Sure there’s a chance, providing a whole bunch of factors about the vagaries of professional sport. If they make it to the finals healthy and controversy free (wishful thinking for any team in the NRL!) then the only thing stopping the Green Machine might be a lack of big game experience amongst the younger guys. That said, the Raiders will have plenty of hardened rep players this year.

I’m excited!

I’m not a Raiders fan but would like to respond anyway.

They’re going to miss Monaghan.

Raiders ftw only if whenever there’s a furore, players at other clubs get knifed until they left the country.

How did this turn into a NRL vs AFL war? I’ll give a simple answer. The Green Machine will be seen in the final battle. Raiders to win!!!!

Unfortunately the Raiders tend to get a disproportionate amount of Monday night games, which doesn’t help attract crowds in the bowels of winter. I agree that the ideal solution would be more Sunday afternoon games, but with the NRL offering that cherry for one game per round it makes the odds very slim for Canberra.

A shame really. I have fond memories of attending Sunday afternoon home games religiously as a kid, basking in the sun rather than shielding from the cold.

Keijidosha said :

I’d wager that if the AFL ranks lower in TV viewers it is because more people are at the ground to offer real, vocal support.

I know that every sporting team has fair-weather supporters, and that Canberrans may support other NRL teams (or other sports), however for a national team the Raiders seem to have a very small supporter base. In 2010 we had the second lowest average home crowd attendance in the league (Cronulla took the spoon). Surely a city of 400,000+ should be able to provide more than a meagre 7000 club members, and attract bigger crowds than we’ve seen in the last few years. From memory the only game that sold out last year was the home final.

I’m not suggesting that everyone should care about NRL in this city or that every home game should be a sell out, but when you show up to Canberra Stadium and there’s less than 10,000 punters the atmosphere is weak, and that has to impact on players to a degree.

Agree – but it’s scientific fact that Bruce Stadium is the coldest place on earth. Even when full it’s near impossible to generate any atmosphere because the seating is so shallow and open.

It’s a problem for all sports to get people to games when it’s on TV, but especially so in Canberra with the cold nights and so many teams competing for a slice of the market. I believe both the Brumbies and Raiders want more afternoon games but are prevented because it doesn’t suit TV broadcast schedules.

I’d wager that if the AFL ranks lower in TV viewers it is because more people are at the ground to offer real, vocal support.

I know that every sporting team has fair-weather supporters, and that Canberrans may support other NRL teams (or other sports), however for a national team the Raiders seem to have a very small supporter base. In 2010 we had the second lowest average home crowd attendance in the league (Cronulla took the spoon). Surely a city of 400,000+ should be able to provide more than a meagre 7000 club members, and attract bigger crowds than we’ve seen in the last few years. From memory the only game that sold out last year was the home final.

I’m not suggesting that everyone should care about NRL in this city or that every home game should be a sell out, but when you show up to Canberra Stadium and there’s less than 10,000 punters the atmosphere is weak, and that has to impact on players to a degree.

Rugby League has long been considered the best “made for TV ” footy code.

It depends what you mean by supported, the NRL clearly rates better than the AFL in the TV stakes and the NRL u/20’s comp routinely outrates the Super 15’s on Fox.

AFL teams do generally have stronger support than NRL teams, but they still have plenty of bandwagon riders too.

Keijidosha said :

Always optimistic, but win or lose I’m never disappointed if they put in their best effort. What saddens me is the fickle nature of Canberrans when it comes to supporting their local sporting teams. It’d be nice to have the kind of large and loyal supporter base that most AFL teams enjoy.

I think you will find that a lot of those Canberrans have come from elsewhere to work in Canberra and bring support for other teams with them..

Nah, the team’s gone to the dogs.

Always optimistic, but win or lose I’m never disappointed if they put in their best effort. What saddens me is the fickle nature of Canberrans when it comes to supporting their local sporting teams. It’d be nice to have the kind of large and loyal supporter base that most AFL teams enjoy.