 | |||
| Club information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Canberra Raiders Rugby League Club | ||
| Nickname(s) | Raiders, The Green Machine, The Milk | ||
| Colours | Lime Green White Navy | ||
| Founded | 30 March 1981 in Queanbeyan | ||
| Website | raiders.com.au | ||
| Current details | |||
| Ground(s) |
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| CEO | Don Furner Jr | ||
| Chairman | Dennis Richardson | ||
| Coach | Ricky Stuart | ||
| Captain | Elliot Whitehead | ||
| Competition | National Rugby League | ||
| 2024 season | 9th | ||
| |||
 Current season | |||
| Records | |||
| Premierships | 3 (1989, 1990, 1994) | ||
| Runners-up | 3 (1987, 1991, 2019) | ||
| Minor premierships | 1 (1990) | ||
| Wooden spoons | 1 (1982) | ||
| Most capped | 318 – Jason Croker | ||
| Highest try scorer | 136 – Jarrod Croker | ||
| Highest points scorer | 2374 – Jarrod Croker | ||
The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership since 1982. Over this period the club has won three premierships out of six Grand Finals, the last one played being the 2019 NRL Grand Final, resulting in a 14-8 controversial loss to the Sydney Roosters. Canberra currently have the second longest active premiership drought in the NRL totalling 30 years. The Raiders' current home ground is Canberra Stadium in Bruce. Previously, the team played home matches at Seiffert Oval in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, with the move to the Canberra Stadium in Bruce taking place in 1990. The official symbol for the Canberra Raiders is the Viking. The Viking, also a mascot at Raiders' games, is known as Victor the Viking.[1]
As part of the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership's first expansion outside Sydney, the Raiders were admitted to the League, along with the Illawarra Steelers in the 1982 season. Over the following years they improved steadily, reaching a playoff for 5th in their third season, and becoming the first non-Sydney team to make the finals (1987), after this they would go on to feature in a grand final (1987) and win a premiership (1989). This heralded a period of great success for the club, with five grand Final appearances and three premierships in eight years. During this period, the Raiders boasted international players such as Mal Meninga, Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart, Glenn Lazarus, Bradley Clyde, Gary Belcher, Brett Mullins and Steve Walters. After this came the Super League war, with the Raiders switching to the rebel competition before continuing to compete in the re-unified NRL. During the 2000s the Raiders suffered from an exodus of experience. At the beginning of the 2009 season, the Raiders squad contained only four players who have played at the representative level. Joel Monaghan and Terry Campese each represented the Australian side during the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, with Monaghan also playing for the NSW blues during the third game of the 2008 State of Origin series.
- ^ "Longest active NRL premiership droughts". www.zerotackle.com. 3 October 2023.