2021 Canberra Raiders season

Last updated

The 2021 Canberra Raiders season was the 41st in the club's history. Coached by Ricky Stuart and captained jointly by Jarrod Croker, Josh Hodgson [lower-alpha 1] and Elliott Whitehead, they competed in the 2021 NRL season, placing 10th out of 16 teams and thus failing to make the finals.

Contents

2021 Canberra Raiders season
NRL Rank10th
2021 recordWins: 10; losses: 14
Points scoredFor: 481; against: 578
Team information
CEO
Chairman
Don Furner Jr.
Allan Hawke
Coach Ricky Stuart
Captain
Stadium Canberra Stadium
Top scorers
Goals38 - Jarrod Croker
Points24 - Jordan Rapana
<  2020 List of seasons 2022  >

Season summary

Canberra looked to capitalise on their successful 2020 campaign, however they fell apart mid-season from heavy losses to other teams such as the Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs, losing five games in a row and being demolished by underdogs the Gold Coast Titans. Rumours of a player-coach riff [1] between Stuart and a certain amount of players led to the stand-down of Josh Hodgson as captain [2] and the departure of English import George Williams. [3] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NRL relocated to Queensland to play the rest of the season. This was further setback with the lockdown in Brisbane and 11 other LGAs in June. Multiple injuries to players such as youngster Xavier Savage [4] and hooker Tom Starling [5] threatened to derail their season, but they were successful in gaining wins in the second half of the year, with defeats of Manly, Cronulla and Parramatta successively. They came close to reaching the top eight, however a loss to the Roosters in Round 25 sealed their fate.

Results

RoundHomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueCrowd
1 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders30 - 12 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers Sun 14 Mar, 4:05pm AEDT Canberra Stadium 15,680
2 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 10 - 12 Canberra colours.svg Canberra RaidersSun 21 Mar, 6:15pm AEDT Netstrata Jubilee Stadium 3,145
3 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders31 - 34 Auckland colours.svg New Zealand Warriors Sat 27 Mar, 3:00pm AEDT Canberra Stadium 13,456
4 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders20 - 4 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans Sat 3 Mar, 7:45pm AEDT Netstrata Jubilee Stadium 5,117
5 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers 30 - 10 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Fri 9 Apr, 7:55pm AEDT Netstrata Jubilee Stadium 20,890
6 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders10 - 35 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels Sat 17 Apr, 7:35pm AEDT Canberra Stadium 20,089
7 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 26 - 24 Canberra colours.svg Canberra RaidersSat 24 Apr, 7:35pm AEDT Queensland Country Bank Stadium 13,791
8 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders10 - 35 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs Thu 29 Apr, 7:50pm AEDT Canberra Stadium 14,260
9 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights 24 - 16 Canberra colours.svg Canberra RaidersSat 8 May, 3:00pm AEDT McDonald Jones Stadium 6,642
10 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders20 - 18 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Sat 15 May, 3:00pm AEDT Suncorp Stadium 45,115
11 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders10 - 34 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm Sat 22 May, 7:35pm AEDT Canberra Stadium 14,120
12 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters 44 - 16 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Sat 29 May, 7:35pm AEDT Central Coast Stadium 10,113
13 BYE
14 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders38 - 16 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos Sat 12 Jun, 7:35pm AEDT Canberra Stadium 9,608
15 St. George colours.svg St. George Illawarra Dragons 22 - 20 Canberra colours.svg Canberra RaidersSat 19 Jun, 5:30pm AEDT WIN Stadium 9,239
16 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders6 - 44 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast TitansSat 3 Jul, 5:30pm AEDT Canberra Stadium 7,646
17 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 16 - 30 Canberra colours.svg Canberra RaidersThu 8 Jul, 7:50pm AEDT Brookvale Oval 0
18 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders34 - 18 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland SharksSat 17 Jul, 5:30pm AEDT CBUS Super Stadium 3,874
19 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders12 - 10 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta EelsThu 22 Jul, 7:50pm AEDT CBUS Super Stadium 2,566
20 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders24 - 34 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle KnightsSun 1 Aug, 1:50pm AEDT Suncorp Stadium 0
21 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders20 - 12 St. George colours.svg St. George-Illawarra DragonsFri 6 Aug, 6:00pm AEDT CBUS Super Stadium 0
22 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders16 - 26 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne StormThu 12 Aug, 7:50pm AEDT Sunshine Coast Stadium 2,523
23 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders18 - 19 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesFri 20 Aug, 6:00pm AEDT Suncorp Stadium 6,181
24 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders28 - 16 Auckland colours.svg New Zealand WarriorsFri 27 Aug, 6:00pm AEDT BB Print Stadium 4,079
25 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders16 - 40 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney RoostersThu 2 Sept, 7:50pm AEDT BB Print Stadium 3,473

Ladder

PosTeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
1 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 2421031815316+49944
2 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers (P)2421031676286+39044
3 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs 2420041775453+32242
4 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 2416081744492+25234
5 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters 2416081630489+14134
6 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 2415091566457+10932
7 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights 24120121428571−14326
8 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans 24100141580583−322
9 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24100141520556−3622
10 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders 24100141481578−9722
11 St. George colours.svg St. George Illawarra Dragons 2480161474616−14218
12 Auckland colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 2480161453624−17118
13 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers 2480161500714−21418
14 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 2470171446695−24916
15 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 2470171460748−28816
16 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2430211340710−3708

2021 Squad

Top 30 Squad - 2021 SeasonDevelopment PlayersCoaching staff

Extended squad

Head coach

Assistant coaches


Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)
  • (gk) Goal kicker(s)

Updated: 23 August 2021
Source(s): Raiders Team Profiles

Transfers

Losses:

PlayerSigned FromSigned ToNotes
John Bateman Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors [6]
Nick Cotric Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs [7]
Michael Oldfield Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels [8]
Corey Horsburgh Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (mid-season loan) [9]
Ryan James Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (mid-season loan) [9]

Gains:

PlayerSigned FromNotes
Ryan James Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans [10]
Harry Rushton Wigancolours.svg Wigan Warriors [11]
Caleb Aekins Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers [12]

2021 Meninga Medal Award Winners

NSW Cup Player of the Year – Kai O’Donnell

NSW Cup Coaches Award – Matt Frawley

Geoff Caldwell Welfare & Education Award – Elliott Whitehead

Gordon McLucas Memorial Junior Representative Player of the Year - Trey Mooney

Fred Daly Memorial Club Person of the Year – Grant Hogan

NRL Rookie of the Year – Harley Smith-Shields & Matt Timoko

NRL Coaches Award – Tom Starling

Meninga Medal – Jordan Rapana

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References

  1. "Stuart flags team changes after 'unacceptable' defensive display". National Rugby League. 2021-07-03. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  2. Chammas, Michael (2021-05-05). "Why Hodgson stepped down as Raiders captain". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  3. McAllister, Josh (2021-06-17). "George Williams says Canberra farewell following exit". LoveRugbyLeague. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  4. "Injury Update: Savage out for the season". Canberra Raiders. 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  5. "'I couldn't speak': Raider reveals gruesome injury that saw him lose a tooth and gain two plates". Fox Sports. 2021-08-19. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  6. "John Bateman to depart Raiders at end of 2020". Canberra Raiders. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  7. "Cotric set to become a Bulldog after rejecting Raiders re-signing offer". National Rugby League. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  8. "Eels sign Hipgrave, Oldfield, Roache". National Rugby League. 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  9. 1 2 Millard, Benjamin (2021-08-10). "Desperate Bulldogs sign two players on loan deals". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  10. "Ryan James to join Raiders in 2021". Canberra Raiders. 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  11. "Raiders Sign Harry Rushton". Canberra Raiders. 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  12. "Raiders Sign Caleb Aekins". Canberra Raiders. 2020-10-15. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  1. Until his step-down from captaincy on May 5th.