2022-2024 /

2022 - 2024

2022 - 40 Years of the Green Machine

2022 was a special year for the Raiders, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the club’s foundation in 1982.

The club held a 40th anniversary gala night to celebrate the milestone, with four players inducted into the Raiders Hall of Fame on the night.

These players were Quentin Pongia, Brett Hetherington, Paul Osbourne and Noa Nadruku.

This season saw Jamal Fogarty, Adam Elliott and Zac Woolford arrive at the club.

The Raiders kicked off their 2022 campaign with a 24-19 victory over the Sharks at GIO Stadium Canberra. The win was bittersweet however, with hooker Josh Hodgson suffering a season-ending knee injury early in the match.

The Raiders were defeated by the Cowboys in round two, before a thrilling comeback win in round three against the Titans.

But the Raiders then slumped to a five-game losing streak. The team managed to turn things around and record wins in rounds 9, 10 and 11, but mixed results saw the Raiders needing a strong finish to the season.

And this they managed to do, winning seven of their last eight games of the regular season to finish in eighth spot.

Week one of finals saw the Raiders travel down to Melbourne to take on the Storm in an elimination final.

The Raiders led 16-8 at half-time thanks to tries to Matt Timoko, Jamal Fogarty and Elliott Whitehead.

The Storm made a second half comeback, scoring two tries to give them a 20-16 lead with 23 minutes to go.

But with five minutes of the game left, Jordan Rapana scored the match-winning try after a pass rebounded off Sebastian Kris’ head and into the in-goal area, with the Raiders winning 28-20.

The win marked the fifth victory in a row at AAMI Park for the Raiders.

In week two of finals the Raiders played the Parramatta Eels at Commbank Stadium. The Eels proved too strong for the green machine, leading 22-4 at half-time before going on to win 40-4.

James Schiller, Adam Elliott, Adrian Trevilyan, Harry Rushton, Zac Woolford, Trey Mooney, Jamal Fogarty, Albert Hopoate and Ata Mariota all made their Raiders debut this year, a special achievement for each player and the club.

Joe Tapine capped off a stellar season by winning the 2022 Meninga Medal as the club’s best player.

Tapine won by a landslide, finishing with 44 votes in the final tally, with Jack Wighton in second place with 22 votes.

Hudson Young took home the NRL Coaches’ Award, with Brad Schneider winning the NRL Rookie of the Year award, which was renamed the Peter Mulholland Rookie of the Year award.

The Fred Daly Club Person of the Year went to Kate Gallegos, the first female winner of the award in club history.

Michael Asomua was awarded the Gordon McLucas Junior Representative of the Year award, while Harley Smith-Shields was named the Geoff Caldwell Welfare & Education award winner for 2022.

Tapine was also named as prop in the 2022 Dally M Team of the Year, as well as in the 2022 RLPA Players’ Dream Team.

Sebastian Kris and Hudson Young were the team’s top try scorers this year with 14 tries each, while Jamal Fogarty was the top point scorer with 116 points across the season.

The 2021 Rugby League World Cup tournament was held at the end of this year, having been postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

There was a great representation of the Raiders at the World Cup, with nine players taking part in the competition.

Jordan Rapana, Sebastian Kris, Joe Tapine and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (New Zealand), Jack Wighton (Australia), Elliott Whitehead (England), Semi Valemei (Fiji), Josh Papalii (Samoa) and Brad Morkos (Lebanon) all played for their countries, with Australia defeating Samoa in the final.

The Raiders farewelled Josh Hodgson, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Ryan Sutton and Adam Ellliott at the end of the season. Harry Rushton departed the club midway through the season.

2023 - Raiders reach finals again & NRLW team makes debut

2023 was a historic year for the Raiders, with the introduction of our NRLW team.

Meanwhile the NRL team reached finals for the fourth time in five years.

New arrivals Danny Levi, Pasami Saulo and Hohepa Puru all joined the Raiders and all made their Raiders debut this year, along with Ethan Strange and Peter Hola.

The Raiders started the 2023 season slowly, only winning one of their first five matches. 

But the team managed to turn things around against the Broncos in round 6 up at Suncorp Stadium, and went on to win the next four straight games.

The season was a series of tight matches, with the Raiders' largest winning margin just 12 points.  

The team finished the regular season in eighth spot on the ladder and travelled to Newcastle to take on the Knights in an elimination final.

The lead changed three times and both teams got out to over 10 point leads. A Tom Starling try with just over two minutes remaining of the game gave Jamal Fogarty a chance to kick the conversion to send the game to Golden Point, and he did just that. 

With scores locked at 28-28, a penalty to the Knights in the 88th minute allowed Kalyn Ponga to kick the winning goal, sending the Raiders packing. 

Joe Tapine was awarded the 2023 Meninga Medal for the second consecutive year, while Sebastian Kris won the NRL Coaches’ Award.

Ata Mariota won the Peter Mulholland Rookie of the Year and Jamal Fogarty was awarded the Fred Daly Club Person of the Year.

Jordan Rapana and Matt Timoko finished the season as the Raiders' NRL leading try scorers with 11 tries each, while Jarrod Croker was the leading points scorer with 130 points.

There were a couple of special milestones brought up at the club this year, including Jarrod Croker playing his 300th Raiders game at home against the Warriors in Round 15. 

Joe Tapine played his 150th Raiders game and Jordan Rapana scored his 100th Raiders try.

Representative football was a special one this year for a couple of Raiders players, with Hudson Young and Corey Horsburgh making their Origin debuts for NSW and QLD respectively, and Matt Timoko making his NZ Kiwis debut at the Pacific Championships at the end of the year.

After 15 seasons and 307 games for the Raiders, Jarrod Croker announced his retirement following the 2023 season. Croker is just the second player to reach 300 matches solely for the Raiders and is the club’s leading try scorer and point scorer.

The Raiders also farewelled Jack Wighton, Matt Frawley, Brad Schneider, Semi Valemei and Elijah Anderson this year.

2023 was a historic year of firsts with our inaugural Raiders team joining the NRLW competition.

Coach Darrin Borthwick put together a balanced squad including players with lots of NRLW and representative experience along with players who hadn’t played NRLW before.

Simaima Taufa and Zahara Temara were named co-captains of the team.

The Raiders NRLW side played their first ever game in round one against the Sharks at Pointsbet Stadium, going down 28-16.

But the side were able to bounce back and put in a terrific performance in their first home match the following week, defeating a powerhouse Roosters outfit 24-14.

The Raiders went on to win their next three straight games before falling to the Broncos in round six.

The Raiders defeated the Cowboys in round 8 and needed to win their final match of the regular season to finish in the top four but fell short to the Titans.

Overall it was an impressive inaugural season for the Raiders, who showed plenty of talent and grit throughout their matches and were able to match it with the best.

There were 13 players who made their NRLW debut this year: Hollie-Mae Dodd, Cheyelle Robins-Reti, Mackenzie Wiki, Kerehitina Matua, Tara Reinke, Grace Kemp, Emma Barnes, Alanna Dummett, Ua Ravu, Elise Smith, Ahlivia Ingram, Petesa Lio, and Ella Ryan.

Simaima Taufa (NSW), Zahara Temara (QLD) and Sophie Holyman all played in the 2023 Women’s State of Origin series, with Holyman making her Queensland debut.

Simaima Taufa capped off an impressive season by winning the 2023 NRLW Player of the Year.

Janelle Williams was awarded the NRLW Coaches’ Award, while Cheyelle Robins-Reti won the NRLW Rookie of the Year.

Taufa was also named at lock in the 2023 Dally M NRLW Team of the Year, the 2023 Dally M Captain of the Year and in the RLPA NRLW Players’ Dream Team.

Madison Bartlett was the team’s leading try scorer with seven tries while Zahara Temara finished with the most points on 47.

Cheyelle Robins-Reti capped off an outstanding first season of NRLW by making her Kiwi Ferns debut at the Pacific Championships.

2024 - A see-sawing season and special milestones

After a mixed season that included some impressive wins and disappointing losses, the Raiders fell just short of a top eight finish.

Kaeo Weekes, Morgan Smithies, Simi Sasagi and Zac Hosking all joined the Raiders this year, bringing plenty of talent to the club.

Six players made their Raiders debut, with Chevy Stewart, Jordan Martin and Morgan Smithies also making their NRL debuts this year.

The Raiders kicked off their 2024 campaign with 28-12 win over the Knights in Newcastle, before backing it up against the Tigers in round two.

A see-sawing middle part of the season saw the Raiders claim some tight wins, but just two wins in nine rounds at the back end of the season saw the Raiders slip down the ladder.

Despite winning the last three games of the regular season against the Panthers, Roosters and Dragons, it wasn’t enough with the side finishing the regular season in ninth place and just missing the top eight on points differential.

Joe Tapine was awarded the 2024 Meninga Medal for the third consecutive year, with Kaeo Weekes awarded the 2024 NRL Coaches’ Award and Ethan Strange named Peter Mulholland Rookie of the Year.  

Tapine was also awarded the Dally M Prop of the Year at the 2024 Dally M Awards.

Xavier Savage was the Raiders’ NRL top try scorer with 15 tries throughout the season.

The club celebrated some special milestones this season, including Josh Papalii’s 300th Raiders game.

Debuting at the club in 2011, Papalii played his 300th Raiders game against the Bulldogs in round 22 at Belmore, before celebrating the milestone in front of home fans at GIO Stadium Canberra in round 23 against the Sea Eagles.

Other major milestones included Jordan Rapana’s 200 Raiders games, Elliott Whitehead’s 200 Raiders games and Hudson Young’s 100 Raiders games.

The Raiders were again well represented in representative football this year. Hudson Young came off the bench for the NSW Blues in State of Origin game one, and at the Pacific Championships became Kangaroo #857 when he made his debut for Australia against Tonga.

Joe Tapine and Matt Timoko represented the Kiwis side, with Tapine scoring an incredible solo try against Tonga in week three of the Pacific Championships.

At the end of this season, the Raiders farewelled two club legends in Elliott Whitehead and Jordan Rapana.

Whitehead debuted for the Raiders in 2016 and was club captain from 2021. He played 205 games for the Raiders and was one of the club’s most consistent performers in his time in green. He was part of teams that made preliminary finals in 2016 and 2020 and a Grand Final in 2019.

Rapana was a club favourite since making his debut in 2014, and went on to play 214 games for the Raiders. He finished his time in green as a Meninga Medal winner (2021) and the third all-time leading try scorer in club history with 106 tries.

The Raiders also farewelled Nick Cotric (#341), James Schiller (#379), Adrian Trevilyan (#381), Zac Woolford (#383), Peter Hola (#390) and Hohepa Puru (#392).  

In July this year it was announced that the Raiders would be one of four NRL clubs to play in Las Vegas next year, with the Raiders to kick off the 2025 season against the New Zealand Warriors.

Their second season in the NRLW, the Raiders 

There were a six new additions to the squad this year, with Sereana Naitokatoka, Relna Wuruki-Hosea, Amelia Pasikala, Jaida Faleono, Tatiana Finau and Claudia Finau all joining the club. 

Seven players made their Raiders NRLW debut throughout the season, with five of those players also making their NRLW debut. 

The Raiders started off their season with an impressive 20 point victory over the Tigers at Campbelltown. 

Despite playing some strong footy the Raiders went on to lose their five matches. They won two of their last three matches but it wasn't enough to seal a finals spot. 

Simaima Taufa was awarded the Meninga Medal for the second consecutive year at the Meninga Medal Presentation night at the end of the season, with Chanté Temara receiving the NRLW Coaches' Award and Relna Wuruki-Hosea named the NRLW Rookie of the Year. 

At the 2024 Dally M Awards, Taufa was awarded the 2024 Lock of the Year, while fellow co-captain Zahara Temara was named the 2024 Five-Eighth of the Year. Zahara was also the joint winner of the Provan-Summons Medal. 

Zahara Temara was the first NRLW player to play 40 games, and the first to reach 200 points.

Winger Madison Bartlett was the top try-scoring for the second year in a row having scored eight tries. 

There was great Raiders representation at the Pacific Championships at the end of the season: Simaima Taufa (Australia), Mackenzie Wiki (New Zealand), Ash Quinlan (New Zealand), Apii Nicholls (New Zealand), Ua Ravu (Papua New Guinea), Claudia Finau (Tonga), Tatiana Finau (Tonga), Monalisa Soliola (Samoa), Kerehitina Matua (Cook Islands), Sereana Naitokatoka (Fiji). 

Hollie-Mae Dodd played for England in an international match against Wales, scoring a try. 

The Raiders farewelled Apii Nicholls and Ash Quinlan at the end of the season. The two Kiwi Fern internationals played 17 games each for the green machine, with Apii serving as vice-captain during her time in the team.