The Votes are in and the fans have decided on the clubs best jersey of all-time!
The Raiders teamed up with avid Raiders memorabilia guru, Canberra Raiders Jersey Nerd to select 40 of the clubs most iconic and unique jerseys, so fans could vote on their all-time favourite Raiders jersey.
The votes are in, and with a huge 44.6% of the vote, the 1994 Home jersey has been named the best of all-time! See below for a description of the top 10 and what percentage of the vote they secured in the final!
Raiders 40 -Year Jersey Competition – Results
1994 Home - 44.6% of the Vote
The 1994 Raiders home jersey is a 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.
1989 Home - 19.8% of the Vote
The 1989 home jersey holds a special place in Canberra Raiders history, as it’s the first ever jersey the club wore in a premiership winning season. In what has been described as the greatest Grand Final of all-time, the Raiders defeated the Balmain Tigers 19-14 in extra time to secure the first premiership for the club.
The jersey itself is in the traditional style of lime green with a white collar and sleeve trim which includes the white, yellow and blue hoops on the sleeves.
The major sponsor in 1989 was Woodger’s, which features on the front and back of the jersey. This jersey would also feature the 1989 grand final badge, which was added to the jerseys of the teams who played in the grand finals during the Winfield Cup era.
Manufactured by Peerless, it’s one of the clubs most iconic jerseys.
(Please note, due to the similarity between the 1987 and 1989 home jerseys, the 1989 home jersey will represented both jerseys in the final).
2021 Heritage - 8.77% of the Vote
In 2021 the Raiders had a taste of nostalgia with their heritage jersey, with Canberra Milk returning to the front of the club’s jersey as they resumed as major sponsor for the season.
The traditional green jersey featured the white, blue and yellow hoops on the sleeves, with a blue collar and jersey trim.
There were also blue, white and yellow vertical stripes at the back of the neck of the jersey.
Toyota Forklifts featured on the on-field jersey as sleeve sponsor, ITP Australia on the neckline, Huawei and Austbrokers on the back, with the ISC produced jersey featuring the NRL Telstra Premiership and Raiders logos.
1990 Home - 6.79% of the Vote
The 1990 Home jersey was worn in the Raiders second premiership season and carries history as another of the Raiders premiership jerseys.
The jersey carries the same hoops of blue, white and yellow of the 1989 premiership jersey, but incorporated a new blue collar into the design, which was a change from the World Club Challenge jersey.
The Major Sponsor for the jersey is Video Ezy which underwent a couple of changes in appearance early on, and also featured their branding on the sleeves. Video Ezy would remain on the front of the jersey for the Raiders third consecutive Grand Final appearance in 1991 before their last season as major sponsor in 1992.
Manufactured by Peerless, the jerseys feature the NSWRL and original Raiders logos.
1994 Away - 5.91% of the Vote
The 1994 Away jersey continues the trend of traditionally styled away jerseys, with the predominantly white strip incorporating the 1994 style of a wing collar in blue. This was an iconic look along with the blue shorts and socks.
The Green, blue and yellow hoops feature on the sleeves and around the centre of the jersey. Being a predominantly white jersey also made the Canberra Milk and Video Ezy sponsorships stand out even more.
The jersey manufactured by Canterbury, carries the NSWRL logo and the traditional Raiders logo.
2021 Indigenous - 4.4% of the Vote
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.
2014 Hulk - 4.21% of The Vote
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.
1982 Home - 3.25% of the Vote
The story of the original 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.
1989 World Club Challenge - 1.39% of the Vote
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.
2003 Home - 0.87% of the Vote
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.
