Comments on: The Forgotten NRL Team: Canberra Raiders

By: darren

darren — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:06:39 +0000

chase the corporate backing first and start improving current facilities

what the??

they got the AIS down there you fool , what better facilities can you get than that?

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 02:09:52 +0000

“Opposition teams always fear the cold, unwelcoming track at Bruce Stadium” – The running track was removed a very long time ago.

“but on the back of dwindling crowd figures” – Dwindling?? With some minor fluctuations the crowds have been pretty much stable for the last ten years.

“Also on their side, the fact that they can tap into a large supporter base” – The population of Canberra is around 320,000, Queanbeyan has around 30,000. That’s a very small supporter base.

By: Sunny Singh

Sunny Singh — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 06:57:37 +0000

Adam,

Whilst I can understand where you’re coming from with your views on the club’s situation, as a fellow sports writer, I cannot agree with a lot of what you have said. Living in Canberra gives me the opportunity to closely monitor the progress of the Raiders in particular and I for one can say that this is a club on a slow, but steady rise. Financially, the Raiders are one of only a few clubs that run at a profit and have one of the strongest junior bases in the league. In recent times, the side has enjoyed mixed success, but haven’t looked a shadow of their former selves. However, with exciting upcoming juniors such as Todd Carney, Dane Tilse and William Zillman, the future looks bright for the club. Having lost over 1000 games of experience at the end of 2006, the club was never going to shoot to glory within the space of one year. I compare our situation with that of the Panthers in 2003 and the Tigers in 2005. Do not underestimate the side, because they have shown in the past that it happens at the opposition sides’ own peril. And if you want a reminder of the talent this team possesses, I suggest you watch the Raiders game against the Eels at home in 2007. You will not have seen a more dominant performance in 2007.

Regards
Sunny

By: Allen

Allen — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 04:47:25 +0000

Were the Titans a force before or after the Raiders raped them?

By: David Beard

David Beard — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:24:34 +0000

Adam,

I think you are a little off the pace. The Raiders have only missed the finals twice in the past 10 years and have won a premiership much more recent than the likes of ST George and Parramatta. They have not collected the wooden spoon since their inception in 1982 and have sold the most membership packages thus far in 2008 than any other NRL club.

Now please explain to me again why they are struggglers? I’ll answer for you. Its because of the ignorance of over rated hacks like yourself who call yourself a journalist. You probably support some Sydney club and have lived in Sydney (or Brisbane) your whole life and have yet to comprehend that teams outside of Sydney are not only competitive but exist, and exist quite well. The QRL (Quenbeyan Rugby League) recently posted their 07 report offering huge $$ to support the Raiders in the future. The Raiders future is much more certain and sustainable than most other clubs in the NRL today.

I agree that a super coach is requried. Under the Matt Elliot regime we adopted a boring style of play that offered the opinion we were talentless (a view Elliot encouraged to belay pressure on himself) and without potential. ANy Raiders fan will tell you that is crap and our roster was very talented but without permission to play expansive footy.

If only the Sydney media and Channel 9 would give the Raiders some positive and honest exposure we would not have the incorrect stigma that we carry now. We will again do better than people think in 08, simply because like yourself and most other ignoramus supporters, they dont think life exists outside their own sphere of reality.

By: D Church

D Church — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:33:35 +0000

All very good ideas. Firstly, the Raiders should invest in state-of-the-art training facilities like, umm, the one it already has next door called the AIS. Secondly, they should then also sack their winning State of Origin assistant coach and go with a big name like Chris Anderson. Thirdly they need to sign a big name player like Gasnier, Minichello, Buderus, Gower, Mason or SB Williams – all of whom led their clubs to outstandingly successful seasons last year. Finally they need to totally ignore the true stars of their future by the names of Zillman, Costigan, Learoyd-Lahrs and Tilse because apparently only Todd Carney has any real ability. And don’t forget the Raiders are one of the only clubs in the NRL which make a multi million dollar profit each year from their vast stable of leagues clubs.

I’m surprised the author even knows where Canberra is considering he appears to have a complete lack of knowledge of the club itself.

By: Marko Milinkovic

Marko Milinkovic — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:35:43 +0000

What a poorly researched article.. “Improve facilities”. Did you know that the Raiders Not only have their own Gym, but also have access to CISAC (google that term or “club Lime” to find it), which is close to the premier fitness facility in Canberra.
We also have the A.I.S and use their state of the art facilities as well. After each match the players will complete their cool down in the brand spanking new state of the art plunge pools..

But I agree…. Lets try upgrade the A.I.S….

Also to suggests our crowd figures are ‘dwindling’ is more poor research, our crowds actually had a slight increase this year, and you have to remember that the 2006 Home averages was significantly bumped up by the final home match where around 22,000 turned up to farewell some club legends.

Also if you want to talk about crowds, lets remember that we are averaging around 12-13000 in a town with eh population of around 350,000.. Sydney clubs have a bigger base to draw from (around 450,000) if you divide them up, and then you have to consider the fact that is much easier for Sydney Clubs to draw a bigger contingent of away fans seeing as 3/4 of their home matches are against a team in the same city.. Now a club like Brisbane averages 30,000 but has 5 times the population base to draw from… Think about that for a second.

Also did you know that our corporate sponsorship was the highest it has been in a long time last season? With corporates boxes to all home games pretty much sold out……

Anyway your job as a journalist would be to provoke/promote discussion, which you have accomplished. I could go on for much longer if I wanted to, but will leave it at that.

Have a Nice Day,