Last night the Wagga City Council (WCC) accepted a submission from the Raiders and NRL to accommodate one Raiders home game in their town in the next 2 seasons.
Specifically for the Raiders this opportunity provides the below outcomes:
• Provide the Club greater opportunity to 'extend and grow' our brand in a traditional large outer lying recruitment and marketing region;
• Enables the Club and NRL to more effectively demonstrate their 'commitment and representation' of NSW Country – Raiders simplistically are the NRL's most inland regional team;
• Enhance Raiders visibility in the region to complement work already being done in the area;
• Show appreciation to members and fans who reside in the region, by alleviating one match of significant travel to attend a live game;
• Reciprocal benefit to the NSW Government, and/or affiliates, for their contribution to CRRL/Raiders new Centre of Excellence.
As part of the new announced partnership, the Raiders ensured that Club Members were at the forefront of discussions, as reflected by Don Furner's comments in the issued WCC press release (see attached)
"We have an extraordinary number of members and fans that attend games in Canberra from the Riverina, so to commit one premiership game to Wagga in each of the next two seasons is a small club gesture to show our appreciation of their support.
"Eleven home games will remain in Canberra during season 2019 and 2020 to maintain our strong presence and commitment to our home city. In addition, we get to play a match in the large region of NSW which we represent.
"We will be encouraging all of our Canberra-based members to travel out to Wagga, support the Raiders and make a weekend of it."
Specific match details and ticketing information will be released with the NRL 2019 season draw, however the Club has been assured that Raiders Members/Sponsors will have first opportunity to access tickets.
