Canberra Raiders

The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership since it started in 1998, they were included in the NSWRL from 1982. Over this period the club has won three premierships from six Grand Final appearances and two minor premierships. Their most recent grand final appearance came in the 2019 NRL Grand Final, resulting in a 14–8 loss to the Sydney Roosters following a controversial overturned six-again call. Canberra currently have the second longest active premiership drought in the NRL which is 33 years. Canberra's current home ground is Canberra Stadium in Bruce. Previously, the team played home matches at Seiffert Oval in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, with the move to the Canberra Stadium in Bruce taking place in 1990. The official symbol for the Canberra Raiders is the Viking. The Viking, also a mascot at Raiders' games, is known as Victor the Viking. As part of the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership's first expansion outside Sydney, Canberra were admitted to the League, along with the Illawarra Steelers in the 1982 season. Over the following years they improved steadily, reaching a playoff for 5th in their third season, and becoming the first non-Sydney team to make the finals (1987), after this they would go on to feature in a grand final (1987) and win a premiership (1989). This heralded a period of great success for the club, with five grand Final appearances and three premierships in eight years. During this period, the Raiders boasted international players such as Mal Meninga, Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart, Glenn Lazarus, Bradley Clyde, Gary Belcher, Brett Mullins and Steve Walters. After this came the Super...