try that he saved on [Sisa] Waqa at the end, that was something else. That gave us a lot of confidence to think we could still win it."
2014 Round 7 - Canberra Raiders 24 (Reece Robinson 2, Matthew Allwood, Paul Vaughan tries, Jarrod Croker 4 goals) defeated Melbourne Storm 22
Canberra Raiders: 1. Anthony Milford 2. Reece Robinson 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Matthew Allwood 5. Bill Tupou 6. Jack Wighton 7. Terry Campese 8. David Shillington 9. Glen Buttriss 10. Brett White 11. Josh Papalii 12. Joel Edwards 13. Shaun Fensom
14. Josh McCrone 15. Paul Vaughan 16. Dane Tilse 17. Shannon Boyd
Coach Ricky Stuart
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2015 - Raiders storm home against reigning premiers
5 MIN READ
Season 2015 was the third in a row that the Canberra Raiders missed the finals. Incredibly, it was the first time in the club's history that it had happened - if you count the playoff in 1984 as a shot at the finals. The winning record at home was also the worst in history, with the Raiders winning just three of 12 clashes. Even in the club's inaugural season, with a team full of park players, the Raiders won four home games.
But nevertheless, there were some signs that the club was on the right path. The Raiders climbed the ladder to tenth place and finished just two wins out of the top eight. There were five losses of two points or less, and six of four points or less. Another loss, to the Bulldogs, was a last minute seven point loss. It was seven games, fourteen competition points, that could have gone the other way. Five more wins was a top four finish. The missing ingredients were game management and consistency, the level heads and experience needed to win the tight contests.
The attack progressed significantly. For much of the season, Canberra had the best attack in the league. In the end, the Raiders finished third on the highest point scoring list, behind the Roosters and eventual premiers, the Cowboys. They outscored the other grand finalist, the Broncos. But only four teams conceded more points than the Raiders. Despite that, the Raiders finished with a positive points differential. Two teams in the top eight, the Rabbitohs and Sharks, did not.
Some of the Raiders' best in 2015 were new recruits to the club - Josh Hodgson, Blake Austin, and Sia Soliola. Soliola won the Meninga Medal, while Austin was named Dally M Five Eighth of the Year. Hodgson was named the Fans' Choice Player of the Year.
One of the best matches came in the final round of the year when Canberra visited Parramatta. While neither team could make the finals, there was some feeling in the match as the blue and gold army had still not forgiven Ricky Stuart for leaving the Eels for the Raiders after just one season. It was a thrilling contest, with the lead changing four times - and the Raiders recovered two short kick offs late in the game to force golden point. In the final minute, Edrick Lee scored despite the attention of three defenders, to narrow the Eels' lead to two. Jarrod Croker then converted from the sideline with a magnificent kick to tie it up. Then in extra time, Josh Hodgson scored the easiest of golden tries; he dummied and strolled through.
The other best performances came early in the year. In Round 7, the Raiders produced their biggest ever comeback to defeat the Wests Tigers 30-22 at Leichhardt Oval. Canberra was down 22-0 after 25 minutes, with a gale benefiting the Tigers. But tries to Shannon Boyd and Jarrod Croker before the break brought Canberra back into contention. The scores were levelled after four pointers to Frank Paul Nuuausala (45th minute) and Jack Wighton (64th) - and Canberra only went ahead 24-22 in the 68th minute through a Croker penalty goal. The Tigers had a try disallowed in the 76th minute, before Jordan Rapana scored in the last minute for a stunning eight point victory.
The match was the final game in green for forward Dane Tilse, his 201st with the club in first grade. He was heading off to play for Hull KR in England.
"It was a bit of a nightmare start that first 20. We made it pretty hard on ourselves into the wind," Tilse said after the game. "But it's good fun playing at Leichhardt Oval. It's a great atmosphere, even for a visiting team. To be able to win in my last NRL game and for the club, it's pretty special, so I've got to tahank all the boys for their effort today."
Coach Ricky Stuart was pleased with the comeback. The Raiders didn't have the ball for the first 10 minutes and had to make the first 46 of the first 51 tackles of the game.
"Just the adversity of it," was the thing that impressed Stuart the most. "It was a real tough day, that first half of footy. So much adversity that they had to play under - in regards to the mistakes that we were making. I think we had 30 per cent of the football in the first half, and we only completed about 50 per cent of it. It's the spirit that we have in the joint. I couldn't be prouder of the bunch of boys we have at the club."
The Raiders delivered their best win of the season the following week, when they travelled to Cairns in Anzac Round to take on the 2014 premiers, South Sydney. Jordan Rapana scored the first try, an incredible put down in the corner, when it looked certain he'd been taken over the sideline. The Rabbitohs quickly took control and looked comfortable with a 16-8 lead at half time. But Canberra stormed home in the second 40, with the breeze behind them.
A try to Blake Austin put the Raiders in front in the 66th minute, before the match was sealed by an Edrick Lee four pointer, three minutes from full time. Frank Paul Nuuasala put on a man of the match performance, with great contributions from Sia Soliola, Shannon Boyd, Josh Papalii and Paul Vaughan. Both Jordan Rapana and Edrick Lee scored doubles.
"I'm very happy for the players, they way they hang in those battles," coach Ricky Stuart said later.
"That's a quality team out there today, in the Rabbitohs, and to be able to win the way we did, the way we held it together... you have to be tough people to hang in there. Take nothing away from Souths because they dug in and did everything they could to win."
"We weren't meant to win. We're just here to make up the numbers, that's the most pleasing thing of it all. That's us as a club. We're not meant to win big games. We're just meant to turn up and be part of it," Stuart said with a smile.
"We're not the best team in the competition, but we have just got to keep trying and building and growing. Good things will come if you keep working hard."
2015 Round 8 - Canberra Raiders 30 (Jordan Rapana, Edrick Lee 2, Shannon Boyd, Josh Papalii, Blake Austin, tries; Jarrod Croker 3 goals) defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 22
Canberra Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton 2. Edrick Lee 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Sisa Waqa 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Blake Austin 7. Sam Williams 8. Paul Vaughan 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Frank Paul Nuuausala 11. Josh Papalli 12. Sia Soliola 13. Shaun Fensom
14. Kurt Baptiste 15. Mark Nicholls 16. Jarrad Kennedy 17. Shannon Boyd
Coach Ricky Stuart
5 MIN READ
Season 2015 was the third in a row that the Canberra Raiders missed the finals. Incredibly, it was the first time in the club's history that it had happened - if you count the playoff in 1984 as a shot at the finals. The winning record at home was also the worst in history, with the Raiders winning just three of 12 clashes. Even in the club's inaugural season, with a team full of park players, the Raiders won four home games.
But nevertheless, there were some signs that the club was on the right path. The Raiders climbed the ladder to tenth place and finished just two wins out of the top eight. There were five losses of two points or less, and six of four points or less. Another loss, to the Bulldogs, was a last minute seven point loss. It was seven games, fourteen competition points, that could have gone the other way. Five more wins was a top four finish. The missing ingredients were game management and consistency, the level heads and experience needed to win the tight contests.
The attack progressed significantly. For much of the season, Canberra had the best attack in the league. In the end, the Raiders finished third on the highest point scoring list, behind the Roosters and eventual premiers, the Cowboys. They outscored the other grand finalist, the Broncos. But only four teams conceded more points than the Raiders. Despite that, the Raiders finished with a positive points differential. Two teams in the top eight, the Rabbitohs and Sharks, did not.
Some of the Raiders' best in 2015 were new recruits to the club - Josh Hodgson, Blake Austin, and Sia Soliola. Soliola won the Meninga Medal, while Austin was named Dally M Five Eighth of the Year. Hodgson was named the Fans' Choice Player of the Year.
One of the best matches came in the final round of the year when Canberra visited Parramatta. While neither team could make the finals, there was some feeling in the match as the blue and gold army had still not forgiven Ricky Stuart for leaving the Eels for the Raiders after just one season. It was a thrilling contest, with the lead changing four times - and the Raiders recovered two short kick offs late in the game to force golden point. In the final minute, Edrick Lee scored despite the attention of three defenders, to narrow the Eels' lead to two. Jarrod Croker then converted from the sideline with a magnificent kick to tie it up. Then in extra time, Josh Hodgson scored the easiest of golden tries; he dummied and strolled through.
The other best performances came early in the year. In Round 7, the Raiders produced their biggest ever comeback to defeat the Wests Tigers 30-22 at Leichhardt Oval. Canberra was down 22-0 after 25 minutes, with a gale benefiting the Tigers. But tries to Shannon Boyd and Jarrod Croker before the break brought Canberra back into contention. The scores were levelled after four pointers to Frank Paul Nuuausala (45th minute) and Jack Wighton (64th) - and Canberra only went ahead 24-22 in the 68th minute through a Croker penalty goal. The Tigers had a try disallowed in the 76th minute, before Jordan Rapana scored in the last minute for a stunning eight point victory.
The match was the final game in green for forward Dane Tilse, his 201st with the club in first grade. He was heading off to play for Hull KR in England.
"It was a bit of a nightmare start that first 20. We made it pretty hard on ourselves into the wind," Tilse said after the game. "But it's good fun playing at Leichhardt Oval. It's a great atmosphere, even for a visiting team. To be able to win in my last NRL game and for the club, it's pretty special, so I've got to tahank all the boys for their effort today."
Coach Ricky Stuart was pleased with the comeback. The Raiders didn't have the ball for the first 10 minutes and had to make the first 46 of the first 51 tackles of the game.
"Just the adversity of it," was the thing that impressed Stuart the most. "It was a real tough day, that first half of footy. So much adversity that they had to play under - in regards to the mistakes that we were making. I think we had 30 per cent of the football in the first half, and we only completed about 50 per cent of it. It's the spirit that we have in the joint. I couldn't be prouder of the bunch of boys we have at the club."
The Raiders delivered their best win of the season the following week, when they travelled to Cairns in Anzac Round to take on the 2014 premiers, South Sydney. Jordan Rapana scored the first try, an incredible put down in the corner, when it looked certain he'd been taken over the sideline. The Rabbitohs quickly took control and looked comfortable with a 16-8 lead at half time. But Canberra stormed home in the second 40, with the breeze behind them.
A try to Blake Austin put the Raiders in front in the 66th minute, before the match was sealed by an Edrick Lee four pointer, three minutes from full time. Frank Paul Nuuasala put on a man of the match performance, with great contributions from Sia Soliola, Shannon Boyd, Josh Papalii and Paul Vaughan. Both Jordan Rapana and Edrick Lee scored doubles.
"I'm very happy for the players, they way they hang in those battles," coach Ricky Stuart said later.
"That's a quality team out there today, in the Rabbitohs, and to be able to win the way we did, the way we held it together... you have to be tough people to hang in there. Take nothing away from Souths because they dug in and did everything they could to win."
"We weren't meant to win. We're just here to make up the numbers, that's the most pleasing thing of it all. That's us as a club. We're not meant to win big games. We're just meant to turn up and be part of it," Stuart said with a smile.
"We're not the best team in the competition, but we have just got to keep trying and building and growing. Good things will come if you keep working hard."
2015 Round 8 - Canberra Raiders 30 (Jordan Rapana, Edrick Lee 2, Shannon Boyd, Josh Papalii, Blake Austin, tries; Jarrod Croker 3 goals) defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 22
Canberra Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton 2. Edrick Lee 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Sisa Waqa 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Blake Austin 7. Sam Williams 8. Paul Vaughan 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Frank Paul Nuuausala 11. Josh Papalli 12. Sia Soliola 13. Shaun Fensom
14. Kurt Baptiste 15. Mark Nicholls 16. Jarrad Kennedy 17. Shannon Boyd
Coach Ricky Stuart
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2016 - Best season in more than 20 years
10 MIN READ
2016. It was the best season for the Canberra Raiders since 1995, more than 20 years. 1995 was the last time the Raiders had finished in second position on the ladder and made a Preliminary Final in a full competition. Unfortunately, the Raiders did not make it to the Grand Final in 1995 or 2016. But 2016 was an outstanding season for the Green Machine, one in which all expectations were exceeded. In the end, Canberra just missed a Grand Final appearance. They were only beaten by two points in each of the finals contests against the eventual Grand Finalists, the Sharks and Storm. Along the way, the Raiders won 10 matches in a row, the most in club history during a single season.
Canberra was number one in the league for points scored, scoring nearly 100 points more than the second placed team. No Canberra team had ever scored more points in a season, breaking the record of the 1994 outfit. All sorts of other records were broken too. Jarrod Croker became the club's highest point scorer of all time, breaking David Furner's record. He also broke the record for most points scored in single season for the club. Jordan Rapana broke the club record for most tries scored in a season, at 23.
Joey Leilua was recognised as the Dally M Centre of the Year, while Jarrod Croker was named Dally M Captain of the Year, Provan-Summons Medalist - and was the top point scorer in the NRL. Ricky Stuart was named Coach of the Year. Players like Jordan Rapana and Josh Papalii were unlucky not to win their positional awards at the Dally Ms as well. Josh Hodgson was named one of the best five players in the competition in the NRL's Official Annual.
The reaction of the fans and the city of Canberra was remarkable. The Viking Clap was first revealed in the home match against the Parramatta Eels and it was a sensation in the world of rugby league - and much more broadly. The city was engulfed in green fever when Canberra Stadium staged two home finals. It showed that no team can grip the national capital like the Raiders can.
The season was littered with impressive performances. In Round 5, the Raiders travelled to the intimidating atmosphere of Belmore Sports Ground on a Monday night, but were far from intimidated. They produced a great defensive display against a team renowned for getting in the trenches. It showed that the Raiders could defend like a real contender. Jarrod Croker scored two tries and five goals for a personal tally of 18 in the 22-8 victory.
Round 8 of 2016 - ANZAC Round - had everyone digging out the record books. It was the sixth biggest win in Canberra Raiders history. 60 points posted. It was difficult for Raiders fans to believe after Canberra had conceded 76 points in the previous two weeks against the Eels and the Sharks. After the 40-16 loss to the Sharks in Round 7, coach Ricky Stuart had made some stinging comments about his team’s performance.
"There's a situation there where we've got a winger and a centre showing the whole team how to play, and it's embarrassing," he said. "We were shocking. We had five players [performing] today and I can't wait to have the other 12 follow their lead."
Stuart then named an extended bench for the Round 8 match against the Tigers - and ultimately dropped Frank Paul Nuuausala for Clay Priest, who didn't even have a Raiders contract a week earlier. Stuart had the players’ attention and their minds were right on the job.
The Tigers clash coincided with the night of the Forever Green former players reunion, and it turned into an 11 try romp. Some outstanding tries were scored, but the best came in the first half. Josh Hodgson ran out of dummy half in Raiders’ own end. Joey Leilua and Jordan Rapana were loitering mid field and Hodgson set Leilua away - while Rapana backed up, streaking away to score a breath taking 70 metre try.
Josh Hodgson was masterful producing three line break assists and three try assists. Jordan Rapana ended up with four tries to his name. Ricky Stuart, pleased with his winger, produced a great tongue in cheek comment after the game.
"I sent a message down there at one stage to Jordy... Mal's here tonight, I don't want you getting five, because Mal's the only bloke who's got five at the Raiders."
In Round 17, the Raiders hosted the Newcastle Knights at Canberra Stadium. Twenty-two points were conceded in the first 25 minutes of the game. The Raiders faced considerable adversity in the first half due to injury. Jordan Rapana, Shannon Boyd and Jarrod Croker all left the field at various stages. When Rapana went to the sheds, the Knights wreacked havoc down the right side. But there was also no doubt. The Raiders were clearly out-enthused by the Knights in the opening stages.
Then came the comeback. Blake Austin scored just before half time - and the Raiders trailed 22-6 at the break. Jack Wighton scored 10 minutes into the second half. A double to Jarrod Croker, brought it back to 24-24 by the 76th minute. The Raiders took the lead in the 79th minute through a Blake Austin field goal - and coach Ricky Stuart thought his team had it won. But then the Knights easily regathered the ball from a short kick off. They marched up the field to set up a Trent Hodkinson field goal. That tied the match 25-25 and forced golden point.
The Raiders missed two field goals in extra time. The tension was unbearable. The two teams had fought out a draw after extra time, earlier in the year. In the 85th minute, Blake Austin missed another drop goal, with the ball sailing well wide. The hearts of the Canberra crowd sank. But then the miracle bounce, just inside the dead ball line, happened. Jordan Rapana chased, hard, and the ball fell into his arms. It was the most golden of tries and the most golden of wins. It equalled the record for the club's biggest comeback.
Ricky Stuart's decision to send Rapana back onto the field after suffering a shoulder injury had proved to be critical.
"Ricky said 'if I put you on I can't take you off, the only way you're going to come off is in a coffin'," Rapana said after the match.
The team went on to set a record breaking 50 point margin over the South Sydney Rabbitohs at the Olympic Stadium in Round 21, with ten tries scored in a 54-4 victory.
And when the final round of the regular season came around, a top two finish was on the line for the Raiders, a top eight position on the line for the Wests Tigers. The Raiders unleashed. It was a nine tries and a 52-10 victory, with Joey Leilua throwing a magic, around the back pass to set up Rapana for a try.
One of the best matches came in the second week of the finals - a clash with the Penrith Panthers at Canberra Stadium. After the loss to the Sharks in Week 1, the experts in Sydney all jumped off the Raiders' back. A two point defeat and suddenly the team that had scored more points than any other team, by a wide margin, was no longer the most exciting team in the NRL. The Panthers were the most exciting. It was now obvious to all the experts that the Panthers would win in Week 2.
Canberra Raiders fans were on the edge of their seats all week in the lead up, waiting for news of Josh Hodgson's ankle and Blake Austin's hand. But in the end, it was all good - an apparent miracle in the case of Hodgson. Both were passed fit late in the week.
The Raiders went out to an 18-0 lead after 45 minutes and dominated for much of the first half. While the Raiders were rocking when the Panthers grabbed the momentum from around the 60 minute mark and put on two tries, Canberra was able to halt it, with captain Jarrod Croker kicking two penalties in the final five minutes to secure a 22-12 win. It qualified the team for a Preliminary Final, the first in a generation. It was a night for the true believers. Sadly, the Raiders fell just short in Melbourne, the following week.
The best two performances came in successive weeks - against the ultimate grand finalists. In Round 22, the Raiders went to Shark Park and ended Cronulla's 16 match undefeated streak with a 30-14 victory. Cronulla had not lost a match at home all season, until the Raiders visited.
It was tough game of footy, a stop-start affair on a very soggy ground. It was niggling, it was grinding, it was the sort of game where penalty goals ruled. The Raiders played the Sharks' style of game and came out on top. They matched them in the forwards, more than matched them. The defence was solid in the middle. And when the Raiders made some errors, the defence was desperate when it needed to be.
There were moments that will last long in the memory. Jack Wighton made just nine tackles, but some of them were classics. He brought down a flying Ben Barba in the 62nd minute, an absolute try saver. Then he followed that in the 63rd minute, taking Feki out over the corner post. Jordan Rapana scored two tries, but the second was most memorable because of the work from Josh Hodgson in the lead up. Hodgson made an initial break, but was confronted by the scrambling Sharks defenders. Still, they had no idea what he was going to do. He dummied, he looked like he would go any which way... and then he put in a magic kick ahead for Rapana and the four points. Most of all, the match was memorable because it showed the Raiders could hang tough with the best in the competition.
The very best performance was the Round 23 bashing of the Melbourne Storm at Canberra Stadium. It was one of Canberra's best matches in years, perhaps the best defensive performance in 20 years. The 22-8 win meant Canberra had defeated the competition leaders in successive weeks, and no team had done that for 30 years.
The defence won it. We had seen the green wave of attack during the season. In this match, it was the green wall.
At one point early in the second half, the Raiders were simply pounding the Melbourne Storm, in their own half. They were smashing tackles, literally not allowing the Storm to make a metre. Cooper Cronk kicked it early in the count, simply to make it stop.
In the 65th minute, the Storm unleashed a 40/20 kick, then received a penalty - and got a lucky call of six again. The Raiders just got on with it and tackled their hearts out. On the final tackle, the Storm's Cheyse Blair was wrapped up, by Leilua, Boyd, Austin and Rapana and just marched 10 metres over the sideline. The crowd just stood and cheered. Canberra withstood anything the Storm could throw at them in the second half. And they had set after set in the Raiders' red zone.
There was some breath taking attack as well. Joey Leilua scored after just 47 seconds. Elliott Whitehead pushed through the line and got the pass to Leilua, he rampaged, Austin backed up, somehow avoided being tackled... and Leilua was there to score.
It was simply outstanding.
"The defence was very pleasing, we've worked hard at it but we were consistent with it tonight and I was pleased for them," Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said after the match.
"It has been a big improvement in our game, but it can turn around very quickly, too. We've got our own brand of football and that was our theme tonight, to not 'out-Melbourne' Melbourne but play the way the Canberra Raiders play. We want to set our own style of footy."
But maybe Stuart had taken some things from the Storm play book.
Complaints from the Storm captain Cameron Smith that the Raiders had employed the tactic of deliberately conceding penalties on the goal line, rather than concede a try, produced a five word response from the Raiders mentor.
"We learnt it off Cameron."
2016 Round 23 - Canberra Raiders 22 (Joey Leilua 2, Shannon Boyd tries, Jarrod Croker 5 goals) defeated Melbourne Storm 8
Canberra Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton 2. Edrick Lee 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Joey Leilua 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Blake Austin 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Junior Paulo 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Shannon Boyd 11. Josh Papalii 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Sia Soliola
15. Luke Bateman 16. Clay Priest 17. Joseph Tapine 19. Kurt Baptiste
Coach Ricky Stuart
10 MIN READ
2016. It was the best season for the Canberra Raiders since 1995, more than 20 years. 1995 was the last time the Raiders had finished in second position on the ladder and made a Preliminary Final in a full competition. Unfortunately, the Raiders did not make it to the Grand Final in 1995 or 2016. But 2016 was an outstanding season for the Green Machine, one in which all expectations were exceeded. In the end, Canberra just missed a Grand Final appearance. They were only beaten by two points in each of the finals contests against the eventual Grand Finalists, the Sharks and Storm. Along the way, the Raiders won 10 matches in a row, the most in club history during a single season.
Canberra was number one in the league for points scored, scoring nearly 100 points more than the second placed team. No Canberra team had ever scored more points in a season, breaking the record of the 1994 outfit. All sorts of other records were broken too. Jarrod Croker became the club's highest point scorer of all time, breaking David Furner's record. He also broke the record for most points scored in single season for the club. Jordan Rapana broke the club record for most tries scored in a season, at 23.
Joey Leilua was recognised as the Dally M Centre of the Year, while Jarrod Croker was named Dally M Captain of the Year, Provan-Summons Medalist - and was the top point scorer in the NRL. Ricky Stuart was named Coach of the Year. Players like Jordan Rapana and Josh Papalii were unlucky not to win their positional awards at the Dally Ms as well. Josh Hodgson was named one of the best five players in the competition in the NRL's Official Annual.
The reaction of the fans and the city of Canberra was remarkable. The Viking Clap was first revealed in the home match against the Parramatta Eels and it was a sensation in the world of rugby league - and much more broadly. The city was engulfed in green fever when Canberra Stadium staged two home finals. It showed that no team can grip the national capital like the Raiders can.
The season was littered with impressive performances. In Round 5, the Raiders travelled to the intimidating atmosphere of Belmore Sports Ground on a Monday night, but were far from intimidated. They produced a great defensive display against a team renowned for getting in the trenches. It showed that the Raiders could defend like a real contender. Jarrod Croker scored two tries and five goals for a personal tally of 18 in the 22-8 victory.
Round 8 of 2016 - ANZAC Round - had everyone digging out the record books. It was the sixth biggest win in Canberra Raiders history. 60 points posted. It was difficult for Raiders fans to believe after Canberra had conceded 76 points in the previous two weeks against the Eels and the Sharks. After the 40-16 loss to the Sharks in Round 7, coach Ricky Stuart had made some stinging comments about his team’s performance.
"There's a situation there where we've got a winger and a centre showing the whole team how to play, and it's embarrassing," he said. "We were shocking. We had five players [performing] today and I can't wait to have the other 12 follow their lead."
Stuart then named an extended bench for the Round 8 match against the Tigers - and ultimately dropped Frank Paul Nuuausala for Clay Priest, who didn't even have a Raiders contract a week earlier. Stuart had the players’ attention and their minds were right on the job.
The Tigers clash coincided with the night of the Forever Green former players reunion, and it turned into an 11 try romp. Some outstanding tries were scored, but the best came in the first half. Josh Hodgson ran out of dummy half in Raiders’ own end. Joey Leilua and Jordan Rapana were loitering mid field and Hodgson set Leilua away - while Rapana backed up, streaking away to score a breath taking 70 metre try.
Josh Hodgson was masterful producing three line break assists and three try assists. Jordan Rapana ended up with four tries to his name. Ricky Stuart, pleased with his winger, produced a great tongue in cheek comment after the game.
"I sent a message down there at one stage to Jordy... Mal's here tonight, I don't want you getting five, because Mal's the only bloke who's got five at the Raiders."
In Round 17, the Raiders hosted the Newcastle Knights at Canberra Stadium. Twenty-two points were conceded in the first 25 minutes of the game. The Raiders faced considerable adversity in the first half due to injury. Jordan Rapana, Shannon Boyd and Jarrod Croker all left the field at various stages. When Rapana went to the sheds, the Knights wreacked havoc down the right side. But there was also no doubt. The Raiders were clearly out-enthused by the Knights in the opening stages.
Then came the comeback. Blake Austin scored just before half time - and the Raiders trailed 22-6 at the break. Jack Wighton scored 10 minutes into the second half. A double to Jarrod Croker, brought it back to 24-24 by the 76th minute. The Raiders took the lead in the 79th minute through a Blake Austin field goal - and coach Ricky Stuart thought his team had it won. But then the Knights easily regathered the ball from a short kick off. They marched up the field to set up a Trent Hodkinson field goal. That tied the match 25-25 and forced golden point.
The Raiders missed two field goals in extra time. The tension was unbearable. The two teams had fought out a draw after extra time, earlier in the year. In the 85th minute, Blake Austin missed another drop goal, with the ball sailing well wide. The hearts of the Canberra crowd sank. But then the miracle bounce, just inside the dead ball line, happened. Jordan Rapana chased, hard, and the ball fell into his arms. It was the most golden of tries and the most golden of wins. It equalled the record for the club's biggest comeback.
Ricky Stuart's decision to send Rapana back onto the field after suffering a shoulder injury had proved to be critical.
"Ricky said 'if I put you on I can't take you off, the only way you're going to come off is in a coffin'," Rapana said after the match.
The team went on to set a record breaking 50 point margin over the South Sydney Rabbitohs at the Olympic Stadium in Round 21, with ten tries scored in a 54-4 victory.
And when the final round of the regular season came around, a top two finish was on the line for the Raiders, a top eight position on the line for the Wests Tigers. The Raiders unleashed. It was a nine tries and a 52-10 victory, with Joey Leilua throwing a magic, around the back pass to set up Rapana for a try.
One of the best matches came in the second week of the finals - a clash with the Penrith Panthers at Canberra Stadium. After the loss to the Sharks in Week 1, the experts in Sydney all jumped off the Raiders' back. A two point defeat and suddenly the team that had scored more points than any other team, by a wide margin, was no longer the most exciting team in the NRL. The Panthers were the most exciting. It was now obvious to all the experts that the Panthers would win in Week 2.
Canberra Raiders fans were on the edge of their seats all week in the lead up, waiting for news of Josh Hodgson's ankle and Blake Austin's hand. But in the end, it was all good - an apparent miracle in the case of Hodgson. Both were passed fit late in the week.
The Raiders went out to an 18-0 lead after 45 minutes and dominated for much of the first half. While the Raiders were rocking when the Panthers grabbed the momentum from around the 60 minute mark and put on two tries, Canberra was able to halt it, with captain Jarrod Croker kicking two penalties in the final five minutes to secure a 22-12 win. It qualified the team for a Preliminary Final, the first in a generation. It was a night for the true believers. Sadly, the Raiders fell just short in Melbourne, the following week.
The best two performances came in successive weeks - against the ultimate grand finalists. In Round 22, the Raiders went to Shark Park and ended Cronulla's 16 match undefeated streak with a 30-14 victory. Cronulla had not lost a match at home all season, until the Raiders visited.
It was tough game of footy, a stop-start affair on a very soggy ground. It was niggling, it was grinding, it was the sort of game where penalty goals ruled. The Raiders played the Sharks' style of game and came out on top. They matched them in the forwards, more than matched them. The defence was solid in the middle. And when the Raiders made some errors, the defence was desperate when it needed to be.
There were moments that will last long in the memory. Jack Wighton made just nine tackles, but some of them were classics. He brought down a flying Ben Barba in the 62nd minute, an absolute try saver. Then he followed that in the 63rd minute, taking Feki out over the corner post. Jordan Rapana scored two tries, but the second was most memorable because of the work from Josh Hodgson in the lead up. Hodgson made an initial break, but was confronted by the scrambling Sharks defenders. Still, they had no idea what he was going to do. He dummied, he looked like he would go any which way... and then he put in a magic kick ahead for Rapana and the four points. Most of all, the match was memorable because it showed the Raiders could hang tough with the best in the competition.
The very best performance was the Round 23 bashing of the Melbourne Storm at Canberra Stadium. It was one of Canberra's best matches in years, perhaps the best defensive performance in 20 years. The 22-8 win meant Canberra had defeated the competition leaders in successive weeks, and no team had done that for 30 years.
The defence won it. We had seen the green wave of attack during the season. In this match, it was the green wall.
At one point early in the second half, the Raiders were simply pounding the Melbourne Storm, in their own half. They were smashing tackles, literally not allowing the Storm to make a metre. Cooper Cronk kicked it early in the count, simply to make it stop.
In the 65th minute, the Storm unleashed a 40/20 kick, then received a penalty - and got a lucky call of six again. The Raiders just got on with it and tackled their hearts out. On the final tackle, the Storm's Cheyse Blair was wrapped up, by Leilua, Boyd, Austin and Rapana and just marched 10 metres over the sideline. The crowd just stood and cheered. Canberra withstood anything the Storm could throw at them in the second half. And they had set after set in the Raiders' red zone.
There was some breath taking attack as well. Joey Leilua scored after just 47 seconds. Elliott Whitehead pushed through the line and got the pass to Leilua, he rampaged, Austin backed up, somehow avoided being tackled... and Leilua was there to score.
It was simply outstanding.
"The defence was very pleasing, we've worked hard at it but we were consistent with it tonight and I was pleased for them," Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said after the match.
"It has been a big improvement in our game, but it can turn around very quickly, too. We've got our own brand of football and that was our theme tonight, to not 'out-Melbourne' Melbourne but play the way the Canberra Raiders play. We want to set our own style of footy."
But maybe Stuart had taken some things from the Storm play book.
Complaints from the Storm captain Cameron Smith that the Raiders had employed the tactic of deliberately conceding penalties on the goal line, rather than concede a try, produced a five word response from the Raiders mentor.
"We learnt it off Cameron."
2016 Round 23 - Canberra Raiders 22 (Joey Leilua 2, Shannon Boyd tries, Jarrod Croker 5 goals) defeated Melbourne Storm 8
Canberra Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton 2. Edrick Lee 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Joey Leilua 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Blake Austin 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Junior Paulo 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Shannon Boyd 11. Josh Papalii 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Sia Soliola
15. Luke Bateman 16. Clay Priest 17. Joseph Tapine 19. Kurt Baptiste
Coach Ricky Stuart
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2017 - Premiership window slams shut
8 MIN READ
At the start of the 2017, many predicted a long awaited title would arrive for the Canberra Raiders. After a second placed finish in 2016, the core of the squad was essentially unchanged. The premiership window seemed wide open. Instead, it slammed shut. The Raiders finished 10th, four competition points outside the top eight, missing the finals.
The Raiders had a relatively good run with injuries, so that wasn't the problem. Ricky Stuart had to use only 25 players, the lowest number in the league, along with the Bulldogs and Dragons. Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer, Joey Leilua and rookie Nick Cotric played in every game. Fourteen players made 20 appearances or more.
The Raiders' attack dropped off a bit, but only a bit. They ranked third for most points - shaded only by the Storm and the Broncos. But the style of attack came along with lots of errors. Only Cronulla had a worse completion rate than Canberra. As the old adage goes - you can't win football games without the football.
The poor completion rate put pressure on the defence - and that was the key problem area. The Raiders ranked 10th in the NRL for least points conceded - at 21 points and four tries per match. The Storm was the benchmark in the regular season, conceding just 14 points per game. It's rugby league lore that teams don't win premierships if they concede more than 16 points per match.
However, the most sorry tale was this one... The Raiders lost three matches in golden point. Seven matches were lost by four points or less - and three by two points or less. Canberra conceded more tries in the final 10 minutes of matches than any other period of their matches. The Raiders ended the season with a better points differential than four teams in the top eight. Just two more wins would have seen Canberra make the finals. That suggested a problem with game management as well.
The season opener against the Cowboys in the heat and humidity of Townsville produced the first golden point defeat. The Raiders were missing captain Jarrod Croker, while Junior Paulo and Dave Taylor were out, suspended. Jack Wighton went down on the day of the match due to a stomach bug, replaced by Zac Santo at the last possible moment at fullback.
The Cowboys had 60 per cent of the ball - aided by a penalty count of 11-4 - while Canberra forward Clay Priest was sin binned in the second half for repeated infringements. So it was remarkable that a gritty Raiders outfit trailed by just six, 16-10, heading into the final stages. With four minutes left on the clock, a Josh Hodgson kick produced a second try for Raiders centre Joey Leilua - and the Aidan Sezer conversion forced golden point. But the match ended in heartbreak. Johnathan Thurston failed in a field goal attempt, with the ball hitting the underside of the crossbar. A freakish deflection off the metal work saw the ball hold up in the in goal, allowing Cowboy Gavin Cooper to score the golden try.
There were two golden point losses to the Sea Eagles. In Round 8, the Sea Eagles came to Canberra Stadium with a plan to niggle, slow down the play, force repeat sets and kick for the touchlines to keep the ball out of the hands of the Raiders' back three. The plan worked. Manly centre Dylan Walker was put on report for a slamming tackle on Aidan Sezer and spent much of the game sledging the Raiders. But he was the game winner, kicking a penalty goal in golden point after Joe Tapine was penalised for a strip in a two man tackle. Final score, 24-22.
In the return match at Brookvale in Round 13, it was almost all the Sea Eagles in the first half. They took a 20-6 lead to the break, but Canberra fought back in the second forty. In the 70th minute Jordan Rapana produced an amazing try. He ran from dummy half, 80 metres from the try line, just danced around the defence and streaked away. That saw the Raiders trail by just two, 20-18. In the final minute of regulation time Jarrod Croker levelled the scores, through a penalty goal. It was taken in a difficult position on the field, over 30 metres away from the goal line, and out wide. It was reminiscent of the place on the field from where he missed a crucial goal in the 2010 finals match against the Wests Tigers. But Croker was cool, calm and collected and he simply nailed it.
Things went awry in golden point extra time. A dropped ball from Junior Paulo gave Manly captain Daly Cherry Evans his chance. The field goal expert took it, producing the winning one pointer. It was a courageous comeback for the Raiders, with Dunamis Lui and Shannon Boyd ruled out of the game in the first half through injury. But that counted for nothing on the competition ladder.
The Raiders' problems in defence and game management were best summed up in the loss to the Penrith Panthers the following week at Bathurst. It was the worst defeat of the season. One of the worst defeats in club history. The Raiders had the match in their keeping with less than five minutes remaining. They led 20-12. Nick Cotric almost scored in the corner. But the game then unravelled for the Green Machine. The Panthers took the play to the other end of the field, with Matt Moylan setting Corey Harawira-Naera in under the posts in the 79th minute. Moylan was at it again with less than 30 seconds left, setting up Tyrone Peachey for the match winner.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart was almost lost for words after the humiliating, 24-20, defeat.
"I don't think either side gave in until the end, they just came back with some good football and got us," Stuart said post-game.
"Jump on the bus and go home, that's what we'll do. It was there to be won with four minutes to go and it doesn't matter now because we had an opportunity to win and we didn't. We'll bounce back, there is no lack of effort and there never is all year – we just need to get better."
Things weren't all bad. The Raiders put on some big scores against the likes of the Tigers (46-6), Titans (42-16) and Knights (46-28). But the opponents were all bottom four sides. They often sat in the top eight in the first half of the season. However, the four game losing streak that started with the loss to the Sea Eagles in Round 13 proved to be the beginning of the end.
Canberra showed what might have been in the Round 22 victory over the 2016 premiers at Cronulla. It was the best win of the season. The Sharks started with intent. They brought their most punishing defence, and dominated Canberra for the first 10 minutes. The Raiders struggled to get out of their own end of the field. All of a sudden, they trailed by eight. But then the Raiders' forwards stood tall. Shannon Boyd and Junior Paulo did the tough stuff. Elliott Whitehead was a revelation after a surprise, last minute shift to lock.
The momentum swung in the 15th minute. Josh Papalii scored a typical Papalii try, charging over the line off a Josh Hodgson crash ball. Five minutes later, a Blake Austin cross field kick to the corner came up trumps, with the Sharks unable to defuse and Rapana scoring from the loose ball.
Six minutes from the half time, Joey Leilua delivered a great pass to Jordan Rapana, not from his usual centre position, but from dummy half. It was a bullet and went across the face of two Sharks defenders, before finding his winger. Four points. But there was not a better try than the one scored just before half time. It was an All-England affair, with Elliott Whitehead making an incursion up the middle, before offloading to Josh Hodgson. He dummied before making a deadly 20 metre diagonal run to the try line. The Raiders led, 24-8, at the break.
It's not often in rugby league that three straight penalty goals are memorable. But in this match, they were. Josh Papalii was sin binned, harshly, in the 56th minute. Cronulla had been the first to score in the second half. The sin bin could have been a crack of light for the home team. But if the Sharks touched the ball in the next 10 minutes, then they barely did. Canberra controlled the match brilliantly and field position was rewarded with three opportunities to "take the two". The Sharks fans were yelling... "Stop the clock!"... as Croker calmly lined up for goal. It ended up being as good as a converted try. Canberra went on to win, 30-12.
"This year has been the biggest learning curve for this football team as a squad that they'll ever have," coach Ricky Stuart said after the game.
"How we use that is up to us. Last year we got to a situation where I think it probably came a bit quick and we hadn't had the experience of playing in tight games, we were winning games like tonight and all of a sudden we started this year wanting to win games like this scoreline tonight in every game. It's not going to happen in this competition, it's too tough a comp. We found out the hard way which is where we are at the moment. Rugby league is a lesson every game every season."
"We haven't stopped believing," coach Ricky Stuart said of his side's finals hopes.
"We've got ourselves into this position and I think we probably won that game tonight through a lot of the education we've had through a lot of close losses - because it was a tight game there for a while. I've kept saying all along that if we stop turning the football over and giving the opposition cheap possession it makes our job easier. For a big part of the season we were turning over too much football and making it too hard for us defensively."
Sadly, for precisely the reasons Stuart mentioned, finals football was not to be in 2017.
2017 Round 22 - Canberra Raiders 30 (Jordan Rapana, Josh Hodgson, Josh Papalii tries, Jarrod Croker 7 goals) defeated Cronulla Sharks 12 (Gerard Beale, Sosaia Feki tries, Valentine Holmes 2 goals) at Shark Park
Canberra Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton 2. Nick Cotric 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Joey Leilua 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Blake Austin 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Junior Paulo 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Shannon Boyd 11. Josh Papalii 12. Elliott Whitehead 17. Joseph Tapine
13. Luke Bateman 14. Kurt Baptiste 15. Clay Priest 16. Dave Taylor
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 11,639
8 MIN READ
At the start of the 2017, many predicted a long awaited title would arrive for the Canberra Raiders. After a second placed finish in 2016, the core of the squad was essentially unchanged. The premiership window seemed wide open. Instead, it slammed shut. The Raiders finished 10th, four competition points outside the top eight, missing the finals.
The Raiders had a relatively good run with injuries, so that wasn't the problem. Ricky Stuart had to use only 25 players, the lowest number in the league, along with the Bulldogs and Dragons. Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer, Joey Leilua and rookie Nick Cotric played in every game. Fourteen players made 20 appearances or more.
The Raiders' attack dropped off a bit, but only a bit. They ranked third for most points - shaded only by the Storm and the Broncos. But the style of attack came along with lots of errors. Only Cronulla had a worse completion rate than Canberra. As the old adage goes - you can't win football games without the football.
The poor completion rate put pressure on the defence - and that was the key problem area. The Raiders ranked 10th in the NRL for least points conceded - at 21 points and four tries per match. The Storm was the benchmark in the regular season, conceding just 14 points per game. It's rugby league lore that teams don't win premierships if they concede more than 16 points per match.
However, the most sorry tale was this one... The Raiders lost three matches in golden point. Seven matches were lost by four points or less - and three by two points or less. Canberra conceded more tries in the final 10 minutes of matches than any other period of their matches. The Raiders ended the season with a better points differential than four teams in the top eight. Just two more wins would have seen Canberra make the finals. That suggested a problem with game management as well.
The season opener against the Cowboys in the heat and humidity of Townsville produced the first golden point defeat. The Raiders were missing captain Jarrod Croker, while Junior Paulo and Dave Taylor were out, suspended. Jack Wighton went down on the day of the match due to a stomach bug, replaced by Zac Santo at the last possible moment at fullback.
The Cowboys had 60 per cent of the ball - aided by a penalty count of 11-4 - while Canberra forward Clay Priest was sin binned in the second half for repeated infringements. So it was remarkable that a gritty Raiders outfit trailed by just six, 16-10, heading into the final stages. With four minutes left on the clock, a Josh Hodgson kick produced a second try for Raiders centre Joey Leilua - and the Aidan Sezer conversion forced golden point. But the match ended in heartbreak. Johnathan Thurston failed in a field goal attempt, with the ball hitting the underside of the crossbar. A freakish deflection off the metal work saw the ball hold up in the in goal, allowing Cowboy Gavin Cooper to score the golden try.
There were two golden point losses to the Sea Eagles. In Round 8, the Sea Eagles came to Canberra Stadium with a plan to niggle, slow down the play, force repeat sets and kick for the touchlines to keep the ball out of the hands of the Raiders' back three. The plan worked. Manly centre Dylan Walker was put on report for a slamming tackle on Aidan Sezer and spent much of the game sledging the Raiders. But he was the game winner, kicking a penalty goal in golden point after Joe Tapine was penalised for a strip in a two man tackle. Final score, 24-22.
In the return match at Brookvale in Round 13, it was almost all the Sea Eagles in the first half. They took a 20-6 lead to the break, but Canberra fought back in the second forty. In the 70th minute Jordan Rapana produced an amazing try. He ran from dummy half, 80 metres from the try line, just danced around the defence and streaked away. That saw the Raiders trail by just two, 20-18. In the final minute of regulation time Jarrod Croker levelled the scores, through a penalty goal. It was taken in a difficult position on the field, over 30 metres away from the goal line, and out wide. It was reminiscent of the place on the field from where he missed a crucial goal in the 2010 finals match against the Wests Tigers. But Croker was cool, calm and collected and he simply nailed it.
Things went awry in golden point extra time. A dropped ball from Junior Paulo gave Manly captain Daly Cherry Evans his chance. The field goal expert took it, producing the winning one pointer. It was a courageous comeback for the Raiders, with Dunamis Lui and Shannon Boyd ruled out of the game in the first half through injury. But that counted for nothing on the competition ladder.
The Raiders' problems in defence and game management were best summed up in the loss to the Penrith Panthers the following week at Bathurst. It was the worst defeat of the season. One of the worst defeats in club history. The Raiders had the match in their keeping with less than five minutes remaining. They led 20-12. Nick Cotric almost scored in the corner. But the game then unravelled for the Green Machine. The Panthers took the play to the other end of the field, with Matt Moylan setting Corey Harawira-Naera in under the posts in the 79th minute. Moylan was at it again with less than 30 seconds left, setting up Tyrone Peachey for the match winner.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart was almost lost for words after the humiliating, 24-20, defeat.
"I don't think either side gave in until the end, they just came back with some good football and got us," Stuart said post-game.
"Jump on the bus and go home, that's what we'll do. It was there to be won with four minutes to go and it doesn't matter now because we had an opportunity to win and we didn't. We'll bounce back, there is no lack of effort and there never is all year – we just need to get better."
Things weren't all bad. The Raiders put on some big scores against the likes of the Tigers (46-6), Titans (42-16) and Knights (46-28). But the opponents were all bottom four sides. They often sat in the top eight in the first half of the season. However, the four game losing streak that started with the loss to the Sea Eagles in Round 13 proved to be the beginning of the end.
Canberra showed what might have been in the Round 22 victory over the 2016 premiers at Cronulla. It was the best win of the season. The Sharks started with intent. They brought their most punishing defence, and dominated Canberra for the first 10 minutes. The Raiders struggled to get out of their own end of the field. All of a sudden, they trailed by eight. But then the Raiders' forwards stood tall. Shannon Boyd and Junior Paulo did the tough stuff. Elliott Whitehead was a revelation after a surprise, last minute shift to lock.
The momentum swung in the 15th minute. Josh Papalii scored a typical Papalii try, charging over the line off a Josh Hodgson crash ball. Five minutes later, a Blake Austin cross field kick to the corner came up trumps, with the Sharks unable to defuse and Rapana scoring from the loose ball.
Six minutes from the half time, Joey Leilua delivered a great pass to Jordan Rapana, not from his usual centre position, but from dummy half. It was a bullet and went across the face of two Sharks defenders, before finding his winger. Four points. But there was not a better try than the one scored just before half time. It was an All-England affair, with Elliott Whitehead making an incursion up the middle, before offloading to Josh Hodgson. He dummied before making a deadly 20 metre diagonal run to the try line. The Raiders led, 24-8, at the break.
It's not often in rugby league that three straight penalty goals are memorable. But in this match, they were. Josh Papalii was sin binned, harshly, in the 56th minute. Cronulla had been the first to score in the second half. The sin bin could have been a crack of light for the home team. But if the Sharks touched the ball in the next 10 minutes, then they barely did. Canberra controlled the match brilliantly and field position was rewarded with three opportunities to "take the two". The Sharks fans were yelling... "Stop the clock!"... as Croker calmly lined up for goal. It ended up being as good as a converted try. Canberra went on to win, 30-12.
"This year has been the biggest learning curve for this football team as a squad that they'll ever have," coach Ricky Stuart said after the game.
"How we use that is up to us. Last year we got to a situation where I think it probably came a bit quick and we hadn't had the experience of playing in tight games, we were winning games like tonight and all of a sudden we started this year wanting to win games like this scoreline tonight in every game. It's not going to happen in this competition, it's too tough a comp. We found out the hard way which is where we are at the moment. Rugby league is a lesson every game every season."
"We haven't stopped believing," coach Ricky Stuart said of his side's finals hopes.
"We've got ourselves into this position and I think we probably won that game tonight through a lot of the education we've had through a lot of close losses - because it was a tight game there for a while. I've kept saying all along that if we stop turning the football over and giving the opposition cheap possession it makes our job easier. For a big part of the season we were turning over too much football and making it too hard for us defensively."
Sadly, for precisely the reasons Stuart mentioned, finals football was not to be in 2017.
2017 Round 22 - Canberra Raiders 30 (Jordan Rapana, Josh Hodgson, Josh Papalii tries, Jarrod Croker 7 goals) defeated Cronulla Sharks 12 (Gerard Beale, Sosaia Feki tries, Valentine Holmes 2 goals) at Shark Park
Canberra Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton 2. Nick Cotric 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Joey Leilua 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Blake Austin 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Junior Paulo 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Shannon Boyd 11. Josh Papalii 12. Elliott Whitehead 17. Joseph Tapine
13. Luke Bateman 14. Kurt Baptiste 15. Clay Priest 16. Dave Taylor
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 11,639
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2018 - The more things change, the more they stay the same
8 MIN READ
2018 was another failed season for the Canberra Raiders. The Raiders again finished in 10th, with 10 wins and 14 losses. Things looked fairly grim. The Raiders had made the finals just once in six seasons, three times in a decade.
The season was always going to be tough, with star hooker Josh Hodgson on the sidelines for the first half the season with an ACL injury, suffered in England's World Cup semi final. And as it turned out, another key player in the Raiders' spine, Jack Wighton, also spent half the season on the sideline, suspended after he pleaded guilty to assault charges.
There were some very disappointing refereeing performances as well. For example, there were some horrible blunders in the close loss to the Sharks at Cronulla. With the Raiders on a comeback, trailing by four, the Sharks appeared to knock on in the red zone. The touch judge raised his flag, a whistle of some sort sounded. The Raiders players stopped. But play was allowed to continue, and Sharks winger Sione Katoa ran to the in goal and planted the ball. Try awarded. Referees boss, Bernard Sutton later apologised for the blunder in the four point defeat. Play should have stopped when the flag went up. A forward pass call, which cost the Raiders a try, was also incorrect. It was not the only game where there were refereeing errors in close matches.
But other clubs dealt with refereeing errors, with serious injury, and played finals football. The Raiders’ defence, discipline, and inability to consistently win in the clutch for much of the season were the key reasons they did not make the top eight. They were exactly the same problems that plagued the team in 2017.
The Raiders ended the season with eight losses by four points or less, and five losses by two points or less. The season started with three losses in a row by two points or less, less than a converted try in aggregate.
In the season opener against the Titans on the Gold Coast, Canberra led by 18-0 after a blistering opening 10 minutes. At one stage in the first half, Canberra led by 24-6. But the Titans went on to equal their biggest ever comeback. A Konrad Hurrell try under the posts with less than two minutes left, produced a 30-28 win. In Round 2 against the Knights, the Raiders led by eight points with a little under 20 minutes remaining. Final score, 30-28.
The following week it was like Groundhog Day all over again. The Raiders led 19-6 with a little over 20 minutes left on the clock. But in the final quarter of the match, they conceded two tries. The try to Issac Luke in the 76th minute was as easy as pie - and reduced Canberra's advantage to a single point. Shaun Johnson then kicked two field goals in the final two minutes to secure a 21-20 win for the New Zealand outfit. It was the worst loss of the year, no doubt.
After the 32-16 loss to the Sea Eagles at Brookvale in Round 4, coach Ricky Stuart unleashed.
"Soft. Soft football, soft pieces of play, soft choices and I've probably protected them for too long," he said post match.
"Over the last three weeks I've thought the effort was there. There was no effort in that first half. That wasn't us. It was soft."
The opening month set the tone for the season. The Raiders were repeatedly in a position to win in the final stages... but buckled. They lost five games where they led by 10 points or more.
The Raiders did win a couple of close ones themselves. There was an extraordinary come from behind win over the Bulldogs in Round 17 at Belmore in the final minutes. The Raiders played poorly for much of the match, certainly not a performance from a side that at that stage had its season on the line.
Blake Austin had cost Canberra a win with his defensive lapses in Brisbane against the Broncos in the previous week. He had been dropped to the bench for the Bulldogs clash - and was probably fortunate to be a part of the top 17. He spent much of the match prowling up and down the sideline.
Austin came onto the field with a quarter of an hour remaining - but the Bulldogs went to a 14 point lead with just over seven minutes left on the clock. It looked like a certain defeat for Canberra. However, Austin was not finished. With 5:30 minutes left on the clock, he sliced through the Canterbury defensive line for an individual four pointer.
The Raiders then lost Brad Abbey, knocked out with less than four minutes remaining - and things again looked bleak. But then Siliva Havili stripped the ball from the Dogs one on one and Joe Tapine crossed with just over two minutes left. Finally, with less than 90 seconds left, Austin made a huge break down the left touchline - and Joey Leilua finished the job with the clock reading 79:05. Coach Ricky Stuart knew the Raiders had been handed a "get out jail free" card.
"The Bulldogs should have won, we were pathetic tonight," Stuart said after the match.
"It's not something I say a hell of a lot about this team because we have been on the receiving end of that for a couple of years now where we've probably been the better team and yet we've been run down or lost the close ones."
"We were trying to take short-cuts tonight. We didn't do anything to earn the right to play footy at them. We were poor and undisciplined."
"Blake Austin, he's copped a lot this week and he's had a tough week, and I feel really good for Blake right now because he won that for us. Just coming on and giving us that bit of extra spark and then BJ Leilua scoring that try in that right corner was good to get it."
There was also a one point win in the final minute over the Sea Eagles at Canberra Stadium. It was a little bit of payback for the two golden point losses suffered at the hands of the Sea Eagles in 2017. Not to mention the thrashing at Brookvale earlier that year. The Raiders trailed 20-14 before a great try to Jack Wighton saw the scores levelled. And with 20 seconds left, an Aidan Sezer field goal gave the Green Machine an exciting 21-20 victory.
However, there were many more close losses than wins.
Canberra scored enough points in 2017 to be playing finals football. Only the Rabbitohs produced more points and more tries than the Raiders. Canberra was the leading attacking team with one round remaining - and came very close to being the only team in NRL history to miss the finals whilst scoring most points. They finished the season as the only bottom eight side with a positive points differential. But they also finished five wins short of qualifying for the top eight.
Frustratingly, wins against the Roosters and Rabbitohs in the final stages of the season showed what might have been. Up until Round 23, Canberra had not beaten a top eight team - but then produced victories over minor premiership contenders in successive weeks.
The 14-12 win over the Sydney Roosters, the team that would win the 2018 Grand Final, was the very best of the year. The Raiders won despite the Sydney team scoring two tries to one. It was the gritty, grinding performance from Canberra that coach Ricky Stuart had long been seeking.
The Roosters had not won in Canberra since 2010, a losing streak of five matches, but the Sydney outfit was still a very clear favourite. The Raiders were missing Jack Wighton, Jarrod Croker and Aidan Sezer - with the Raiders forced to play Elliott Whitehead in the centres. Young forward, Emre Guler, was on debut. The victory was even more remarkable, given the already disrupted Raiders team had to deal with the loss of fullback Brad Abbey and Luke Bateman to injury during the match - with Blake Austin taking over at fullback, and Whitehead moving to five eighth.
The Raiders' sole try came in the first 10 minutes of the match. A great pass from Abbey put Jordan Rapana over in the corner. After that, their only points came from penalty goals. They kept the Roosters scoreless in the first half, playing tight, controlled football. The Raiders completed every set in the first half, and ended the match with just two incomplete sets. They led 12-0 at half time, and withstood a Roosters comeback in the second stanza.
Sam Williams broke a 12-12 deadlock with 10 minutes remaining, a long range penalty goal giving Canberra a 14-12 lead. When Siliva Havili knocked on, first tackle after the re-start, the Raiders fans were no doubt waiting for the fade in the final stages - the fade that had been seen repeatedly over the previous two years. In the 74th minute, Roosters back Joseph Manu threatened to score out wide. But Sia Soliola had other ideas, launching himself at Manu, and taking him over the sideline. It was that sort of desperation which ensured the fade did not come. The Raiders stood firm for a memorable victory.
"It was a good win, plenty of heart, still with players out and the way they rallied around and played for each other and played some really good football with 19 out of 19 sets in the first half," coach Ricky Stuart said later.
"I keep telling the boys if your completions are good then it makes your defence easier. We actually played well tonight. When you lose close games like that, I say to people 'this team's not far away' and a couple of people might believe me after that. This team isn't far away and sometimes you need a couple of things to go your way in a tight competition like this to help you."
"We've already got Jack [Wighton] out, Toots [Jarrod Croker] out, Aidan [Sezer] out and you take [out] Luke Bateman and our second fill-in fullback... it's a wonderful effort, playing for the jumper."
Unfortunately, it was all too late.
2018 Round 23 - Canberra Raiders 14 (Jordan Rapana try, Sam Williams 5 goals) defeated Sydney Roosters 12 (Boyd Cordner, Victor Radley tries, Latrell Mitchell 2 goals) at Canberra Stadium
Canberra Raiders: 1. Brad Abbey 2. Nick Cotric 3. Elliott Whitehead 4. Joey Leilua 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Blake Austin 7. Sam Williams 8. Dunamis Lui 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Shannon Boyd 11. Joseph Tapine 12. Sia Soliola 13. Josh Papalii
14. Emre Guler 15. Luke Bateman 16. Siliva Havili 17. Junior Paulo
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 10,594
8 MIN READ
2018 was another failed season for the Canberra Raiders. The Raiders again finished in 10th, with 10 wins and 14 losses. Things looked fairly grim. The Raiders had made the finals just once in six seasons, three times in a decade.
The season was always going to be tough, with star hooker Josh Hodgson on the sidelines for the first half the season with an ACL injury, suffered in England's World Cup semi final. And as it turned out, another key player in the Raiders' spine, Jack Wighton, also spent half the season on the sideline, suspended after he pleaded guilty to assault charges.
There were some very disappointing refereeing performances as well. For example, there were some horrible blunders in the close loss to the Sharks at Cronulla. With the Raiders on a comeback, trailing by four, the Sharks appeared to knock on in the red zone. The touch judge raised his flag, a whistle of some sort sounded. The Raiders players stopped. But play was allowed to continue, and Sharks winger Sione Katoa ran to the in goal and planted the ball. Try awarded. Referees boss, Bernard Sutton later apologised for the blunder in the four point defeat. Play should have stopped when the flag went up. A forward pass call, which cost the Raiders a try, was also incorrect. It was not the only game where there were refereeing errors in close matches.
But other clubs dealt with refereeing errors, with serious injury, and played finals football. The Raiders’ defence, discipline, and inability to consistently win in the clutch for much of the season were the key reasons they did not make the top eight. They were exactly the same problems that plagued the team in 2017.
The Raiders ended the season with eight losses by four points or less, and five losses by two points or less. The season started with three losses in a row by two points or less, less than a converted try in aggregate.
In the season opener against the Titans on the Gold Coast, Canberra led by 18-0 after a blistering opening 10 minutes. At one stage in the first half, Canberra led by 24-6. But the Titans went on to equal their biggest ever comeback. A Konrad Hurrell try under the posts with less than two minutes left, produced a 30-28 win. In Round 2 against the Knights, the Raiders led by eight points with a little under 20 minutes remaining. Final score, 30-28.
The following week it was like Groundhog Day all over again. The Raiders led 19-6 with a little over 20 minutes left on the clock. But in the final quarter of the match, they conceded two tries. The try to Issac Luke in the 76th minute was as easy as pie - and reduced Canberra's advantage to a single point. Shaun Johnson then kicked two field goals in the final two minutes to secure a 21-20 win for the New Zealand outfit. It was the worst loss of the year, no doubt.
After the 32-16 loss to the Sea Eagles at Brookvale in Round 4, coach Ricky Stuart unleashed.
"Soft. Soft football, soft pieces of play, soft choices and I've probably protected them for too long," he said post match.
"Over the last three weeks I've thought the effort was there. There was no effort in that first half. That wasn't us. It was soft."
The opening month set the tone for the season. The Raiders were repeatedly in a position to win in the final stages... but buckled. They lost five games where they led by 10 points or more.
The Raiders did win a couple of close ones themselves. There was an extraordinary come from behind win over the Bulldogs in Round 17 at Belmore in the final minutes. The Raiders played poorly for much of the match, certainly not a performance from a side that at that stage had its season on the line.
Blake Austin had cost Canberra a win with his defensive lapses in Brisbane against the Broncos in the previous week. He had been dropped to the bench for the Bulldogs clash - and was probably fortunate to be a part of the top 17. He spent much of the match prowling up and down the sideline.
Austin came onto the field with a quarter of an hour remaining - but the Bulldogs went to a 14 point lead with just over seven minutes left on the clock. It looked like a certain defeat for Canberra. However, Austin was not finished. With 5:30 minutes left on the clock, he sliced through the Canterbury defensive line for an individual four pointer.
The Raiders then lost Brad Abbey, knocked out with less than four minutes remaining - and things again looked bleak. But then Siliva Havili stripped the ball from the Dogs one on one and Joe Tapine crossed with just over two minutes left. Finally, with less than 90 seconds left, Austin made a huge break down the left touchline - and Joey Leilua finished the job with the clock reading 79:05. Coach Ricky Stuart knew the Raiders had been handed a "get out jail free" card.
"The Bulldogs should have won, we were pathetic tonight," Stuart said after the match.
"It's not something I say a hell of a lot about this team because we have been on the receiving end of that for a couple of years now where we've probably been the better team and yet we've been run down or lost the close ones."
"We were trying to take short-cuts tonight. We didn't do anything to earn the right to play footy at them. We were poor and undisciplined."
"Blake Austin, he's copped a lot this week and he's had a tough week, and I feel really good for Blake right now because he won that for us. Just coming on and giving us that bit of extra spark and then BJ Leilua scoring that try in that right corner was good to get it."
There was also a one point win in the final minute over the Sea Eagles at Canberra Stadium. It was a little bit of payback for the two golden point losses suffered at the hands of the Sea Eagles in 2017. Not to mention the thrashing at Brookvale earlier that year. The Raiders trailed 20-14 before a great try to Jack Wighton saw the scores levelled. And with 20 seconds left, an Aidan Sezer field goal gave the Green Machine an exciting 21-20 victory.
However, there were many more close losses than wins.
Canberra scored enough points in 2017 to be playing finals football. Only the Rabbitohs produced more points and more tries than the Raiders. Canberra was the leading attacking team with one round remaining - and came very close to being the only team in NRL history to miss the finals whilst scoring most points. They finished the season as the only bottom eight side with a positive points differential. But they also finished five wins short of qualifying for the top eight.
Frustratingly, wins against the Roosters and Rabbitohs in the final stages of the season showed what might have been. Up until Round 23, Canberra had not beaten a top eight team - but then produced victories over minor premiership contenders in successive weeks.
The 14-12 win over the Sydney Roosters, the team that would win the 2018 Grand Final, was the very best of the year. The Raiders won despite the Sydney team scoring two tries to one. It was the gritty, grinding performance from Canberra that coach Ricky Stuart had long been seeking.
The Roosters had not won in Canberra since 2010, a losing streak of five matches, but the Sydney outfit was still a very clear favourite. The Raiders were missing Jack Wighton, Jarrod Croker and Aidan Sezer - with the Raiders forced to play Elliott Whitehead in the centres. Young forward, Emre Guler, was on debut. The victory was even more remarkable, given the already disrupted Raiders team had to deal with the loss of fullback Brad Abbey and Luke Bateman to injury during the match - with Blake Austin taking over at fullback, and Whitehead moving to five eighth.
The Raiders' sole try came in the first 10 minutes of the match. A great pass from Abbey put Jordan Rapana over in the corner. After that, their only points came from penalty goals. They kept the Roosters scoreless in the first half, playing tight, controlled football. The Raiders completed every set in the first half, and ended the match with just two incomplete sets. They led 12-0 at half time, and withstood a Roosters comeback in the second stanza.
Sam Williams broke a 12-12 deadlock with 10 minutes remaining, a long range penalty goal giving Canberra a 14-12 lead. When Siliva Havili knocked on, first tackle after the re-start, the Raiders fans were no doubt waiting for the fade in the final stages - the fade that had been seen repeatedly over the previous two years. In the 74th minute, Roosters back Joseph Manu threatened to score out wide. But Sia Soliola had other ideas, launching himself at Manu, and taking him over the sideline. It was that sort of desperation which ensured the fade did not come. The Raiders stood firm for a memorable victory.
"It was a good win, plenty of heart, still with players out and the way they rallied around and played for each other and played some really good football with 19 out of 19 sets in the first half," coach Ricky Stuart said later.
"I keep telling the boys if your completions are good then it makes your defence easier. We actually played well tonight. When you lose close games like that, I say to people 'this team's not far away' and a couple of people might believe me after that. This team isn't far away and sometimes you need a couple of things to go your way in a tight competition like this to help you."
"We've already got Jack [Wighton] out, Toots [Jarrod Croker] out, Aidan [Sezer] out and you take [out] Luke Bateman and our second fill-in fullback... it's a wonderful effort, playing for the jumper."
Unfortunately, it was all too late.
2018 Round 23 - Canberra Raiders 14 (Jordan Rapana try, Sam Williams 5 goals) defeated Sydney Roosters 12 (Boyd Cordner, Victor Radley tries, Latrell Mitchell 2 goals) at Canberra Stadium
Canberra Raiders: 1. Brad Abbey 2. Nick Cotric 3. Elliott Whitehead 4. Joey Leilua 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Blake Austin 7. Sam Williams 8. Dunamis Lui 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Shannon Boyd 11. Joseph Tapine 12. Sia Soliola 13. Josh Papalii
14. Emre Guler 15. Luke Bateman 16. Siliva Havili 17. Junior Paulo
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 10,594
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2019 - The greatest ever sporting moment in Canberra
12 MIN READ
2019. It was the best season for the Canberra Raiders in 25 years. The Raiders had not made the Grand Final for a quarter of a century - and the Raiders were only a refereeing blunder away from a fourth premiership. The Raiders fans were left bursting with pride after the Grand Final against the Sydney Roosters - a match in which the Raiders were the better team almost everywhere but on the final scoreboard.
The Raiders transformed their game that season.
In 2016, the Raiders finished in second position on the ladder and made a Preliminary Final. Along the way, they won 10 matches in a row. They were number one in the league for points scored, scoring nearly 100 points more than the second placed team. No Canberra team had ever scored more points in a season. It wasn't quite so pretty on the defensive side of the ledger. And the Raiders lost twice in the finals and failed to qualify for the Grand Final.
Two years of bitter disappointment followed. Those years underlined two things. First, scoring plenty of points was not enough. Canberra finished second for most points scored in 2018, but in 10th place on the ladder. The Raiders had to do something about their defence. Secondly, better game management was required to win in the clutch situations. 2017 and 2018 were marred by many close, last gasp losses - due to a lack of composure and controlled play-making.
Ricky Stuart's preparations for the 2019 season focussed on both - and he changed the way that the Raiders played.
The Raiders' attack became more conservative. They still ranked fourth in attack at season's end. But there was much more emphasis on completions and controlling possession. They were second only to the Storm for highest possession share and second for fewest handling errors. There was much more emphasis on game management. The Raiders kicked a whole lot more than in the past. Canberra became a team that forced line drop outs on the opposition and kicked field goals.
All that helped the defence. If you hold the ball more, you don't have to do so much tackling. If you're in the right part of the field, it takes the pressure off. Coach Ricky Stuart later revealed his team's goal at the start of the season was to finish as the No. 1 defensive team. They didn't make that, but they finished in the top three, behind the Storm and Roosters. They held three teams scoreless.
A change of tactics was not enough to lift the defensive record. Personnel changes were needed. Big players like Junior Paulo and Shannon Boyd moved on at the end of 2018, and John Bateman came into the team. A shift to a more mobile forward pack was critical. But so was Jack Wighton's move from fullback to five eighth, after Blake Austin's departure for England. Jack Wighton and Aidan Sezer were both strong defensive halves.
There were some incredible victories on the Raiders' road to the 2019 Grand Final. There were signs that things were brewing in Round 14 when the Raiders held the Tigers scoreless at Western Sydney Stadium, a 28-0 victory. On an emotion charged day in Round 24, the final home game of Cronulla captain Paul Gallen, the Raiders beat the Sharks in golden point. Extraordinarily, it was the result of three, yes three, Aidan Sezer field goals.
There is nothing more difficult than beating the Storm in Melbourne. The Raiders did it twice in 2019, in the space of five weeks.
The Raiders sat in third when they travelled to Bleak City in Round 22, for a clash with a team they had not beaten since 2016. Indeed, the Storm were the Raiders' No. 1 bogey team.
Things did not go to plan for the Green Machine. They played 20 minutes of the first half with 12 men, after Jack Wighton and Joe Tapine were both sent to the sin bin. The Storm scored twice when Wighton and Tapine were off the field, and led 18-0 after 30 minutes. The Storm had never lost after leading by that margin. Their worst collapse ever was in Sydney in 2004, when they surrendered a 16 point lead against the Rabbitohs. But the Raiders went on to score 22 unanswered points.
The Raiders' start was the worst possible. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad - in his breakout season - uncharacteristically lost the ball on the Raiders' first possession. Canberra then conceded four straight penalties, a sin binning, and a try in the first five minutes. Wighton's sin binning was the result of making an instinctive, reflex tackle, but he was obviously off side after the Storm had taken a quick tap. There was no doubt, he had to go for a spell.
Joe Tapine was sin binned 15 minutes into the game - for throwing a punch of sorts. The Storm's Nelson Asofa Solomona had been the instigator of the blow up in a scrum - which the Raiders were about to feed. But it was ill discipline from Tapine that the Raiders could not afford. Almost instantly the Raiders conceded another four pointer. Then in the 28th minute a long, misdirected pass from Josh Hodgson fell at the feet of Nick Cotric - and he was stripped of the ball by Suliasi Vunivalu, who scored under the posts. Everything possible had gone wrong.
The long process of the comeback then began, first with a try to Jarrod Croker with seven minutes to the break. It finished with a barn-storming run from Josh Papalii to score under the posts with just four minutes remaining in the match. The Raiders have mounted only three bigger comebacks - from 22 points down.
"There is no worries about belief. We know we are good enough," coach Ricky Stuart said after the game.
"They showed everything out there that a lot of our non-believers think we haven't got. We are a very good attacking team and very instinctive. We are unpredictable and sometimes that has got us in trouble. We shoot ourselves in the foot through our unpredictability, because we push the pass too much. It has probably helped us this year because we have tried to find a little bit more composure with our play, more so than always trying to score. Outside our defence that is probably one of our biggest improvements."
In Week 1 of the finals, the Raiders again had to meet the Storm in the southern capital. The Storm were the minor premiers. The Raiders had finished fourth. Canberra had never beaten Melbourne in a finals match. They had not won back-to-back against the Storm since 2012-13. They had only beaten the Storm twice in a season, once - back in 2000.
There was high drama before the game even kicked off. A fireworks display which greeted the players as they ran onto the field resulted in an eye problem for Canberra centre Joey Leilua. A piece of ash had lodged in his eye and he could not take the field. Bailey Simonsson had an unexpected start - and he produced an unexpected, early try for Canberra. Simonsson suffered an injury in scoring the try, but somehow managed to play on. That was not the end of the injury hurdles for the Green Machine. Nick Cotric copped a stray boot to the face only 20 minutes into the game. The blood flowed and he was ruled out of the game after a head injury assessment. The Raiders had to battle on, a man short.
The Raiders led, 6-2, at half time. Of course, the Storm wrestled their way back into the match in the second half - a try and penalty goals giving them a 10-6 lead. But with just a few minutes left on the clock, a Joe Tapine tackle forced a Storm error on their own line - and then Joey Leilua and John Bateman silenced the Melbourne crowd and their bloody cow bell. The conversion for Jarrod Croker from in front sealed it.
Canberra's defence in the first half was absolutely brutal. They battered the Storm, putting them off their rhythm. In the second half, the defence from the Raiders was simply desperate. The Storm had many opportunities in the second half, but Canberra did whatever it took to stop Melbourne from scoring. They held the Storm to just one try, and that was the result of a kick. The Raiders just out-Stormed the Storm.
The two point victory delivered a Preliminary Final for the Green Machine in the nation's capital - something that had never happened before. And that match delivered the greatest sporting moment that has ever taken place in Canberra.
When Josh Papalii crossed under the posts late in that game, it was a moment of pure joy. There were still some tense minutes remaining in the match. But then, finally, it was beyond any doubt. The Raiders had qualified for their sixth Grand Final, after a wait of 25 years. The scenes of pure emotion in the crowd at full time were unprecedented.
The Raiders' opponents that night were the South Sydney Rabbitohs. It was not a pretty game. Jarrod Croker scored early, but the Rabbitohs struck back through Dane Gagai, 10 minutes before the break.
A Jack Wighton try in the 45th minute delivered a 10-6 lead for the Green Machine. As the second half wore on, it repeatedly seemed that the Rabbitohs would crack the game open. With 10 minutes remaining, the Raiders still clinging to a four point lead, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was sent to the sin bin. He had chased down Adam Reynolds - who had intercepted and made a huge break down field. The ball came free in the tackle and Nicoll-Klokstad was ruled to have stripped it. Most Raiders fans feared the worst. The Rabbitohs had come from behind to win in Week 2 of the finals, after the sin binning of Manly's Jake Trbojevic. However, it proved to be a turning point for the Raiders. The 12 men lifted - and when Josh Papalii scored under the posts in the 74th minute, the Raiders had the result they craved in their grasp. The Rabbitohs would go on to score a late try, but it proved to be scant consolation. It was a 16-10 victory for the home team, a match they had simply refused to lose.
The Raiders' defence was extraordinary, but so too was the crowd. It was like a pulsating, surging beast. It erupted when Papalii scored and broke into spontaneous Viking Claps as the final minutes ticked down. After the siren sounded, long term mascot Tony Wood ripped off his Victor the Viking mask, in a show of emotion that was mirrored in the stands. Another Viking Clap, led by Sia Soliola, resounded in the aftermath.
There were more extraordinary scenes in the lead up to the Grand Final. Grand Final training was opened to members, the team and the Viking Horn were farewelled from the national capital, and the Grand Final squad was presented to an adoring crowd in Martin Place.
It culminated on 6 October, when the supporters in lime took over Homebush, took over Sydney. There was a Viking Clap no one could ever forget. And the Raiders showed all the characteristics which got them to the Grand Final. They were resilient, composed, united and tough. Their defence was outstanding. They were the better team for most of the match. However, fortune didn't smile on the Green Machine in some key moments. The Roosters took their opportunities in the controversial clash. The manner of the loss was the most heart-breaking thing. A refereeing blunder, with the scores level and 10 minutes remaining, was the turning point.
Both of the Roosters' tries in the Grand Final had an element of good fortune about them. The first, early in the match, followed a Raiders charge down of a Roosters' kick. The ball then came in contact with a Roosters trainer, who had little excuse to be there. The Roosters were awarded a scrum feed as the incident happened in the Raiders' own half. The advantage given to the "attacking" team instead of the team that had created an advantage. The call was technically correct, but the incident showed that the rule was a dud. Sam Verrills scored soon after.
The Roosters' second, decisive try, came after what some described as the "worst call in rugby league history". After a Canberra bomb to the Roosters' red zone, referee Ben Cummins called "six again". He ruled the Roosters touched the ball, before being recovered by the Raiders. Jack Wighton acted on the call... but Cummins' assistants told him to change the call. The Roosters had not touched the ball, they claimed, so it was still the last tackle. As Wighton said later:
"It's big, mate, it's massive. I saw it mate, it would have been on the toe or I would have thrown the ball if it was not that instruction. I heard the Roosters boys saying I had to give the ball over and I thought they were trying to trick me. I told my forward, Emre [Guler], to hold the ball because it was six again, then he threw it to me and I definitely wasn't passing it because I knew it was six again. It was a massive moment in the game."
The ball was turned over to the Roosters, and James Tedesco scored two plays later.
Both incidents led the NRL to later make changes to the rules. Too late for the Raiders. But there was also no denying the Raiders had their opportunities to win. With Cooper Cronk in the sin bin, in the second half, Joey Leilua simply had to pass to Jordan Rapana and the Raiders would have scored. Somehow, the Roosters held on during that 10 minute period. When it was all over, it was 14-8 in favour of the Sydney outfit. Jack Wighton won the Clive Churchill Medal, judged the best on the ground, in a losing team.
It wasn't a fairytale end. But it had been one hell of a ride. And Raiders fans will always have that night in Canberra, when Josh Papalii went in under the posts.
2019 Preliminary Final - Canberra Raiders 16 (Jarrod Croker, Jack Wighton, Josh Papalii tries, Jarrod Croker 2 goals) defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 10 (Dane Gagai, Campbell Graham tries, Adam Reynolds 1 goal) at Canberra Stadium.
Canberra Raiders: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Nick Cotric 3. Jarrod Croker (c) 4. Joseph Leilua 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Jack Wighton 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Josh Papalii 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Sia Soliola 11. John Bateman 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Joseph Tapine
14. Bailey Simonsson 15. Emre Guler 16. Corey Horsburgh 17. Dunamis Lui
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 26,567
12 MIN READ
2019. It was the best season for the Canberra Raiders in 25 years. The Raiders had not made the Grand Final for a quarter of a century - and the Raiders were only a refereeing blunder away from a fourth premiership. The Raiders fans were left bursting with pride after the Grand Final against the Sydney Roosters - a match in which the Raiders were the better team almost everywhere but on the final scoreboard.
The Raiders transformed their game that season.
In 2016, the Raiders finished in second position on the ladder and made a Preliminary Final. Along the way, they won 10 matches in a row. They were number one in the league for points scored, scoring nearly 100 points more than the second placed team. No Canberra team had ever scored more points in a season. It wasn't quite so pretty on the defensive side of the ledger. And the Raiders lost twice in the finals and failed to qualify for the Grand Final.
Two years of bitter disappointment followed. Those years underlined two things. First, scoring plenty of points was not enough. Canberra finished second for most points scored in 2018, but in 10th place on the ladder. The Raiders had to do something about their defence. Secondly, better game management was required to win in the clutch situations. 2017 and 2018 were marred by many close, last gasp losses - due to a lack of composure and controlled play-making.
Ricky Stuart's preparations for the 2019 season focussed on both - and he changed the way that the Raiders played.
The Raiders' attack became more conservative. They still ranked fourth in attack at season's end. But there was much more emphasis on completions and controlling possession. They were second only to the Storm for highest possession share and second for fewest handling errors. There was much more emphasis on game management. The Raiders kicked a whole lot more than in the past. Canberra became a team that forced line drop outs on the opposition and kicked field goals.
All that helped the defence. If you hold the ball more, you don't have to do so much tackling. If you're in the right part of the field, it takes the pressure off. Coach Ricky Stuart later revealed his team's goal at the start of the season was to finish as the No. 1 defensive team. They didn't make that, but they finished in the top three, behind the Storm and Roosters. They held three teams scoreless.
A change of tactics was not enough to lift the defensive record. Personnel changes were needed. Big players like Junior Paulo and Shannon Boyd moved on at the end of 2018, and John Bateman came into the team. A shift to a more mobile forward pack was critical. But so was Jack Wighton's move from fullback to five eighth, after Blake Austin's departure for England. Jack Wighton and Aidan Sezer were both strong defensive halves.
There were some incredible victories on the Raiders' road to the 2019 Grand Final. There were signs that things were brewing in Round 14 when the Raiders held the Tigers scoreless at Western Sydney Stadium, a 28-0 victory. On an emotion charged day in Round 24, the final home game of Cronulla captain Paul Gallen, the Raiders beat the Sharks in golden point. Extraordinarily, it was the result of three, yes three, Aidan Sezer field goals.
There is nothing more difficult than beating the Storm in Melbourne. The Raiders did it twice in 2019, in the space of five weeks.
The Raiders sat in third when they travelled to Bleak City in Round 22, for a clash with a team they had not beaten since 2016. Indeed, the Storm were the Raiders' No. 1 bogey team.
Things did not go to plan for the Green Machine. They played 20 minutes of the first half with 12 men, after Jack Wighton and Joe Tapine were both sent to the sin bin. The Storm scored twice when Wighton and Tapine were off the field, and led 18-0 after 30 minutes. The Storm had never lost after leading by that margin. Their worst collapse ever was in Sydney in 2004, when they surrendered a 16 point lead against the Rabbitohs. But the Raiders went on to score 22 unanswered points.
The Raiders' start was the worst possible. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad - in his breakout season - uncharacteristically lost the ball on the Raiders' first possession. Canberra then conceded four straight penalties, a sin binning, and a try in the first five minutes. Wighton's sin binning was the result of making an instinctive, reflex tackle, but he was obviously off side after the Storm had taken a quick tap. There was no doubt, he had to go for a spell.
Joe Tapine was sin binned 15 minutes into the game - for throwing a punch of sorts. The Storm's Nelson Asofa Solomona had been the instigator of the blow up in a scrum - which the Raiders were about to feed. But it was ill discipline from Tapine that the Raiders could not afford. Almost instantly the Raiders conceded another four pointer. Then in the 28th minute a long, misdirected pass from Josh Hodgson fell at the feet of Nick Cotric - and he was stripped of the ball by Suliasi Vunivalu, who scored under the posts. Everything possible had gone wrong.
The long process of the comeback then began, first with a try to Jarrod Croker with seven minutes to the break. It finished with a barn-storming run from Josh Papalii to score under the posts with just four minutes remaining in the match. The Raiders have mounted only three bigger comebacks - from 22 points down.
"There is no worries about belief. We know we are good enough," coach Ricky Stuart said after the game.
"They showed everything out there that a lot of our non-believers think we haven't got. We are a very good attacking team and very instinctive. We are unpredictable and sometimes that has got us in trouble. We shoot ourselves in the foot through our unpredictability, because we push the pass too much. It has probably helped us this year because we have tried to find a little bit more composure with our play, more so than always trying to score. Outside our defence that is probably one of our biggest improvements."
In Week 1 of the finals, the Raiders again had to meet the Storm in the southern capital. The Storm were the minor premiers. The Raiders had finished fourth. Canberra had never beaten Melbourne in a finals match. They had not won back-to-back against the Storm since 2012-13. They had only beaten the Storm twice in a season, once - back in 2000.
There was high drama before the game even kicked off. A fireworks display which greeted the players as they ran onto the field resulted in an eye problem for Canberra centre Joey Leilua. A piece of ash had lodged in his eye and he could not take the field. Bailey Simonsson had an unexpected start - and he produced an unexpected, early try for Canberra. Simonsson suffered an injury in scoring the try, but somehow managed to play on. That was not the end of the injury hurdles for the Green Machine. Nick Cotric copped a stray boot to the face only 20 minutes into the game. The blood flowed and he was ruled out of the game after a head injury assessment. The Raiders had to battle on, a man short.
The Raiders led, 6-2, at half time. Of course, the Storm wrestled their way back into the match in the second half - a try and penalty goals giving them a 10-6 lead. But with just a few minutes left on the clock, a Joe Tapine tackle forced a Storm error on their own line - and then Joey Leilua and John Bateman silenced the Melbourne crowd and their bloody cow bell. The conversion for Jarrod Croker from in front sealed it.
Canberra's defence in the first half was absolutely brutal. They battered the Storm, putting them off their rhythm. In the second half, the defence from the Raiders was simply desperate. The Storm had many opportunities in the second half, but Canberra did whatever it took to stop Melbourne from scoring. They held the Storm to just one try, and that was the result of a kick. The Raiders just out-Stormed the Storm.
The two point victory delivered a Preliminary Final for the Green Machine in the nation's capital - something that had never happened before. And that match delivered the greatest sporting moment that has ever taken place in Canberra.
When Josh Papalii crossed under the posts late in that game, it was a moment of pure joy. There were still some tense minutes remaining in the match. But then, finally, it was beyond any doubt. The Raiders had qualified for their sixth Grand Final, after a wait of 25 years. The scenes of pure emotion in the crowd at full time were unprecedented.
The Raiders' opponents that night were the South Sydney Rabbitohs. It was not a pretty game. Jarrod Croker scored early, but the Rabbitohs struck back through Dane Gagai, 10 minutes before the break.
A Jack Wighton try in the 45th minute delivered a 10-6 lead for the Green Machine. As the second half wore on, it repeatedly seemed that the Rabbitohs would crack the game open. With 10 minutes remaining, the Raiders still clinging to a four point lead, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was sent to the sin bin. He had chased down Adam Reynolds - who had intercepted and made a huge break down field. The ball came free in the tackle and Nicoll-Klokstad was ruled to have stripped it. Most Raiders fans feared the worst. The Rabbitohs had come from behind to win in Week 2 of the finals, after the sin binning of Manly's Jake Trbojevic. However, it proved to be a turning point for the Raiders. The 12 men lifted - and when Josh Papalii scored under the posts in the 74th minute, the Raiders had the result they craved in their grasp. The Rabbitohs would go on to score a late try, but it proved to be scant consolation. It was a 16-10 victory for the home team, a match they had simply refused to lose.
The Raiders' defence was extraordinary, but so too was the crowd. It was like a pulsating, surging beast. It erupted when Papalii scored and broke into spontaneous Viking Claps as the final minutes ticked down. After the siren sounded, long term mascot Tony Wood ripped off his Victor the Viking mask, in a show of emotion that was mirrored in the stands. Another Viking Clap, led by Sia Soliola, resounded in the aftermath.
There were more extraordinary scenes in the lead up to the Grand Final. Grand Final training was opened to members, the team and the Viking Horn were farewelled from the national capital, and the Grand Final squad was presented to an adoring crowd in Martin Place.
It culminated on 6 October, when the supporters in lime took over Homebush, took over Sydney. There was a Viking Clap no one could ever forget. And the Raiders showed all the characteristics which got them to the Grand Final. They were resilient, composed, united and tough. Their defence was outstanding. They were the better team for most of the match. However, fortune didn't smile on the Green Machine in some key moments. The Roosters took their opportunities in the controversial clash. The manner of the loss was the most heart-breaking thing. A refereeing blunder, with the scores level and 10 minutes remaining, was the turning point.
Both of the Roosters' tries in the Grand Final had an element of good fortune about them. The first, early in the match, followed a Raiders charge down of a Roosters' kick. The ball then came in contact with a Roosters trainer, who had little excuse to be there. The Roosters were awarded a scrum feed as the incident happened in the Raiders' own half. The advantage given to the "attacking" team instead of the team that had created an advantage. The call was technically correct, but the incident showed that the rule was a dud. Sam Verrills scored soon after.
The Roosters' second, decisive try, came after what some described as the "worst call in rugby league history". After a Canberra bomb to the Roosters' red zone, referee Ben Cummins called "six again". He ruled the Roosters touched the ball, before being recovered by the Raiders. Jack Wighton acted on the call... but Cummins' assistants told him to change the call. The Roosters had not touched the ball, they claimed, so it was still the last tackle. As Wighton said later:
"It's big, mate, it's massive. I saw it mate, it would have been on the toe or I would have thrown the ball if it was not that instruction. I heard the Roosters boys saying I had to give the ball over and I thought they were trying to trick me. I told my forward, Emre [Guler], to hold the ball because it was six again, then he threw it to me and I definitely wasn't passing it because I knew it was six again. It was a massive moment in the game."
The ball was turned over to the Roosters, and James Tedesco scored two plays later.
Both incidents led the NRL to later make changes to the rules. Too late for the Raiders. But there was also no denying the Raiders had their opportunities to win. With Cooper Cronk in the sin bin, in the second half, Joey Leilua simply had to pass to Jordan Rapana and the Raiders would have scored. Somehow, the Roosters held on during that 10 minute period. When it was all over, it was 14-8 in favour of the Sydney outfit. Jack Wighton won the Clive Churchill Medal, judged the best on the ground, in a losing team.
It wasn't a fairytale end. But it had been one hell of a ride. And Raiders fans will always have that night in Canberra, when Josh Papalii went in under the posts.
2019 Preliminary Final - Canberra Raiders 16 (Jarrod Croker, Jack Wighton, Josh Papalii tries, Jarrod Croker 2 goals) defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 10 (Dane Gagai, Campbell Graham tries, Adam Reynolds 1 goal) at Canberra Stadium.
Canberra Raiders: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Nick Cotric 3. Jarrod Croker (c) 4. Joseph Leilua 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Jack Wighton 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Josh Papalii 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Sia Soliola 11. John Bateman 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Joseph Tapine
14. Bailey Simonsson 15. Emre Guler 16. Corey Horsburgh 17. Dunamis Lui
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 26,567
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2020 - A season like no other
12 MIN READ
2020 was a year that arrived with high hopes for Canberra Raiders fans. The Raiders were coming off their best season in 25 years and a Grand Final appearance. But the 2020 season turned out to be one like no other in the 113 year history of the game in Australia.
The year started with the country engulfed by bush fire and then engulfed in a pandemic. On the day the season began, the very future of the game was put into doubt. After Round 2, the NRL was suspended due to coronavirus. Somehow, the NRL, led by ARLC chairman Peter V'landys, stared down a financial crisis and put a broken game back together. A shortened season resumed after two months, in front of no crowds.
Every club was faced with enormous challenges in 2020. But the Raiders faced more than most.
The bush fires meant it was unsafe to continue preseason training in Canberra, with the club forced to relocate temporarily to the Sunshine Coast so as to find some clear air.
After coronavirus struck, and the season resumed, the Raiders were forced to play their home games at Campbelltown Stadium. We were told it was due to coronavirus protocols, but it turned out it was for no good reason, other than the convenience of the broadcasters. At that point, the Raiders were the only team forced to travel more than an hour to all their matches. It was often more than three hours in a bus, each way, on game day.
The Raiders were able to return to Canberra Stadium for their Round 8 home clash with the Dragons - a game played in front of 1,420 fans, due to pandemic restrictions. But they still ended the season having spent over 50 hours in transit. Close to double any other team. In contrast, some clubs in Sydney barely left their local neighbourhood.
Most clubs were also struck by horrible injury tolls. No one was sure whether it was due to the interruption to the players' physical conditioning, or whether it was due to a what turned out to be a faster paced game. But the Raiders were one of the clubs most affected by injury.
The forward pack, in particular, was decimated at one stage. By the time the Grand Final re-match came around in Round 10, the Raiders were missing six of their Grand Final team due to long term injury. Their main play maker, Josh Hodgson, was out for the season with a ruptured ACL. Star forward John Bateman had not played a game all year. Three of the top 17 middle forwards, Sia Soliola, Corey Horsburgh and Emre Guler, were on the sidelines with serious injuries. It turned out that Horsburgh and Guler were lost for the season.
Despite all that, the Raiders finished in fifth place and played in a Preliminary Final, their third in the space of five years. They were in there fighting for a top four finish right up until the final round of the regular season. That consistency of performance from Canberra had not been seen in the era of the NRL. It said a lot about the players who stepped up to fill the breach. It said a lot about the courage, grit and determination of players and coaches.
In a season full of wildcards, there was one that the Raiders struggled to overcome. That was the sudden decision of the NRL to introduce two key changes to the way the game is officiated from Round 3. It appeared to be driven by a cabal of Peter V'landys, Graham Annesley and one of the host broadcasters. There was virtually no consultation. First, the NRL reverted to a single referee. Second, a new "six again" call was introduced for ruck infringements, in place of full penalties. It did what it was intended to: to speed the game up and inject additional fatigue. It produced a lot more points and bigger margins. It also led to more inconsistency in officiating and more, almost random, swings in momentum.
The rule changes no doubt upset some of the plans of coach Ricky Stuart. Stuart had changed the style of his team in 2019, to focus on defence first. It was a more conservative style, more in the vein of the Storm, and it did come at the cost of the team's attack. However, it was remarkably successful. It was a style that was less suited to the new rules and it required adjustments on the run to both the attack and defence.
There were some satisfying victories for the Green Machine. The Raiders headed to Melbourne for the re-start of the season in Round 3, producing a 22-6 victory over the ultimate premiers. The Storm were not at their best. But the Raiders' defence also frustrated Melbourne into error. The Raiders posted their third win in a row against Melbourne for the first time - with all three games played in Bleak City.
The Round 10 win over the Sydney Roosters will go down in club history as one of the most courageous. The Roosters were aiming for their 11th straight win at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Raiders' horrible injury toll left them with a squad of just 18 fit players who had any NRL experience. The Raiders were on a five day turnaround. It was, simply, backs to the wall. But fuelled by spirit, heart and pride in the famous green jersey, the Raiders produced a gritty victory against the premiership favourites.
The game started with the Roosters piling three or four players into every tackle. Their big forward pack aimed to dominate Canberra physically. Their kicking game was nigh on perfect, with young half Kyle Flanagan ensuring that the Raiders started every set on their own goal line. The Raiders struggled to make any ground with the ball in hand. They did well to score first, in just the 12th minute, with Jack Wighton breaking tackles to set up a Dunamis Lui try. But after 30 minutes, the Roosters had a 12-6 lead.
Three minutes into the second half the Raiders levelled, after Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad kicked in behind the perpetually off side Roosters' defence, allowing Jarrod Croker to chase and score.
A real turning point came after 50 minutes, when the Roosters "poked the bear". Angus Crichton lashed out in a ruck, elbowing Josh Papalii in the nose - but it was the bloodied Papalii who was penalised for retaliating. He quietly just got on with it, leading the young pack forward up the middle. It laid the platform for a try to George Williams, who stepped his way through to score near the posts and to give the Raiders the lead again in the 55th minute.
The Roosters struck back with a Matt Ikuvalu try with 20 minutes remaining, targetting a makeshift right side defence. But then the "bear" unleashed, running 20 metres down the middle of the park to give the Raiders a 24-20 advantage. It was a lead that the Raiders bravely held onto for the final 15 minutes.
Coach Ricky Stuart was understandably emotional after the match.
"There weren't many people giving us a chance tonight, outside the people in the inner part of the club," he said.
"The injuries and the five day turnaround. I said last week I don't care what other people think. Because they don't know what's under the jumper. They don't know what we're built on. Proud. I'm very proud of the players. It's just another win though, we've got to keep that heart and style of play and just move into the next match now."
Stuart rested the majority of his stars from the final round of the regular season, a clash with the Sharks at Kogarah. The team he selected had an average age of 23, with an average of 49 NRL games experience. Take out the 200 odd appearances of the 34 year old Sia Soliola and those numbers would have been even lower. There were three debutants in the team. There were four other rookies. There were five players all up who hadn't played an NRL game that season. Yet the Rookie Raiders started on fire. They were full of energy, enthusiasm and attacking brilliance. Forwards like Dunamis Lui and Sia Soliola helped lay the platform, and the backs soon took over. Captained by Sam Williams for the first time, the Raiders scored the first try of the match - something they had not done in two months - and went on to score a total of seven.
The Raiders again faced the Sharks in Week 1 of the finals, this time at Canberra Stadium. The Canberra Raiders had the aim of starting well, but that is not what happened. It did not matter in the end. In the second half, the Raiders scored four tries and did not concede a point until the final two minutes, after the game was wrapped up. It was not the best performance, but the Raiders ran out 32-20 victors.
"Only good teams can do that, come back in the second half," coach Ricky Stuart said after the game.
"I think we made over 200 and something tackles to about 111 in the first half, and they had 70 per cent of the footy. It's not the way you want to start a game, but sometimes games start unpredictably. They played really well in the first half. I was quite amazed it was only 14-10 at half time, because the amount of possession was a wonderful advantage for them."
"I'm very confident of that squad. They're a tough group. They are resilient. We've got a few values and standards that we privately want to execute, and these boys do. What they've got through this year in regards to the travel and the scheduling and the injuries we've had, I was so proud of them coming fifth in this competition. A lot of boys have taken on more responsibility and made men of themselves."
The best win of the year came in Week 2 of the finals, another re-match of the 2019 Grand Final. Nothing ever avenges a loss in a Grand Final. But when the Raiders defeated the Sydney Roosters at the Sydney Cricket Ground - denying them the opportunity for a "threepeat" - there was a little piece of revenge. Coach Ricky Stuart wisely said that "revenge" was never a motivation for the team. Last year was last year he said. But for the fans, that little bit of revenge - against a team that operates under a salary cap sombrero, not a salary cap - sure felt good.
Stuart challenged his forward pack in the lead up. He told them that right from the start of rugby league, it has been the responsibility of the forwards to lay the platform. That big matches are all about the big boys. And they responded. Josh Papalii and Joe Tapine were the starting prop pairing, and they were immense.
The Raiders led 16-0 after 22 minutes, having scored three tries. Papalii struck early, inside the first five minutes. The try in the 17th minute for English recruit, George Williams was the result of an incision right up the middle. A great offload from Josh Papalii was followed by a break from Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad. Rapana and Williams were there backing up. Five minutes later, Joe Tapine scored a try for the ages, shrugging off Roosters defenders with apparent ease. Ricky Stuart later said it was the best try by a forward that he'd ever seen.
The Raiders' attack was breathtaking at times, against the much vaunted Roosters' defence. The Raiders were denied three times, correctly, by the video referee. One really deserved a try, with just under 10 minutes to the break. Jordan Rapana made a break down the right edge and kicked ahead. Tom Starling somehow recovered just inside the touchline, and offloaded to Rapana, who crossed the white stripe. Sadly, the replays showed he had not stepped back into the field of play before taking the offload. He'd taken it having leapt from just outside the touch line.
The Roosters followed with a miracle try, with Josh Morris making a break and kicking ahead for James Tedesco, just before half time. The Roosters were closer at the break than they deserved to be, trailing by 10. The Roosters edged closer again, when Joseph Manu was awarded a try with around 20 minutes remaining. The video referee repeatedly scrutinised it, checking for a double movement - but it was probably correctly awarded.
The Raiders fans felt safer when Jack Wighton crossed in the 68th minute - a George Williams kick wrong footing Tedesco. Even then, the Roosters refused to give up, with Tedesco scoring in the final five minutes. But it was not enough. The Raiders deservedly held on.
"The speed of the game was right up there to one of the fastest games we've played, definitely this year," coach Ricky Stuart said post-match.
"It was just typical finals footy. It was fast and a lot of moments there where it was in the balance and it came down to individuals making a desperate play. It always comes down to moments of desperation and brilliance. It was always going to be a very hard game, and that's what it was."
"I'm proud of our players, how they've handled this season. Nobody knows from outside our inner sanctum at the club, how hard it was for us at the start of the season. So where we've got today nobody gave us a chance to, outside our own. I remember saying right in this room - the last game we beat the Roosters here - nobody has given us an opportunity to show what's underneath the jumper. They're not just a team of footballers these guys, they're more than a team. Win or lose next week we have had an unbelievable season and we are in there punching again."
Sadly, by the time the Preliminary Final against the Storm came around, the Raiders looked spent. The injury and travel had finally taken their toll. The match against the Melbourne Storm was played at Lang Park, with the Raiders forced to travel to Brisbane and back on the day. The Storm had to travel down the road from their temporary base of the Sunshine Coast. After 25 minutes, Melbourne had the game in their complete control. The fact that the Raiders steadied and "won" the final 55 minutes highlighted the character of the team. But it ended in a 40-16 defeat.
2020 Finals Week 2 - Canberra Raiders 22 (Josh Papalii, Joseph Tapine, Jack Wighton and George Williams tries, Jarrod Croker 3 goals) defeated Sydney Roosters 18 (James Tedesco, Joseph Manu tries, Kyle Flanagan 3 goals) at Sydney Cricket Ground.
Canberra Raiders: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Semi Valemei 3. Jarrod Croker (c) 4. Jordan Rapana 5. Nick Cotric 6. Jack Wighton 7. George Williams 8. Josh Papalii 14. Siliva Havili 16. Hudson Young 11. John Bateman 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Joseph Tapine
9. Tom Starling 10. Sia Soliola 15. Dunamis Lui 17. Corey Harawira-Naera
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 18,110
12 MIN READ
2020 was a year that arrived with high hopes for Canberra Raiders fans. The Raiders were coming off their best season in 25 years and a Grand Final appearance. But the 2020 season turned out to be one like no other in the 113 year history of the game in Australia.
The year started with the country engulfed by bush fire and then engulfed in a pandemic. On the day the season began, the very future of the game was put into doubt. After Round 2, the NRL was suspended due to coronavirus. Somehow, the NRL, led by ARLC chairman Peter V'landys, stared down a financial crisis and put a broken game back together. A shortened season resumed after two months, in front of no crowds.
Every club was faced with enormous challenges in 2020. But the Raiders faced more than most.
The bush fires meant it was unsafe to continue preseason training in Canberra, with the club forced to relocate temporarily to the Sunshine Coast so as to find some clear air.
After coronavirus struck, and the season resumed, the Raiders were forced to play their home games at Campbelltown Stadium. We were told it was due to coronavirus protocols, but it turned out it was for no good reason, other than the convenience of the broadcasters. At that point, the Raiders were the only team forced to travel more than an hour to all their matches. It was often more than three hours in a bus, each way, on game day.
The Raiders were able to return to Canberra Stadium for their Round 8 home clash with the Dragons - a game played in front of 1,420 fans, due to pandemic restrictions. But they still ended the season having spent over 50 hours in transit. Close to double any other team. In contrast, some clubs in Sydney barely left their local neighbourhood.
Most clubs were also struck by horrible injury tolls. No one was sure whether it was due to the interruption to the players' physical conditioning, or whether it was due to a what turned out to be a faster paced game. But the Raiders were one of the clubs most affected by injury.
The forward pack, in particular, was decimated at one stage. By the time the Grand Final re-match came around in Round 10, the Raiders were missing six of their Grand Final team due to long term injury. Their main play maker, Josh Hodgson, was out for the season with a ruptured ACL. Star forward John Bateman had not played a game all year. Three of the top 17 middle forwards, Sia Soliola, Corey Horsburgh and Emre Guler, were on the sidelines with serious injuries. It turned out that Horsburgh and Guler were lost for the season.
Despite all that, the Raiders finished in fifth place and played in a Preliminary Final, their third in the space of five years. They were in there fighting for a top four finish right up until the final round of the regular season. That consistency of performance from Canberra had not been seen in the era of the NRL. It said a lot about the players who stepped up to fill the breach. It said a lot about the courage, grit and determination of players and coaches.
In a season full of wildcards, there was one that the Raiders struggled to overcome. That was the sudden decision of the NRL to introduce two key changes to the way the game is officiated from Round 3. It appeared to be driven by a cabal of Peter V'landys, Graham Annesley and one of the host broadcasters. There was virtually no consultation. First, the NRL reverted to a single referee. Second, a new "six again" call was introduced for ruck infringements, in place of full penalties. It did what it was intended to: to speed the game up and inject additional fatigue. It produced a lot more points and bigger margins. It also led to more inconsistency in officiating and more, almost random, swings in momentum.
The rule changes no doubt upset some of the plans of coach Ricky Stuart. Stuart had changed the style of his team in 2019, to focus on defence first. It was a more conservative style, more in the vein of the Storm, and it did come at the cost of the team's attack. However, it was remarkably successful. It was a style that was less suited to the new rules and it required adjustments on the run to both the attack and defence.
There were some satisfying victories for the Green Machine. The Raiders headed to Melbourne for the re-start of the season in Round 3, producing a 22-6 victory over the ultimate premiers. The Storm were not at their best. But the Raiders' defence also frustrated Melbourne into error. The Raiders posted their third win in a row against Melbourne for the first time - with all three games played in Bleak City.
The Round 10 win over the Sydney Roosters will go down in club history as one of the most courageous. The Roosters were aiming for their 11th straight win at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Raiders' horrible injury toll left them with a squad of just 18 fit players who had any NRL experience. The Raiders were on a five day turnaround. It was, simply, backs to the wall. But fuelled by spirit, heart and pride in the famous green jersey, the Raiders produced a gritty victory against the premiership favourites.
The game started with the Roosters piling three or four players into every tackle. Their big forward pack aimed to dominate Canberra physically. Their kicking game was nigh on perfect, with young half Kyle Flanagan ensuring that the Raiders started every set on their own goal line. The Raiders struggled to make any ground with the ball in hand. They did well to score first, in just the 12th minute, with Jack Wighton breaking tackles to set up a Dunamis Lui try. But after 30 minutes, the Roosters had a 12-6 lead.
Three minutes into the second half the Raiders levelled, after Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad kicked in behind the perpetually off side Roosters' defence, allowing Jarrod Croker to chase and score.
A real turning point came after 50 minutes, when the Roosters "poked the bear". Angus Crichton lashed out in a ruck, elbowing Josh Papalii in the nose - but it was the bloodied Papalii who was penalised for retaliating. He quietly just got on with it, leading the young pack forward up the middle. It laid the platform for a try to George Williams, who stepped his way through to score near the posts and to give the Raiders the lead again in the 55th minute.
The Roosters struck back with a Matt Ikuvalu try with 20 minutes remaining, targetting a makeshift right side defence. But then the "bear" unleashed, running 20 metres down the middle of the park to give the Raiders a 24-20 advantage. It was a lead that the Raiders bravely held onto for the final 15 minutes.
Coach Ricky Stuart was understandably emotional after the match.
"There weren't many people giving us a chance tonight, outside the people in the inner part of the club," he said.
"The injuries and the five day turnaround. I said last week I don't care what other people think. Because they don't know what's under the jumper. They don't know what we're built on. Proud. I'm very proud of the players. It's just another win though, we've got to keep that heart and style of play and just move into the next match now."
Stuart rested the majority of his stars from the final round of the regular season, a clash with the Sharks at Kogarah. The team he selected had an average age of 23, with an average of 49 NRL games experience. Take out the 200 odd appearances of the 34 year old Sia Soliola and those numbers would have been even lower. There were three debutants in the team. There were four other rookies. There were five players all up who hadn't played an NRL game that season. Yet the Rookie Raiders started on fire. They were full of energy, enthusiasm and attacking brilliance. Forwards like Dunamis Lui and Sia Soliola helped lay the platform, and the backs soon took over. Captained by Sam Williams for the first time, the Raiders scored the first try of the match - something they had not done in two months - and went on to score a total of seven.
The Raiders again faced the Sharks in Week 1 of the finals, this time at Canberra Stadium. The Canberra Raiders had the aim of starting well, but that is not what happened. It did not matter in the end. In the second half, the Raiders scored four tries and did not concede a point until the final two minutes, after the game was wrapped up. It was not the best performance, but the Raiders ran out 32-20 victors.
"Only good teams can do that, come back in the second half," coach Ricky Stuart said after the game.
"I think we made over 200 and something tackles to about 111 in the first half, and they had 70 per cent of the footy. It's not the way you want to start a game, but sometimes games start unpredictably. They played really well in the first half. I was quite amazed it was only 14-10 at half time, because the amount of possession was a wonderful advantage for them."
"I'm very confident of that squad. They're a tough group. They are resilient. We've got a few values and standards that we privately want to execute, and these boys do. What they've got through this year in regards to the travel and the scheduling and the injuries we've had, I was so proud of them coming fifth in this competition. A lot of boys have taken on more responsibility and made men of themselves."
The best win of the year came in Week 2 of the finals, another re-match of the 2019 Grand Final. Nothing ever avenges a loss in a Grand Final. But when the Raiders defeated the Sydney Roosters at the Sydney Cricket Ground - denying them the opportunity for a "threepeat" - there was a little piece of revenge. Coach Ricky Stuart wisely said that "revenge" was never a motivation for the team. Last year was last year he said. But for the fans, that little bit of revenge - against a team that operates under a salary cap sombrero, not a salary cap - sure felt good.
Stuart challenged his forward pack in the lead up. He told them that right from the start of rugby league, it has been the responsibility of the forwards to lay the platform. That big matches are all about the big boys. And they responded. Josh Papalii and Joe Tapine were the starting prop pairing, and they were immense.
The Raiders led 16-0 after 22 minutes, having scored three tries. Papalii struck early, inside the first five minutes. The try in the 17th minute for English recruit, George Williams was the result of an incision right up the middle. A great offload from Josh Papalii was followed by a break from Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad. Rapana and Williams were there backing up. Five minutes later, Joe Tapine scored a try for the ages, shrugging off Roosters defenders with apparent ease. Ricky Stuart later said it was the best try by a forward that he'd ever seen.
The Raiders' attack was breathtaking at times, against the much vaunted Roosters' defence. The Raiders were denied three times, correctly, by the video referee. One really deserved a try, with just under 10 minutes to the break. Jordan Rapana made a break down the right edge and kicked ahead. Tom Starling somehow recovered just inside the touchline, and offloaded to Rapana, who crossed the white stripe. Sadly, the replays showed he had not stepped back into the field of play before taking the offload. He'd taken it having leapt from just outside the touch line.
The Roosters followed with a miracle try, with Josh Morris making a break and kicking ahead for James Tedesco, just before half time. The Roosters were closer at the break than they deserved to be, trailing by 10. The Roosters edged closer again, when Joseph Manu was awarded a try with around 20 minutes remaining. The video referee repeatedly scrutinised it, checking for a double movement - but it was probably correctly awarded.
The Raiders fans felt safer when Jack Wighton crossed in the 68th minute - a George Williams kick wrong footing Tedesco. Even then, the Roosters refused to give up, with Tedesco scoring in the final five minutes. But it was not enough. The Raiders deservedly held on.
"The speed of the game was right up there to one of the fastest games we've played, definitely this year," coach Ricky Stuart said post-match.
"It was just typical finals footy. It was fast and a lot of moments there where it was in the balance and it came down to individuals making a desperate play. It always comes down to moments of desperation and brilliance. It was always going to be a very hard game, and that's what it was."
"I'm proud of our players, how they've handled this season. Nobody knows from outside our inner sanctum at the club, how hard it was for us at the start of the season. So where we've got today nobody gave us a chance to, outside our own. I remember saying right in this room - the last game we beat the Roosters here - nobody has given us an opportunity to show what's underneath the jumper. They're not just a team of footballers these guys, they're more than a team. Win or lose next week we have had an unbelievable season and we are in there punching again."
Sadly, by the time the Preliminary Final against the Storm came around, the Raiders looked spent. The injury and travel had finally taken their toll. The match against the Melbourne Storm was played at Lang Park, with the Raiders forced to travel to Brisbane and back on the day. The Storm had to travel down the road from their temporary base of the Sunshine Coast. After 25 minutes, Melbourne had the game in their complete control. The fact that the Raiders steadied and "won" the final 55 minutes highlighted the character of the team. But it ended in a 40-16 defeat.
2020 Finals Week 2 - Canberra Raiders 22 (Josh Papalii, Joseph Tapine, Jack Wighton and George Williams tries, Jarrod Croker 3 goals) defeated Sydney Roosters 18 (James Tedesco, Joseph Manu tries, Kyle Flanagan 3 goals) at Sydney Cricket Ground.
Canberra Raiders: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Semi Valemei 3. Jarrod Croker (c) 4. Jordan Rapana 5. Nick Cotric 6. Jack Wighton 7. George Williams 8. Josh Papalii 14. Siliva Havili 16. Hudson Young 11. John Bateman 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Joseph Tapine
9. Tom Starling 10. Sia Soliola 15. Dunamis Lui 17. Corey Harawira-Naera
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 18,110
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2021 - Thud
9 MIN READ
Thud. 2021 was a year when things went wrong at the Canberra Raiders. Terribly wrong. The Green Machine was expected by many to finish in the top four, and to again challenge for a title. At the very least, most expected the Raiders would be a top eight side and playing finals football. Instead, Canberra finished in 10th, and with a whimper in the final round of the season.
There was no doubt a complex combination of reasons for the team's fall.
One major issue was disruption in the spine. Fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad suffered a serious neck injury in the Round 5 clash with the Panthers. He required surgery and spent months on the sidelines before an unexpected, late season return. The Raiders ended up trying four other players in the role - with Jordan Rapana the most successful by far. In early May, news broke that English halfback George Williams was homesick. By June, after a very messy couple of months, he'd been released, with immediate effect.
It is tough winning games without your first choice fullback and halfback. But the 2020 Dally M Player of the Year, Jack Wighton, was also seriously out of form. Hooker Josh Hodgson struggled in his comeback from a second ACL injury. He stood himself down from his role as co-captain when he was set to be dropped to the bench - following the Round 6 loss to the Eels. It appears that was because he felt he could not be a co-captain, starting on the bench. Eventually, coach Stuart found a good formula at hooker, with Hodgson starting and Tom Starling being injected after 25 minutes. Sadly, Starling suffered a season ending, fractured jaw in the Round 22 loss to the Storm.
Another major problem was the "second half fades". At the mid-point of the season, the Raiders had outscored their opposition by 51 points in the first half of their matches, holding three teams scoreless. In the second half of those matches, the Raiders conceded 205 points, while scoring just 64. They were held scoreless after the break five times. The Raiders won just three times between Round 3 and 16. Two of those wins were against teams towards the very bottom of the ladder - the Bulldogs and Broncos. By season's end, the Raiders had lost seven games after leading by double digits.
In the first half of the year, it looked like the team was repeatedly "gassed" as games wore on - and fitness levels seemed to be the issue. The early season performances of some of the forwards, in particular, was affected. Josh Papalii and Joe Tapine - who were both in career best form in the second half of 2020 - were briefly benched or rested. Some of the young middle forwards like Corey Horsburgh and Emre Guler showed the signs of not having full pre-seasons. The top teams in the competition looked to be miles ahead in the fitness stakes. Reportedly, they were aggressive in adjusting their pre-season regimens to "Vlandysball" - to more new rules designed to speed the pace of the game.
Along with the early to mid season losses, and players struggling for form, there clearly was trouble in the camp. As mentioned, Josh Hodgson stood down as co-captain and George Williams was released. Curtis Scott was also stood down and eventually sacked, after he was involved in a nightclub incident. There was a lot of "noise" coming out of Raiders HQ in the media, including from players. Comments from partners on social media. Losing is a disease. It impacts confidence, it creates a pressure cooker. And at one point, the club culture was looking fragile. It took a while for the apparent discontent to settle, and for the ship to get back on course.
Apart from fitness, the Raiders were left behind by Vlandysball in other ways. The grinding, defensive game plan that was so successful in 2019 no longer worked in 2021. The tactics were slow to change. Interchanges were sometimes baffling. The composition of the squad was an issue. The team had been ageing and there wasn't enough new blood, after the departures of John Bateman and Nick Cotric. The game seemed to have passed by some of the club veterans. The squad looked to be short on agility and speed.
Sadly, there were some horror games. All those second half fades. In the Round 3 clash with the Warriors, the Raiders led 25-6 at half time and by 31-10 at the 50 minute mark. They went on to lose, 34-31. The Raiders had been forced to play with just 14 men for 65 minutes, so they did well in that game to be close. But it was frustrating, to say the least, when the NRL later admitted that one Warriors try should have been disallowed, due to a forward pass.
In Round 7, the Raiders led the Cowboys, 24-6, with three minutes to half time. An 18 point lead. The Cowboys then scored an unanswered 20 points, keeping the Raiders scoreless for the rest of the game. In Round 9, Canberra led Newcastle, 16-0, at half time. The Raiders did not score another point in the match, and conceded 24. Newcastle had been sitting in 11th place on the ladder at the time - and had been humiliated by the Roosters the previous week. That loss to the Knights in Wagga made it five in a row for the Green Machine. That had not happened since the dark days of 2014.
It is hard to go past the 44-6 loss to the Titans in Round 16 as the worst of the year. It was the Titans' biggest ever win and equalled their highest ever points tally. It was the Raiders' biggest loss since the 54-12 drubbing at the hands of the Warriors in Auckland back in 2014. The Titans came into the match sitting in 13th place on the competition ladder. The Raiders fans were leaving Canberra Stadium in droves from the 60th minute onward. There were some boos for the home team at the end. There was no other word for it, than diabolical.
However, the Raiders probably left their worst until last. They needed to beat the Roosters in the final round of the regular season in Mackay to qualify for the top eight. The Roosters were ravaged by injury. But the Raiders produced an error-ridden, ill-disciplined performance with their season on the line. Beyond the 20 minute mark, they never looked like they were in the game. If they had got the victory, they would have finished eighth. It ended in a 40-16 defeat. As Ricky Stuart admitted after the game, if they could not beat that Roosters team, they were wasting their time in the finals.
"It's an empty feeling," the coach said.
"It's a shocking feeling. Because I think we're a better team than where we've ended up on the table. But we are where we are. It's all because of the middle part of the season when we had a real bad slump. We lost all our mojo and form and I think we were two from 11. Realistically, we probably didn't even deserve to be fighting for the eight tonight. We were poor tonight, we were really poor."
There were some better performances in the second half of the season. There was a hearty effort in Round 17 against the Sea Eagles at Brookvale in a game devoid of Origin representatives. It ended as a 30-16 victory. The next week, the team was transplanted into camp in Queensland - along with all the other teams - following a serious COVID outbreak in Sydney. Performances seemed to benefit from that. A breakout match from rookie Xavier Savage in the Round 18 win over Cronulla on the Gold Coast lifted spirits - until he was later found to have suffered a serious shoulder injury.
The Round 19 win over the top eight Eels was the best of the season. It was full of courage, determination and grit. The Raiders came to tackle - and delivered one of their greatest defensive performances. The intent, the aggression and the line speed was like it was in 2019. The Eels had a mountain of possession and territory in the first half, but the Raiders withstood every challenge - with the teams going to the break at nil all. The possession didn't swing in the second half like it often does. But the Raiders simply had more desire to win. Once they took the lead in the second half they never surrendered it. The game was summed up by the last gasp try saver from Jordan Rapana and Harley Smith-Shields on Eels winger Maika Sivo. They simply did whatever it took to win.
The Eels were missing their main play maker Mitchell Moses. But the Raiders had an injury list as long as your arm - and were missing five eighth Jack Wighton and a few fullbacks. Jordan Rapana took over at No. 1, the fifth Raiders player to fill the position that season. He was simply outstanding. The Raiders lost both Josh Papalii and Ryan Sutton during the game to injury. The other forwards impressively filled the breach. Joe Tapine, Corey Harawira-Naera and Hudson Young stood tall. Tapine was back to the career best form he showed in the back half of 2020. The young backs were strong. Harley Smith-Shields showed why he deserved an opportunity on the wing.
"I'm very proud of the effort," coach Ricky Stuart said after the game.
"Short turnaround and the amount of injuries that we've got, even injuries we received during that game. Josh Papalii only played eight minutes and Ryan Sutton - I don't know what it is, a rib cartilage or something - but he didn't get a lot either."
"If any young kid is looking to be a Raider - forever, as I've known as a young boy supporting the Raiders - that's always been in the jumper. That type of grit, that type of want to win. Some games it is missing and you've got to work hard as a coach to get it. That's why I get upset when we lose, because I know what these blokes have got underneath the jumper. That's why I love coaching them. You see wins like that tonight, that's just pure grit and want."
But while the old grinding game plan worked against the Eels, come season's end, the club's 40th, it was clear that Canberra needed to make some changes in 2022.
2021 Round 19 - Canberra Raiders 12 (Corey Harawira-Naera, Jordan Rapana tries, Jarrod Croker 2 goals) defeated Parramatta Eels 10 (Dylan Brown, Maika Sivo tries, Clint Gutherson 1 goal) at Robina Stadium.
Canberra Raiders: 1. Jordan Rapana 2. Harley Smith-Shields 3. Jarrod Croker (c) 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Semi Valemei 6. Matt Frawley 7. Sam Williams 17. Joseph Tapine 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Emre Guler 11. Corey Harawira-Naera 12. Hudson Young 13. Ryan Sutton
8. Josh Papalii 14. Tom Starling 15. Matt Timoko 16. Sia Soliola
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 2,566
9 MIN READ
Thud. 2021 was a year when things went wrong at the Canberra Raiders. Terribly wrong. The Green Machine was expected by many to finish in the top four, and to again challenge for a title. At the very least, most expected the Raiders would be a top eight side and playing finals football. Instead, Canberra finished in 10th, and with a whimper in the final round of the season.
There was no doubt a complex combination of reasons for the team's fall.
One major issue was disruption in the spine. Fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad suffered a serious neck injury in the Round 5 clash with the Panthers. He required surgery and spent months on the sidelines before an unexpected, late season return. The Raiders ended up trying four other players in the role - with Jordan Rapana the most successful by far. In early May, news broke that English halfback George Williams was homesick. By June, after a very messy couple of months, he'd been released, with immediate effect.
It is tough winning games without your first choice fullback and halfback. But the 2020 Dally M Player of the Year, Jack Wighton, was also seriously out of form. Hooker Josh Hodgson struggled in his comeback from a second ACL injury. He stood himself down from his role as co-captain when he was set to be dropped to the bench - following the Round 6 loss to the Eels. It appears that was because he felt he could not be a co-captain, starting on the bench. Eventually, coach Stuart found a good formula at hooker, with Hodgson starting and Tom Starling being injected after 25 minutes. Sadly, Starling suffered a season ending, fractured jaw in the Round 22 loss to the Storm.
Another major problem was the "second half fades". At the mid-point of the season, the Raiders had outscored their opposition by 51 points in the first half of their matches, holding three teams scoreless. In the second half of those matches, the Raiders conceded 205 points, while scoring just 64. They were held scoreless after the break five times. The Raiders won just three times between Round 3 and 16. Two of those wins were against teams towards the very bottom of the ladder - the Bulldogs and Broncos. By season's end, the Raiders had lost seven games after leading by double digits.
In the first half of the year, it looked like the team was repeatedly "gassed" as games wore on - and fitness levels seemed to be the issue. The early season performances of some of the forwards, in particular, was affected. Josh Papalii and Joe Tapine - who were both in career best form in the second half of 2020 - were briefly benched or rested. Some of the young middle forwards like Corey Horsburgh and Emre Guler showed the signs of not having full pre-seasons. The top teams in the competition looked to be miles ahead in the fitness stakes. Reportedly, they were aggressive in adjusting their pre-season regimens to "Vlandysball" - to more new rules designed to speed the pace of the game.
Along with the early to mid season losses, and players struggling for form, there clearly was trouble in the camp. As mentioned, Josh Hodgson stood down as co-captain and George Williams was released. Curtis Scott was also stood down and eventually sacked, after he was involved in a nightclub incident. There was a lot of "noise" coming out of Raiders HQ in the media, including from players. Comments from partners on social media. Losing is a disease. It impacts confidence, it creates a pressure cooker. And at one point, the club culture was looking fragile. It took a while for the apparent discontent to settle, and for the ship to get back on course.
Apart from fitness, the Raiders were left behind by Vlandysball in other ways. The grinding, defensive game plan that was so successful in 2019 no longer worked in 2021. The tactics were slow to change. Interchanges were sometimes baffling. The composition of the squad was an issue. The team had been ageing and there wasn't enough new blood, after the departures of John Bateman and Nick Cotric. The game seemed to have passed by some of the club veterans. The squad looked to be short on agility and speed.
Sadly, there were some horror games. All those second half fades. In the Round 3 clash with the Warriors, the Raiders led 25-6 at half time and by 31-10 at the 50 minute mark. They went on to lose, 34-31. The Raiders had been forced to play with just 14 men for 65 minutes, so they did well in that game to be close. But it was frustrating, to say the least, when the NRL later admitted that one Warriors try should have been disallowed, due to a forward pass.
In Round 7, the Raiders led the Cowboys, 24-6, with three minutes to half time. An 18 point lead. The Cowboys then scored an unanswered 20 points, keeping the Raiders scoreless for the rest of the game. In Round 9, Canberra led Newcastle, 16-0, at half time. The Raiders did not score another point in the match, and conceded 24. Newcastle had been sitting in 11th place on the ladder at the time - and had been humiliated by the Roosters the previous week. That loss to the Knights in Wagga made it five in a row for the Green Machine. That had not happened since the dark days of 2014.
It is hard to go past the 44-6 loss to the Titans in Round 16 as the worst of the year. It was the Titans' biggest ever win and equalled their highest ever points tally. It was the Raiders' biggest loss since the 54-12 drubbing at the hands of the Warriors in Auckland back in 2014. The Titans came into the match sitting in 13th place on the competition ladder. The Raiders fans were leaving Canberra Stadium in droves from the 60th minute onward. There were some boos for the home team at the end. There was no other word for it, than diabolical.
However, the Raiders probably left their worst until last. They needed to beat the Roosters in the final round of the regular season in Mackay to qualify for the top eight. The Roosters were ravaged by injury. But the Raiders produced an error-ridden, ill-disciplined performance with their season on the line. Beyond the 20 minute mark, they never looked like they were in the game. If they had got the victory, they would have finished eighth. It ended in a 40-16 defeat. As Ricky Stuart admitted after the game, if they could not beat that Roosters team, they were wasting their time in the finals.
"It's an empty feeling," the coach said.
"It's a shocking feeling. Because I think we're a better team than where we've ended up on the table. But we are where we are. It's all because of the middle part of the season when we had a real bad slump. We lost all our mojo and form and I think we were two from 11. Realistically, we probably didn't even deserve to be fighting for the eight tonight. We were poor tonight, we were really poor."
There were some better performances in the second half of the season. There was a hearty effort in Round 17 against the Sea Eagles at Brookvale in a game devoid of Origin representatives. It ended as a 30-16 victory. The next week, the team was transplanted into camp in Queensland - along with all the other teams - following a serious COVID outbreak in Sydney. Performances seemed to benefit from that. A breakout match from rookie Xavier Savage in the Round 18 win over Cronulla on the Gold Coast lifted spirits - until he was later found to have suffered a serious shoulder injury.
The Round 19 win over the top eight Eels was the best of the season. It was full of courage, determination and grit. The Raiders came to tackle - and delivered one of their greatest defensive performances. The intent, the aggression and the line speed was like it was in 2019. The Eels had a mountain of possession and territory in the first half, but the Raiders withstood every challenge - with the teams going to the break at nil all. The possession didn't swing in the second half like it often does. But the Raiders simply had more desire to win. Once they took the lead in the second half they never surrendered it. The game was summed up by the last gasp try saver from Jordan Rapana and Harley Smith-Shields on Eels winger Maika Sivo. They simply did whatever it took to win.
The Eels were missing their main play maker Mitchell Moses. But the Raiders had an injury list as long as your arm - and were missing five eighth Jack Wighton and a few fullbacks. Jordan Rapana took over at No. 1, the fifth Raiders player to fill the position that season. He was simply outstanding. The Raiders lost both Josh Papalii and Ryan Sutton during the game to injury. The other forwards impressively filled the breach. Joe Tapine, Corey Harawira-Naera and Hudson Young stood tall. Tapine was back to the career best form he showed in the back half of 2020. The young backs were strong. Harley Smith-Shields showed why he deserved an opportunity on the wing.
"I'm very proud of the effort," coach Ricky Stuart said after the game.
"Short turnaround and the amount of injuries that we've got, even injuries we received during that game. Josh Papalii only played eight minutes and Ryan Sutton - I don't know what it is, a rib cartilage or something - but he didn't get a lot either."
"If any young kid is looking to be a Raider - forever, as I've known as a young boy supporting the Raiders - that's always been in the jumper. That type of grit, that type of want to win. Some games it is missing and you've got to work hard as a coach to get it. That's why I get upset when we lose, because I know what these blokes have got underneath the jumper. That's why I love coaching them. You see wins like that tonight, that's just pure grit and want."
But while the old grinding game plan worked against the Eels, come season's end, the club's 40th, it was clear that Canberra needed to make some changes in 2022.
2021 Round 19 - Canberra Raiders 12 (Corey Harawira-Naera, Jordan Rapana tries, Jarrod Croker 2 goals) defeated Parramatta Eels 10 (Dylan Brown, Maika Sivo tries, Clint Gutherson 1 goal) at Robina Stadium.
Canberra Raiders: 1. Jordan Rapana 2. Harley Smith-Shields 3. Jarrod Croker (c) 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Semi Valemei 6. Matt Frawley 7. Sam Williams 17. Joseph Tapine 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Emre Guler 11. Corey Harawira-Naera 12. Hudson Young 13. Ryan Sutton
8. Josh Papalii 14. Tom Starling 15. Matt Timoko 16. Sia Soliola
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 2,566
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
So that is 40 years and 40 great games… but we will be back tomorrow with a final bonus chapter, covering 2022.
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
2022 - Back to the finals
10 MIN READ
2022 produced a finals finish for Canberra that few expected. Certainly not after a five game losing streak left the Raiders languishing in the bottom four, a third of the way through the season. At one stage, they sat in 15th place. But in the end, they made it all the way to the final six.
There was a strong contrast between the first and second half of the season. The team was affected by inconsistent combinations in the spine right from the start. The Raiders lost their No. 1 hooker, Josh Hodgson, for the season after suffering an ACL injury - 10 minutes into the first match. They were without their No. 1 halfback for the opening 11 rounds - new recruit, Jamal Fogarty. He suffered a knee injury in a trial match. Fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad struggled with form and injury.
The challenge to adjust was reflected in the re-emergence of an old problem: the second half fade. In the first half of the season, the Raiders scored 148 points in the first half of their matches and 62 in the second. They were held scoreless in the second half of games five times, and failed to score a try in the second half in seven games.
The arrival of a 25 year old hooker who had never played an NRL game - Zac Woolford - and the return to the field of Fogarty saw the fades disperse. Woolford, the son of former Raiders captain and hooker Simon, was a local junior. After spending time with the Bulldogs and Knights, he was turning out for the Newtown Jets in NSW Cup. He made his NRL debut for Canberra in Round 10 and played every game after that. Running wasn't his strength, but good service from dummy half was. Meanwhile, rookie Xavier Savage was given his first game at fullback in Round 12 - and that's where he stayed for the rest of the year. The speedster was still learning the role, but stability in the spine helped the combinations.
The second half of the year was different. The Raiders won eight of the last 10 games of the season. Heading into their semi final clash with the Eels, they had won five in a row. Sadly, the Eels put on a demolition job - and it underlined that the top teams were in a class above.
After that loss to the Eels, coach Ricky Stuart suggested that the Raiders would have finished in the top four, but for injuries to key players. Canberra ended the regular season with 14 wins, just one fewer than in 2019 - the year in which the club made the Grand Final. They were just two wins adrift of the fourth placed Eels. And there were two narrow losses which could have gone the other way, but for crucial errors from the officials. However, there's a lot of ifs and buts and maybes in that.
Canberra took some time to find an attacking style that worked. The Raiders started the season with the aim of playing more expansive football. There were short passes among the forwards. They played with more width. But it didn't work well, as the skill levels just weren't there. Error counts were high, completion rates were low. Too often the forwards were not laying the platform before the team shifted the ball wide. They had not earned the right to shift. Offloads were often ineffective, with the team even losing ground with the ball. The team soon reverted to a more conservative style.
At the end of the regular season, Canberra ranked eighth in attack, a lift on their 12th placed ranking in 2021. But it took until the Round 25 clash against the Tigers for the Raiders to climb into the top eight teams in the try scoring stakes. The Raiders scored 18 tries in the final two rounds against the Sea Eagles and Tigers - nearly 20 per cent of their total.
The Raiders' defence was better than their attack. But the Raiders were not near the standards of the benchmark teams, conceding an average of 20 points per game. They ranked sixth for fewest tries conceded at the end of the regular season. All things considered, they did very well to recover from the poor start to the year and finish in the top six teams.
There were some real low points in the first half of the year. The loss to the Warriors at Redcliffe was one of the worst. The New Zealand outfit had been beaten by 60 points the previous week, conceding 70 against the Storm. They played downright awful football. But the Raiders just kept giving them an invitation back into the game. Canberra led 20-12 at half time, but didn't score a point after the 35th minute. The Warriors scored the only try in the second stanza, through Euan Aitken in the 65th minute. It was off the back of a Raiders error. They forced golden point with a penalty goal in the 80th minute - after Corey Horsburgh tackled Matt Lodge high. Lodge laid down for the penalty. There wasn't serious contact and it wasn’t reportable - which is the test for the bunker to intervene. But the high contact was clear and the bunker intervened anyway.
Another Raiders error in the first set of golden point - a forward pass from Tom Starling - gifted the Warriors the territory needed for the winning field goal. Shaun Johnson ate that chance up, no problem. Golden point was over before it had barely begun. 21-20. The fifth loss in a row.
There was even more controversy in the close loss to the Dragons at Wollongong. The match was played in heavy rain and a gale blew off the ocean from the south east. The Dragons chose to run with the wind at their backs in the first half and went to the break with a 12-4 lead. The Raiders largely failed to take advantage of the wind in the second half. A Hudson Young try in the 54th minute brought Canberra within two points. But in a long, frustrating final 20 minutes, the Raiders' play makers were unable to orchestrate the win.
In the dying minutes, the Raiders had one final shot in the Dragons' red zone, after Cody Ramsey dropped a bomb. With seconds remaining, Ben Hunt deliberately arrived late and lay in the ruck - and the referee called "six again". It was a clear professional foul and a penalty certainly was warranted. It was right in front of the posts and a penalty goal would have forced golden point. NRL head of football Graham Annesley later admitted Hunt had infringed three times in that final set, all of which deserved a penalty.
There were matches to savour, particularly on the charge into the finals.
The Raiders produced an equal record comeback in Round 3 against the Titans. Late in the first half, the Canberra Raiders were down 22-0. By the end of the match, they'd scored an unanswered 24 points. A classic game of two halves, one that highlighted that Canberra was struggling to produced 80 minute performances.
The Magic Round win over the Sharks in Round 10 was a key turning point in the season. The Raiders broke their five game losing streak in Round 9, with a win against the lowly Bulldogs. However the Sharks were shaping as a real contender. The Raiders had three players sent to the sin bin, and were reduced to 11 men at one stage. But they never lost control, after racing to a 20-0 lead.
The Raiders were close to their best in their Round 18 victory over the Storm in Melbourne. The Storm were on back to back losses, but had not lost three games in a row since 2015. The Green Machine had won just 14 of the 50 matches played between the clubs. Canberra lost Elliott Whitehead, Nick Cotric and Corey Horsburgh to injury and illness on the eve of the match. A tough assignment. However James Schiller produced one of the tries of the year - and the Raiders posted their fourth win in a row at the ground. Big wins followed in the final two rounds of the regular season over the Sea Eagles (48-6) and Tigers (56-10). Things had really started to click.
The Raiders' epic Week 1 finals victory was the their fifth in a row in Melbourne. It had been eight years since the Storm had been knocked out in week one. In the history of the NRL, the eighth placed team had won in week one only three times before. The Raiders were the fourth team to achieve that feat. It was the best victory of the year.
The Canberra forwards, led by Joe Tapine, were outstanding. The Storm were not below par. Nelson Asofa-Solomona clearly had something to prove, while Cameron Munster was Cameron Munster. Harry Grant was constantly dangerous at dummy half. Melbourne kept throwing punch after punch. But the Raiders absorbed the punishment and came back at them. Canberra just refused to wilt.
Melbourne had a big territorial advantage in the first half, with a strong wind at their backs. And they had plenty of opportunity with the ball, particularly in the opening 10 minutes. But the Raiders went to the break with an unexpected 16-8 lead.
Canberra's first try was an absolute gem. It started with a great Joe Tapine offload to Jack Wighton. It finished with a memorable run from Matt Timoko - and fend on Cameron Munster - on the way to the try line. The second Canberra try was scored off a scrum win, with Jamal Fogarty making an impressive charge. Tapine was at it again five minutes before the break, a great offload sending Elliott Whitehead over.
The Storm scored the first two tries of the second half. Xavier Coates finished off a hat trick, before Asofa-Solomona crossed just before the 60 minute mark. That saw Melbourne take a 20-16 lead. But then Hudson Young was again "Johnny on the spot", chasing a kick from Jack Wighton. Cameron Munster was unable to defuse it and Young pounced. With seven minutes remaining, a pass from Xavier Savage hit the head of Sebastian Kris. The ball rebounded into the in goal, perfectly for Jordan Rapana and the match sealer. A bit of luck, perhaps, but good teams create their own luck. Good teams put themselves in position to take advantage.
"It was a tough night, Melbourne did a really good job getting out of their end and we didn't get any good ball," coach Ricky Stuart said post match.
"The way the players hung in tonight makes me so proud and we got a slick of luck with that header. We were out on our legs on a number of phases of that game both in the first and second half. You've got to be a good football team to beat Melbourne down here. There's no secret, you've just got to turn up and play well."
For a second year running, the Raiders saved their worst until last - the Week 2 finals loss to the Eels at Parramatta. 40-4. It was the Green Machine's biggest ever finals defeat. The Eels went out to a 22-0 lead in the first half before the Raiders could score. The Raiders have never staged a comeback after trailing by more than 22 points. Xavier Savage bagged a try, with a blistering show of speed at the 30 minute mark, to make it 22-4. But that was as close as the Raiders would get.
The defeat left no doubt that there was plenty of work required before the Raiders could be considered a serious contender. But a good platform was built in 2022. And there were reasons for hope for the future.
2022 Finals Week 1 - Canberra Raiders 28 (Jamal Fogarty, Jordan Rapana, Matt Timoko, Elliott Whitehead, Hudson Young tries, Jamal Fogarty 4 goals) defeated Melbourne Storm 20 (Xavier Coates, Nelson Asofa-Solomona tries, Cameron Munster 2 goals) at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
Canberra Raiders: 1. Xavier Savage 2. Nick Cotric 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Jack Wighton 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papalii 9. Zac Woolford 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead (c) 13. Adam Elliott
14. Tom Starling 15. Emre Guler 16. Corey Horsburgh 17. Corey Harawira-Naera
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 20,838.
10 MIN READ
2022 produced a finals finish for Canberra that few expected. Certainly not after a five game losing streak left the Raiders languishing in the bottom four, a third of the way through the season. At one stage, they sat in 15th place. But in the end, they made it all the way to the final six.
There was a strong contrast between the first and second half of the season. The team was affected by inconsistent combinations in the spine right from the start. The Raiders lost their No. 1 hooker, Josh Hodgson, for the season after suffering an ACL injury - 10 minutes into the first match. They were without their No. 1 halfback for the opening 11 rounds - new recruit, Jamal Fogarty. He suffered a knee injury in a trial match. Fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad struggled with form and injury.
The challenge to adjust was reflected in the re-emergence of an old problem: the second half fade. In the first half of the season, the Raiders scored 148 points in the first half of their matches and 62 in the second. They were held scoreless in the second half of games five times, and failed to score a try in the second half in seven games.
The arrival of a 25 year old hooker who had never played an NRL game - Zac Woolford - and the return to the field of Fogarty saw the fades disperse. Woolford, the son of former Raiders captain and hooker Simon, was a local junior. After spending time with the Bulldogs and Knights, he was turning out for the Newtown Jets in NSW Cup. He made his NRL debut for Canberra in Round 10 and played every game after that. Running wasn't his strength, but good service from dummy half was. Meanwhile, rookie Xavier Savage was given his first game at fullback in Round 12 - and that's where he stayed for the rest of the year. The speedster was still learning the role, but stability in the spine helped the combinations.
The second half of the year was different. The Raiders won eight of the last 10 games of the season. Heading into their semi final clash with the Eels, they had won five in a row. Sadly, the Eels put on a demolition job - and it underlined that the top teams were in a class above.
After that loss to the Eels, coach Ricky Stuart suggested that the Raiders would have finished in the top four, but for injuries to key players. Canberra ended the regular season with 14 wins, just one fewer than in 2019 - the year in which the club made the Grand Final. They were just two wins adrift of the fourth placed Eels. And there were two narrow losses which could have gone the other way, but for crucial errors from the officials. However, there's a lot of ifs and buts and maybes in that.
Canberra took some time to find an attacking style that worked. The Raiders started the season with the aim of playing more expansive football. There were short passes among the forwards. They played with more width. But it didn't work well, as the skill levels just weren't there. Error counts were high, completion rates were low. Too often the forwards were not laying the platform before the team shifted the ball wide. They had not earned the right to shift. Offloads were often ineffective, with the team even losing ground with the ball. The team soon reverted to a more conservative style.
At the end of the regular season, Canberra ranked eighth in attack, a lift on their 12th placed ranking in 2021. But it took until the Round 25 clash against the Tigers for the Raiders to climb into the top eight teams in the try scoring stakes. The Raiders scored 18 tries in the final two rounds against the Sea Eagles and Tigers - nearly 20 per cent of their total.
The Raiders' defence was better than their attack. But the Raiders were not near the standards of the benchmark teams, conceding an average of 20 points per game. They ranked sixth for fewest tries conceded at the end of the regular season. All things considered, they did very well to recover from the poor start to the year and finish in the top six teams.
There were some real low points in the first half of the year. The loss to the Warriors at Redcliffe was one of the worst. The New Zealand outfit had been beaten by 60 points the previous week, conceding 70 against the Storm. They played downright awful football. But the Raiders just kept giving them an invitation back into the game. Canberra led 20-12 at half time, but didn't score a point after the 35th minute. The Warriors scored the only try in the second stanza, through Euan Aitken in the 65th minute. It was off the back of a Raiders error. They forced golden point with a penalty goal in the 80th minute - after Corey Horsburgh tackled Matt Lodge high. Lodge laid down for the penalty. There wasn't serious contact and it wasn’t reportable - which is the test for the bunker to intervene. But the high contact was clear and the bunker intervened anyway.
Another Raiders error in the first set of golden point - a forward pass from Tom Starling - gifted the Warriors the territory needed for the winning field goal. Shaun Johnson ate that chance up, no problem. Golden point was over before it had barely begun. 21-20. The fifth loss in a row.
There was even more controversy in the close loss to the Dragons at Wollongong. The match was played in heavy rain and a gale blew off the ocean from the south east. The Dragons chose to run with the wind at their backs in the first half and went to the break with a 12-4 lead. The Raiders largely failed to take advantage of the wind in the second half. A Hudson Young try in the 54th minute brought Canberra within two points. But in a long, frustrating final 20 minutes, the Raiders' play makers were unable to orchestrate the win.
In the dying minutes, the Raiders had one final shot in the Dragons' red zone, after Cody Ramsey dropped a bomb. With seconds remaining, Ben Hunt deliberately arrived late and lay in the ruck - and the referee called "six again". It was a clear professional foul and a penalty certainly was warranted. It was right in front of the posts and a penalty goal would have forced golden point. NRL head of football Graham Annesley later admitted Hunt had infringed three times in that final set, all of which deserved a penalty.
There were matches to savour, particularly on the charge into the finals.
The Raiders produced an equal record comeback in Round 3 against the Titans. Late in the first half, the Canberra Raiders were down 22-0. By the end of the match, they'd scored an unanswered 24 points. A classic game of two halves, one that highlighted that Canberra was struggling to produced 80 minute performances.
The Magic Round win over the Sharks in Round 10 was a key turning point in the season. The Raiders broke their five game losing streak in Round 9, with a win against the lowly Bulldogs. However the Sharks were shaping as a real contender. The Raiders had three players sent to the sin bin, and were reduced to 11 men at one stage. But they never lost control, after racing to a 20-0 lead.
The Raiders were close to their best in their Round 18 victory over the Storm in Melbourne. The Storm were on back to back losses, but had not lost three games in a row since 2015. The Green Machine had won just 14 of the 50 matches played between the clubs. Canberra lost Elliott Whitehead, Nick Cotric and Corey Horsburgh to injury and illness on the eve of the match. A tough assignment. However James Schiller produced one of the tries of the year - and the Raiders posted their fourth win in a row at the ground. Big wins followed in the final two rounds of the regular season over the Sea Eagles (48-6) and Tigers (56-10). Things had really started to click.
The Raiders' epic Week 1 finals victory was the their fifth in a row in Melbourne. It had been eight years since the Storm had been knocked out in week one. In the history of the NRL, the eighth placed team had won in week one only three times before. The Raiders were the fourth team to achieve that feat. It was the best victory of the year.
The Canberra forwards, led by Joe Tapine, were outstanding. The Storm were not below par. Nelson Asofa-Solomona clearly had something to prove, while Cameron Munster was Cameron Munster. Harry Grant was constantly dangerous at dummy half. Melbourne kept throwing punch after punch. But the Raiders absorbed the punishment and came back at them. Canberra just refused to wilt.
Melbourne had a big territorial advantage in the first half, with a strong wind at their backs. And they had plenty of opportunity with the ball, particularly in the opening 10 minutes. But the Raiders went to the break with an unexpected 16-8 lead.
Canberra's first try was an absolute gem. It started with a great Joe Tapine offload to Jack Wighton. It finished with a memorable run from Matt Timoko - and fend on Cameron Munster - on the way to the try line. The second Canberra try was scored off a scrum win, with Jamal Fogarty making an impressive charge. Tapine was at it again five minutes before the break, a great offload sending Elliott Whitehead over.
The Storm scored the first two tries of the second half. Xavier Coates finished off a hat trick, before Asofa-Solomona crossed just before the 60 minute mark. That saw Melbourne take a 20-16 lead. But then Hudson Young was again "Johnny on the spot", chasing a kick from Jack Wighton. Cameron Munster was unable to defuse it and Young pounced. With seven minutes remaining, a pass from Xavier Savage hit the head of Sebastian Kris. The ball rebounded into the in goal, perfectly for Jordan Rapana and the match sealer. A bit of luck, perhaps, but good teams create their own luck. Good teams put themselves in position to take advantage.
"It was a tough night, Melbourne did a really good job getting out of their end and we didn't get any good ball," coach Ricky Stuart said post match.
"The way the players hung in tonight makes me so proud and we got a slick of luck with that header. We were out on our legs on a number of phases of that game both in the first and second half. You've got to be a good football team to beat Melbourne down here. There's no secret, you've just got to turn up and play well."
For a second year running, the Raiders saved their worst until last - the Week 2 finals loss to the Eels at Parramatta. 40-4. It was the Green Machine's biggest ever finals defeat. The Eels went out to a 22-0 lead in the first half before the Raiders could score. The Raiders have never staged a comeback after trailing by more than 22 points. Xavier Savage bagged a try, with a blistering show of speed at the 30 minute mark, to make it 22-4. But that was as close as the Raiders would get.
The defeat left no doubt that there was plenty of work required before the Raiders could be considered a serious contender. But a good platform was built in 2022. And there were reasons for hope for the future.
2022 Finals Week 1 - Canberra Raiders 28 (Jamal Fogarty, Jordan Rapana, Matt Timoko, Elliott Whitehead, Hudson Young tries, Jamal Fogarty 4 goals) defeated Melbourne Storm 20 (Xavier Coates, Nelson Asofa-Solomona tries, Cameron Munster 2 goals) at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
Canberra Raiders: 1. Xavier Savage 2. Nick Cotric 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Jack Wighton 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papalii 9. Zac Woolford 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead (c) 13. Adam Elliott
14. Tom Starling 15. Emre Guler 16. Corey Horsburgh 17. Corey Harawira-Naera
Coach Ricky Stuart
Crowd: 20,838.
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
42,000 words later... And that's the end of 40 years - 40 great games and the end of our celebrations of the Canberra Raiders' 40th anniversary. Thanks to all who have read and commented.
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
Thanks for all the write ups GE.
In the 2022 finals series I reckon the game against the Storm took a lot out of the players. It was a great win against Melbourne in Melbourne but the next week trying to back up against the Eels in Sydney proved too much. We weren't able to reproduce the defensive intensity of the Storm game. To the Eels credit they had done their homework on our defensive pattern and exploited some chinks brilliantly. The Xavier try where he ran around Gutho was easily the best moment for the Raiders but side looked spent and could not recover once we fell behind.
In the 2022 finals series I reckon the game against the Storm took a lot out of the players. It was a great win against Melbourne in Melbourne but the next week trying to back up against the Eels in Sydney proved too much. We weren't able to reproduce the defensive intensity of the Storm game. To the Eels credit they had done their homework on our defensive pattern and exploited some chinks brilliantly. The Xavier try where he ran around Gutho was easily the best moment for the Raiders but side looked spent and could not recover once we fell behind.
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
What a great thread.
Son, we live in a world that has forums, and those forums have to be guarded by Mods. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Nickman? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Lucy, and you curse GE. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know -- that GE’s moderation, while tragic, probably saved lives; and my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, keeps threads on track and under the appropriately sized, highlighted green headings.
You want moderation because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that forum -- you need me on that forum. We use words like "stay on topic," "use the appropriate forum," "please delete." We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very moderation that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather that you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you get a green handle and edit a post. Either way, I don't give a DAMN what you think about moderation.
Re: 40 years - 40 great games
It was entirely a compliment. Enjoyed an idle hour of reading through it, and am now deep into Youtube watching some of the games mentioned.
Great stuff.
Son, we live in a world that has forums, and those forums have to be guarded by Mods. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Nickman? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Lucy, and you curse GE. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know -- that GE’s moderation, while tragic, probably saved lives; and my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, keeps threads on track and under the appropriately sized, highlighted green headings.
You want moderation because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that forum -- you need me on that forum. We use words like "stay on topic," "use the appropriate forum," "please delete." We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very moderation that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather that you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you get a green handle and edit a post. Either way, I don't give a DAMN what you think about moderation.