The Canberra Raiders are calling on fans to vote on the club’s best jersey of all-time, as part of the 40th-anniversary celebrations.
The Raiders have teamed up with avid Raiders memorabilia guru, Canberra Raiders Jersey Nerd to select 40 of the clubs most iconic and unique jerseys, so fans can vote on their all-time favourite Raiders jersey.
The Raiders will have four rounds of voting to select the top 10, with each round showcasing a mix of eras and jerseys over the clubs 40-year history. The top 10 jerseys will then be selected from the fan vote, with one final vote to see which jersey is voted the best in club history.
Below is some information on the history of the club’s jersey and our first round of 10 jerseys, which you can vote on to make it through to the final!
CLICK HERE to vote on your favourite jerseys in round one
By entering the competition you go into the draw to win all three of the 2022 Raiders jerseys (Heritage, Jersey 1, Jersey 2) in any available size!
All entries also receive a discount code for Raiders Shop
1981 the Raiders jersey was born
The story of the Raiders jersey is one which can be traced back to 1981, with the club deciding to hold a public competition to come up with the club colours and jersey design for the debut season in 1982.
In David Headon’s recent book ‘Absolutely Bleeding Green – The Raiders story’ he explains that the competition attracted over 120 entries and was won by local resident ‘Patricia Taylor’. She proposed the colours of the jersey ought to be a combination of the ACT’s blue and gold, together with the green and white of the Hall village rugby league team of yesteryear. The uniform design, approved by the NSWRL in August, consisted of a lime-green jersey with white hoops above the elbows and blue and gold stripes, and lime green socks with banded blue, gold and white tops.
‘Patricia Taylor’ was in fact Patricia Elphick, the wife of local ACT Rugby League identity Don Elphick. It was felt that his prominent place in Raiders’ submission and presentation team might make the competition look like an exercise in nepotism. So ‘Patricia Taylor’ won the competition – well, half a competition – and most were pleased with the result. In a letter she sent to NRL Chief Executive Todd Greenberg in February 2019, 82-year-old Mrs Elphick pointed out for historical record that she had nothing to do with the Canberra Raiders’ suggested jersey design or its colours. The ‘original designer’, she wrote was her late husband Don, and the ‘Taylor’ name used in the entry was her maiden name.
For the first 3 seasons the iconic Rugby League brand Classic Sportswear was the clubs official manufacturer.
Raiders 40 -Year Jersey Competition Round 1
1987 Home
The 1987 Home jersey is one of the more nostalgic and historical jerseys in club history, as it is the first jersey the Raiders ever wore in a Grand Final. The Raiders lost their maiden grand final to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in 1987 by 18-8 in what was also the last grand final played at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Manufactured by Peerless, the jersey features a slightly darker shade of green then the earlier Raiders jerseys, the NSWRL badge and the original Canberra Raiders logo.
The major sponsor in 1987 was Woodger’s, which also features on the front of the jersey. This particular image also features the 1987 grand final badge, which was added to teams who played in the grand finals during the Winfield Cup era.
1989 World Club Challenge
This jersey was created following the Raiders maiden premiership in 1989 and was set to be worn for the 1990 season. The jersey would make its one and only appearance in the 1989 World Club Challenge against Widnes where the Raiders would lose to the Vikings 30-18.
Due to some logistical issues the jerseys worn in the game featured a slightly different sponsor logo, with McFadden Homes featuring in the match with a black block background.
The jersey below would not feature in the 1990 season, with Video Ezy taking over the major sponsorship (and first ever sleeve sponsor) of the Raiders before the start of the regular season.
Manufactured by Peerless, the jerseys feature a blue collar for the first time, the NSWRL and original Raiders logos.
1997 Home (Super League)
There’s no doubt the Super League war was one of the most controversial times during rugby league history. In 1997 the competition was split into two, with the Raiders opting to enter the Super League.
The jerseys for the one and only Super League season were all manufactured by Nike and featured similar designs, with the Raiders sharing the same design as the Broncos. The jerseys also features the Super League badge in the middle of the jersey and the Telstra Cup Super league badge on the chest. Interestingly there is no Raiders logo on this seasons Jersey as the Australian Rugby League owned all the club logo trademarks and they were unable to feature on super league apparel.
Players were also able to choose the number they played in rather than the usual 1 to 13 that took the field. This was an idea popular in the US market to sell player merchandise with their number on it.
Manufactured by Nike, Ansett Australia was the major sponsor on the jersey in 1997.
2001 Heritage
During the 2001 NRL season, the Raiders wore a special jersey against the Parramatta Eels to celebrate 20 seasons. The jersey was a throwback to the Raiders lime green jerseys and featured a blue collar and traditional white, blue and yellow hoops on the sleeves.
The jersey featured a special 20 Seasons Raiders logo with the players jerseys featuring the game day details embroidered under the logo.
Manufactured by Puma, the major sponsor for the season was Ozemail.
2003 Home
The 2003 Home jersey was the return of the Lime Green after the bottle green designs of 2001-2002. The jersey was predominantly lime green with the ACT colours that traditionally were hoops on the sleeves moved under the sides of the jersey and across the shoulders in vertical design It also featured a return to the white collar.
The jersey had the Telstra Premiership badge on the chest and the Raiders logo.
This jersey was also the first season ISC produced a Raiders jersey, in a partnership that continues nearly 20 years later. The Major Sponsor in 2003 was Fone Zone.
2009 Away
The 2009 Away jersey was a throwback to the club’s earlier away strips. The jersey was predominantly white and featured blue, green and yellow hoops on the sleeves and around the centre of the main jersey.
The playing jerseys during the 2009 season featured an embroidered tribute to Raiders Founder Les McIntyre, who passed away in February 2009. The jersey also features the Telstra Premiership logo and the Raiders logo.
Manufactured by ISC, the major Sponsor for 2009 was the CFMEU and they adapted their logo to fit in with the heritage style of the jersey.
2013 Centenary of Canberra
In 2013 Canberra celebrated its 100th birthday with the Centenary of Canberra celebrations. As part of the celebrations, the Raiders wore a one-off Centenary Jersey against the Broncos on June 10.
The jersey design was based on a mix of the early representative strips of the first official ACT based representative rugby league teams which were established in the 1970’s. Before this time Canberra based players represented the Monaro region.
The jersey manufactured by ISC features the NRL and Raiders logos, together with the Canberra 100-year logo. The Major Sponsor in 2013 was Huawei.
2017 Forever Green
The 2017 Forever Green jersey was worn against the Eels in round five as part of the clubs Forever Green celebrations. The jersey was designed by a fan featured the names of all the Raiders who had represented the club at first grade level subtly blended throughout the main white section if the jersey.
The top half of the jersey was predominantly green, with a blue, white, and yellow chevron on the chest and Green bands on the sleeves.
The jersey featured Raiders Founder Les McIntyre’s name on the chest, with the NRL Telstra Premiership and Raiders logos. The jersey was manufactured by ISC and the Major Sponsor was Huawei.
2020 Charity (Black Dog Institute)
The 2020 Raiders charity jersey was part of the then Major Sponsor Huawei’s annual charity round. In 2020 Huawei and the Raiders partnered with the Black Dog Institute, to help raise awareness for mental health through BDI.
The jersey featured the Black Dog Institute logo in the main sponsor section of the jersey, with Huawei in a more reduced capacity. A mainly white jersey, it features green trim on the collar and side panels that included the hashtag #mentalhealthMVP, with green and blue stripes in the bottom half.
The jersey produced by ISC features the NRL Telstra Premiership and Raiders logos.
2021 Indigenous
The 2021 Indigenous jersey was designed by artist Rayne Huddleston, a Ngandi and Nyiyaparli man from Urulah Cultural Art, and was based on initial concepts from Justine Brown, a Ngunnawal woman from Mulleun Dreaming, and students in the NRL School to Work program at Queanbeyan High School.
The design focuses on two totems. The wedge-tailed eagle (Mulleun) represents the Ngunnawal people who are the Indigenous people of the Canberra region and its first inhabitants. It also depicts the Ngunnawal Dreamtime story of Mulleun. The goanna represents the people of the Wiradjuri nation which is the largest Indigenous Nation within NSW. The goanna totem represents the Raiders’ broader regional connections and Jack Wighton’s mob.
The jersey manufactured by ISC features the NRL Telstra Premiership logo and Raiders logos, with Toyota Forklifts the Major Sponsor on the front.
