Andrew Pelechaty reviews the 2023 Season of the Canberra Raiders where they finished eighth on the ladder.

Club Stats

Wins: 13
Losses: 11
Most Tries: 11, Matt Timoko
Most Points: 130, Jarrod Croker
Mal Meninga Medal Player of the Year: Joe Tapine

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The Muppet Show

After returning to the finals in 2022, Canberra backed it up with a strange 2023.

While they won 13 games, ALL their wins were between 1-12, and they had heavy losses to three of the top four teams (53-12 vs Penrith, 36-14 vs NZ Warriors, 48-2 vs Melbourne), which added to their -137 differential.

Canberra made the most of a friendly draw, winning 10 from 12 from Round 6 to Round 19. While they should have locked down a top four spot, they regularly squandered comfortable leads (especially against the Wests Tigers in Round 14 and St George Illawarra in Round 19, blowing 18-0 and 30-10 leads respectively), but still found ways to win. It’s a turnaround from 2017, 2018, and 2021, when Canberra missed the finals after numerous close losses.

The Easter Saturday win against Brisbane at Lang Park was a highlight, while they had a brave win against Souths in Round 13, rallying after Corey Harawira-Naera’s frightening seizure. But, with just two wins in their last seven games, Canberra fell to eighth spot.

The Raiders threw everything at the Knights in the elimination final: leading 16-6 at half-time and rallying in the last 15 minutes as Newcastle led 28-16. A contentious penalty in the 88th minute sealed their 30-28 loss โ€“ the first time in the Ricky Stuart era that Canberra didnโ€™t at least make the second week of the finals.

And while Stuart has turned Canberra into a regular finals contender (including three preliminary finals and a grand final), his behaviour in some press conferences was bizarre. The โ€œmuppetsโ€ rant after the first Tigers win was the unintentionally hilarious highlight. The Green Machine Podcast boys named their next episode The Muppet Show in honour of Stuartโ€™s presser. On the flipside, Stuart was proud of the “Raiders DNA” following the elimination final loss.

Jarrod Croker’s 300th game should have been a historic night, but was disappointing. The club went all out in the lead up, giving Croker a lot of wonderful tributes. And the Raiders ran onto a packed out Bruce Stadium with plenty to play for. But the Warriors absorbed Canberra’s early emotion, only trailed 8-6 at half-time, and scored three tries in 12 minutes to bury them. Croker nearly had one more magic moment in the return clash in Auckland: Jack Wighton scored a try on full-time to tie the scores at 20-20, but Croker missed the sideline conversion as the game went to Golden Point, which the Warriors won 21-20. Croker leaves as Canberra’s all-time leading point scorer (2,374) – a record that’s unlikely to be broken.

Canberra also said goodbye to Wighton, Brad Schneider, and Matt Frawley, while Semi Valemei moved to North Queensland mid-season. And 2024 will be the last season for Elliot Whitehead and Jordan Rapana. But Manly Warringah’s Kaeo Weekes is a new signing: though – after limited first grade opportunities at the Sea Eagles – it remains to be seen if/when/where he’ll fit into Canberra’s first 17.

Joe Tapine (24 games, 1466.2 post-contact metres, 155 average running metres) was a deserved Mal Meninga Medal winner; Jamal Fogarty embraced the responsibility of leading the team and his kicking game was vital; Sebastian Kris did his best filling in at fullback for Xavier Savage (who only played one NRL game); Matt Timoko was one of the Raidersโ€™ most dangerous attacking players; Jordan Rapana was as competitive as ever (11 tries in 21 games); and Corey Horsburgh had one of his most consistent seasons and earnt a Queensland Origin jersey.

Key Player Stats

Most Try Assists: 15, Jamal Fogarty
Most Line-breaks: 14, Jordan Rapana
Most Run Metres: 3,951, Matt Timoko
Most Post Contact Metres: 1,466, Joseph Tapine
Most Tackles: 855, Corey Horsburgh
Most Errors: 35, Jordan Rapana

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Andrew Pelechaty
Deputy Sports Editor for the Australian Times Weekly

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