The History of the Canberra Raiders Rugby League Football Club began with their establishment in 1982. Along with the Illawarra Steelers, they became the first clubs from outside the Sydney area in over half a century to compete in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership. The Raiders have competed in every season of top-level rugby league in Australia since then and have won a total of three premierships: 1989, 1990 and 1994.
Establishment In 1981, the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) decided to expand the number of teams in its Sydney-based premiership for the first time since the 1960s. This time it would venture further out into the state of New South Wales by introducing two teams from outside Sydney. The Canberra franchise was accepted as the 14th team to compete in the NSWRFL premiership for the 1982 season, beating bids from Campbelltown, Newcastle and the Central Coast. They were admitted along with the Illawarra Steelers, of Wollongong. Thus the Canberra club, being in the Australian Capital Territory, was the first team ever from an Australian state other than New South Wales to compete in the premiership.
The initially unnamed team decided to adopt the name "Raiders", which was coined by the media in reference to the team being the first based outside Sydney since the old Newcastle team left the League in 1909.
1982–1986 The club's first coach was former Australian international player and Easts coach, Don Furner who was coaching in the nearby town of Queanbeyan at the time. Their inaugural captain was Balmain forward, David Grant. Canberra's initial seasons were a mixed bag and they became notorious for late game collapses, leading to the nickname "Canberra Faders". In fact, no team had conceded more tries in a season than the 1982 Raiders. The club's first win, a 12-11 heartstopper v Newtown, came in its 8th match, and 3 more wins followed, most notably against then competition leaders Souths. The team earned the wooden spoon in their debut year, although this would be the last time they did so.
1983 saw a new captain, Newtown and former Kangaroos back, Allan McMahon, and nine wins, more than doubling 1982's four. However, the team continued to struggle to win away from home. Ron Giteau was handed the captaincy in 1984 and an away win first up that year foreshadowed a much improved season, a positive winning record (13-11) snagging a playoff for fifth versus Souths. But this game was lost (4-23), and the Raiders had still not succeeded in reaching the semi-finals of the competition.
1985 saw Dean Lance named captain of the club which had a regression, with the team winning only 8 games (though the reserves did reach the Grand Final). Though 1986 was similarly disappointing, the team had a core group of players, such as Mal Meninga, Gary Belcher, Steve Walters, and John Ferguson who would greatly influence the coming decade. Belcher became the first Raiders player to be selected to make his début for the Australian national side in 1986.
1987–1995 This was the most successful period in the Raiders' short history, with 5 Grand Finals and 3 premierships. In 1987, Souths' Brisbane Rugby League premiership-winning coach and incumbent Queensland State of Origin coach, Wayne Bennett became Don Furner's co-coach at Canberra. Laurie Daley, Peter Jackson and Glenn Lazarus also debuted this year. The team finished third, resulting in a maiden semi-finals appearance. Despite losing their first finals match against Easts, the Raiders rallied to defeat Souths (46-12) and Easts again (32-24). The latter earned the team a place in the Grand Final, but they were never really competitive against minor premiers Manly, going down 8-18.
1988 saw the departure of the Furner-Bennett coaching partnership and a new coach in Penrith's Tim Sheens. Notable players starting out in 1988 were Bradley Clyde and Ricky Stuart. The 1988 season featured free-scoring (over 100 tries in 22 games) and a number of large victories, with the team again finishing in third place on the ladder. Unfortunately, a narrow loss against Canterbury in the Major Semi-final was followed by defeat against Balmain and an early exit.
Mal Meninga became captain of the club in 1989. With 5 rounds to play in the '89 season, Canberra were 7th and in danger of missing the semis. But a hard-fought 14–10 win over Easts started a 9-match winning streak, culminating in the club's first Premiership. In one of the all-time great Grand Finals, the Raiders sent the game into extra time after a late John Ferguson try that was converted by Meninga. Steve Jackson scored the winning try to win the premiership for the Raiders. This memorable match is now commemorated each year with the 1989 League Legends Cup. On 4 October, Canberra played British champions Widnes in the 1989 World Club Challenge at Old Trafford, Manchester. The Raiders lost 18 to 30 in front of 30,768.
1990 was a stellar year for the club at all levels. All three grades making the Grand Final, with only the reserves losing. The first grade side earned their first Minor Premiership and a second consecutive title, defeating Penrith in the decider.
Trouble brewed in 1991 as the club was embroiled in salary cap hardships. On 3 April, NSWRL general manager John Quayle revealed that Canberra were in breach of their salary cap when they won the previous year's premiership. Nonetheless, a fourth Grand Final berth was secured - the team's third in a row. However, the team went down to Penrith in a repeat of the 1990 Grand Final. Jason Croker, who would go on to become the team's longest serving player, debuted this year. The fallout from the salary cap imbroglio saw several players leave the club, most prominently Glenn Lazarus, Brent Todd, David Barnhill, Nigel Gaffey and Paul Martin. An average performance resulted, with the Raiders missing the finals for the first time since 1986.
David Furner, son of the Raiders' inaugural coach Don Furner, started out in 1992. The club finished 12th and failed to reach the finals. 1993 was a marked improvement, with the Raiders sitting in first place on the ladder with 2 rounds remaining when tragedy struck during their record breaking 68 - 0 victory over Parramatta at Bruce Stadium. Ricky Stuart suffered a bad leg break and the team went on to lose its next three games against Brisbane, St George and Canterbury. Having beaten all three of these teams recently in the season the Raiders were well placed to secure another Grand Final berth before the injury occurred.
1994 was the last season of the Raiders' and Australia's test captain, Mal Meninga. Canberra finished the regular season in 3rd place and successfully played their way to the grand final once again. Meninga went out in style, scoring the final try of the match as the Raiders scored their 3rd premiership in six seasons.
With the retirement of Meninga, Ricky Stuart was named as captain of the club in 1995. That season they finished second, but lost in the preliminary finals.
1996–2006 Since their final premiership in 1994, the Raiders have been unable to scale their previous heights, largely due to their inability to lure representative players to the capital. The team bowed out in Round 1 of the 1996 finals series, losing to St George.
The next year, the Raiders were one of several teams that joined the breakaway Super League competition. Mal Meninga made a return to the club, this time as coach. Canberra lost in the preliminary final to eventual grand-finalists, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
It was upon rejoining the newly formed National Rugby League the following year that the team began their decline. The Raiders' problems came to a head in the late 1990s, when club legends Ricky Stuart (Laurie Daley succeeded him as club captain) and Bradley Clyde were forced out in order to accommodate players such as Brett Finch. Finch would ironically leave the Raiders soon after to play under Stuart, then a coach at the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
The Raiders had mixed results in the new millennium, often finishing just inside or just outside the final eight and usually being bundled out of the finals in the early weeks. Simon Woolford became captain of the club in 2001. Matthew Elliott succeeded Mal Meninga as the Raiders' coach in 2002. In 2003, the Raiders unexpectedly led the competition for most of the season, almost clinching the minor premiership. They then lost narrowly to the Melbourne Storm in the opening finals game, but still advanced to Week 2 due to ladder position. In one of the closest games in recent history, the Raiders were eclipsed by one point in the preliminary final by the New Zealand Warriors and eliminated from the 2003 competition.
Many fans believed the achievements of 2003 would be improved in the following years. However, the Raiders finished a disappointing 8th in 2004, being knocked out in week one of the finals by the Sydney Roosters. Club legends Ruben Wiki and Mark McLinden left the Raiders for other clubs in this year. Wiki's loss, in particular, was a bitter pill to swallow for many Raiders fans, as it was found that the New Zealand Warriors had significantly breached the salary cap in signing him. The 2005 side was written off by fans and critics alike, as the club's two major signings, Jason Smith and Matt Adamson, were ageing veterans considered well past their prime. However, both, particularly Smith, proved formidable campaigners, and the Raiders were joint competition leaders in Round 10. But as the season progressed, injuries took their toll and the Raiders finished second last on points differential to the Newcastle Knights.
The Raiders started Season 2006 heavy favourites to run last, but despite this pessimism and heavy losses to the Knights and the Roosters early on, fought back and guaranteed themselves a finals berth with a round to play. 2006 saw club stalwarts Simon Woolford, newly named captain, Clinton Schifcofske and the club's longest serving player, Jason Croker, leave the club, going to St George Illawarra, the Queensland Reds rugby union team and Super League club the Catalans Dragons respectively. Outgoing backs Schifcofske and Adam Mogg both earned representative berths with Queensland in State of Origin. Saturday 9 September 2006 saw Jason Croker, Simon Woolford, Clinton Schifcofske, Michael Hodgson, Jason Smith and Adam Mogg all play their final games for the club. The round one finals series clash with the Bulldogs saw the Raiders defeated 30–12 in slippery and muddy conditions at Telstra Stadium, and eliminated from the 2006 premiership race. This was also the final match for coach Matthew Elliott, who is coaching Penrith in 2007. His replacement is former North Queensland Cowboys' assistant coach Neil Henry.
2007–2009 In 2007, Canberra were an unknown quantity. Having lost star players such as Schifcofske, Smith, Croker and Woolford in key positions, the Raiders found themselves with a new captain in Alan Tongue relying on young, inexperienced players such as Todd Carney, William Zillman and Michael Dobson to step up and take on more prominent roles within the team. The sense of inexperience was reinforced by the selection of Neil Henry as coach, despite his lack of first-grade coaching experience. Though the Raiders were bolstered by late-season signings Neville Costigan and Matt Bickerstaff, several critics believed that the Raiders' significant loss of experience would result in their "winning" the wooden spoon.