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 third 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 three
Raiders 40 -Year Jersey Competition Round 3
1983 Away
The Raiders away strip in the 1983 season was the reverse of the home jersey. It was a predominantly white jersey with a green collar and sleeve trim. It also carried the green, blue and yellow hoops on the sleeves.
Manufactured by peerless, the jersey also displayed the rare NSWRFL logo which only existed for 3 seasons and original Canberra Raiders logos. The Major sponsor logo, Woodgers was displayed in a yellow and blue font, which was different to the home jersey logo.
1992 Great Britain
During the 1992 season the Great Britain Lions toured Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand, this included a three-test series against the Kangaroos which would feature a thrilling 2-1 series finish to Australia after Great Britain upset the Aussies in the second test.
As part of the tour, the Lions played a number of tour matches against opponents such as NSW Country, Queensland residents and a number of teams in the NSWRL including the Illawarra Steelers, Parramatta Eels, Gold Coast Seagulls, Newcastle Knights and the Raiders.
The match against the Raiders was played at Bruce Stadium on Saturday June 6 in 1992, with the Raiders side featuring the likes of Brett Mullins, Chris O’Sullivan, Ricky Stuart and Gary Coyne. The Raiders lost the match 24-12.
The Raiders wore a special jersey to mark the occasion, along with the Raiders traditional logo, the jersey had a specially made Raiders v Lions badge on the front, with Major sponsor Video Ezy as well as the 92 sleeve sponsor Bega Cheese also featuring. This was the first time the Raiders would wear a different design to the regular home or away in their first 10 seasons.
The Top half of the jersey was Blue with Green and yellow stripes across the chest and hooped sleeves while the bottom half of the jersey was white. The jersey was manufactured by Canterbury.
1994 Home
The 1994 Raiders home jersey is another significant jersey in Raider’s history, as it was worn in a premiership season. The Raiders wore this jersey in their 36-12 win over the Bulldogs in the decider, in what was Mal Meninga’s last match for the Green Machine. The iconic image of him celebrating his final try of the decider is now depicted on the Meninga Medal.
The mainly green jersey has a blue collar and sleeve trim and carries the traditional white, blue and yellow hoops.
Manufactured by Canterbury, the Major Sponsor of the jersey is Canberra Milk, which has been associated with the club for its entire existence and also featured on the front of the 2020 playing kit. Also synonymous with jersey are the orange and black Video Ezy patches that adorned the sleeves for a number of seasons.
2000 Home
In 2000 the Raiders made a drastic change to their playing strip as they moved away from the traditional lime green to a bottle green as they undertook a new partnership with Puma. The jersey had a black collar and sleeve trims, with a black and lime green v-shape in the front and a white outline on that shape.
The jersey carried the NRL logo as well as a brand new Canberra Raiders logo. Themajor sponsor in 2000 was Ozemail with Compuware joining as sleeve sponsor
2004 Away
The 2004 Away jersey was the result of fan design competition, where Raider’s members and fans were asked to submit a design for an away strip. The jersey was designed from the competition winner’s entry.
The strip was mainly white with blue, green and yellow side panels. It was topped off with a blue collar and sleeve trim.
The jersey carried the Telstra Premiership and Raiders logos and the Major Sponsor was Fone Zone with Compuware on the sleeves. The jersey was produced by ISC.
2008 Heritage
The 2008 Heritage jersey was produced by the club as part of the centenary of rugby league celebrations across the game. The jersey design was a throwback to the original home strips of the early 80s and was predominantly lime green with a white colour and sleeve trim. The jersey also carried the traditional white, blue and yellow hoops around the sleeves.
The CFMEU Major Sponsor logo was modified to have the same look as the first Major Sponsor Woodger’s and it carried the Telstra Premiership, Canberra Raiders original logo and the special Centenary of rugby league logo. The jersey was produced by ISC.
2014 Hulk
In 2014 jersey manufacturer ISC established a partnership with Marvel, to create a range of jerseys based off the famous comic book characters. As part of the initiative the Raiders were assigned The Hulk and played in a specially designed playing kit for their match against the New Zealand Warriors.
The jersey uses the Hulk’s green character as the main colour of the strip, with the Raiders white Away jersey depicted as tearing away from the Hulk’s body as he would in the comic books.
The bottom portion of the jersey was purple to replicate the Hulk’s pants and the team played in purple shorts to match this.
The Raiders would play in another different Hulk jersey the following season before they moved to the character Iron Fist for the final year of the program with Marvel.
The jersey featured the Telstra Premiership and Raiders logos. Major Sponsor Huawei logo along with Defence Housing Australia and Abode Hotels adorned the other sponsorship spaces on the jersey.
2014 Legacy
The Raiders created a special Legacy jersey in 2014 to help recognise the past and to inspire the future, as the jersey served as celebration of the club’s heritage.
The predominantly green jersey featured large white, blue and yellow hoops around the jersey body, which included the names of all of the Raiders players to have played first grade for the club. The jersey also featured the club’s premiership seasons of 1989, 1990 and 1994 on the chest, the original club logo and the words ‘Since 1982’ as a nod to their first season.
Manufactured by ISC, the jersey also carried the NRL Telstra premiership logo along with a modified Huawei logo on the front.
2019 Charity (Deaf Australia)
The 2019 Charity jersey was another of Major Sponsor Huawei’s charity initiatives to help raise money and awareness, this time for Deaf Australia.
The jerseys featured the Deaf Australia logo on the front and the entire Auslan Alphabet of letters which appeared subtly throughout the mainly white jersey. It also featured the StorySign logo on the back/top of the jersey which is a technology platform by Huawei that helps deaf children read.
The top half of the jersey was mainly blue, with white, blue and green strips around the top of the chest and sleeves.
The jersey also carried the Telstra Premiership, Raiders and Major Sponsor Huawei logos as well as sub sponsors ITP, Dare and Austbrokers. The match worn jerseys were auctioned off post-match to raise money for Deaf Australia.
2021 Women in League
The Raiders wore a specially designed jersey in 2021 as part of the NRL’s Women in league Round.
The design featured over 1000 names of women who have contributed immensely to rugby league as part of the Raiders Valkyrie Program. The jersey was also supported by Toyota Forklifts, who helped bring the project together.
The mainly green jersey had the names of the women featured throughout the jersey, while the sleeves were a slightly darker green with white, blue and yellow trim. The jersey also acknowledged the Raiders Valkyrie program on the front chest and carried the Valkyrie logo on the back of the neck of the jersey.
The jersey carried the Toyota Forklifts logo who helped with the initiative, along with the Raiders and Telstra Premiership logos.
