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[a] and Elliott Whitehead, they competed in the 2021 NRL season, placing 10th out of 16 teams and thus failing to make the finals.
2021 Canberra Raiders season | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
NRL Rank | 10th | |||
2021 record | Wins: 10; losses: 14 | |||
Points scored | For: 481; against: 578 | |||
Team information | ||||
CEO Chairman | Don Furner Jr. Allan Hawke | |||
Coach | Ricky Stuart | |||
Captain | ||||
Stadium | Canberra Stadium | |||
Top scorers | ||||
Goals | 38 - Jarrod Croker | |||
Points | 24 - Jordan Rapana | |||
|
Season summary
[edit]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 number 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
[edit]Round | Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date and Time | Venue | Crowd | |||||||
1 | ![]() |
30 - 12 | ![]() |
Sun 14 Mar, 4:05pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 15,680 | |||
2 | ![]() |
10 - 12 | ![]() |
Sun 21 Mar, 6:15pm AEDT | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | 3,145 | |||
3 | ![]() |
31 - 34 | ![]() |
Sat 27 Mar, 3:00pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 13,456 | |||
4 | ![]() |
20 - 4 | ![]() |
Sat 3 Mar, 7:45pm AEDT | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | 5,117 | |||
5 | ![]() |
30 - 10 | ![]() |
Fri 9 Apr, 7:55pm AEDT | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | 20,890 | |||
6 | ![]() |
10 - 35 | ![]() |
Sat 17 Apr, 7:35pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 20,089 | |||
7 | ![]() |
26 - 24 | ![]() |
Sat 24 Apr, 7:35pm AEDT | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 13,791 | |||
8 | ![]() |
10 - 35 | ![]() |
Thu 29 Apr, 7:50pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 14,260 | |||
9 | ![]() |
24 - 16 | ![]() |
Sat 8 May, 3:00pm AEDT | McDonald Jones Stadium | 6,642 | |||
10 | ![]() |
20 - 18 | ![]() |
Sat 15 May, 3:00pm AEDT | Suncorp Stadium | 45,115 | |||
11 | ![]() |
10 - 34 | ![]() |
Sat 22 May, 7:35pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 14,120 | |||
12 | ![]() |
44 - 16 | ![]() |
Sat 29 May, 7:35pm AEDT | Central Coast Stadium | 10,113 | |||
13 | BYE | ||||||||
14 | ![]() |
38 - 16 | ![]() |
Sat 12 Jun, 7:35pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 9,608 | |||
15 | ![]() |
22 - 20 | ![]() |
Sat 19 Jun, 5:30pm AEDT | WIN Stadium | 9,239 | |||
16 | ![]() |
6 - 44 | ![]() |
Sat 3 Jul, 5:30pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 7,646 | |||
17 | ![]() |
16 - 30 | ![]() |
Thu 8 Jul, 7:50pm AEDT | Brookvale Oval | 0 | |||
18 | ![]() |
34 - 18 | ![]() |
Sat 17 Jul, 5:30pm AEDT | CBUS Super Stadium | 3,874 | |||
19 | ![]() |
12 - 10 | ![]() |
Thu 22 Jul, 7:50pm AEDT | CBUS Super Stadium | 2,566 | |||
20 | ![]() |
24 - 34 | ![]() |
Sun 1 Aug, 1:50pm AEDT | Suncorp Stadium | 0 | |||
21 | ![]() |
20 - 12 | ![]() |
Fri 6 Aug, 6:00pm AEDT | CBUS Super Stadium | 0 | |||
22 | ![]() |
16 - 26 | ![]() |
Thu 12 Aug, 7:50pm AEDT | Sunshine Coast Stadium | 2,523 | |||
23 | ![]() |
18 - 19 | ![]() |
Fri 20 Aug, 6:00pm AEDT | Suncorp Stadium | 6,181 | |||
24 | ![]() |
28 - 16 | ![]() |
Fri 27 Aug, 6:00pm AEDT | BB Print Stadium | 4,079 | |||
25 | ![]() |
16 - 40 | ![]() |
Thu 2 Sept, 7:50pm AEDT | BB Print Stadium | 3,473 |
Ladder
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
24 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 815 | 316 | +499 | 44 |
2 | ![]() |
24 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 676 | 286 | +390 | 44 |
3 | ![]() |
24 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 775 | 453 | +322 | 42 |
4 | ![]() |
24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 744 | 492 | +252 | 34 |
5 | ![]() |
24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 630 | 489 | +141 | 34 |
6 | ![]() |
24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 566 | 457 | +109 | 32 |
7 | ![]() |
24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 428 | 571 | −143 | 26 |
8 | ![]() |
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 580 | 583 | −3 | 22 |
9 | ![]() |
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 520 | 556 | −36 | 22 |
10 | ![]() |
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 481 | 578 | −97 | 22 |
11 | ![]() |
24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 474 | 616 | −142 | 18 |
12 | ![]() |
24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 453 | 624 | −171 | 18 |
13 | ![]() |
24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 500 | 714 | −214 | 18 |
14 | ![]() |
24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 446 | 695 | −249 | 16 |
15 | ![]() |
24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 460 | 748 | −288 | 16 |
16 | ![]() |
24 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 340 | 710 | −370 | 8 |
2021 Squad
[edit]
Transfers
[edit]Losses:
Player | Signed From | Signed To | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
John Bateman | ![]() |
![]() |
[6] |
Nick Cotric | ![]() |
![]() |
[7] |
Michael Oldfield | ![]() |
![]() |
[8] |
Corey Horsburgh | ![]() |
![]() |
[9] |
Ryan James | ![]() |
![]() |
[9] |
Gains:
Player | Signed From | Notes |
---|---|---|
Ryan James | ![]() |
[10] |
Harry Rushton | ![]() |
[11] |
Caleb Aekins | ![]() |
[12] |
2021 Meninga Medal Award Winners
[edit]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
References
[edit]- ^ "Stuart flags team changes after 'unacceptable' defensive display". National Rugby League. 2021-07-03. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
- ^ Chammas, Michael (2021-05-05). "Why Hodgson stepped down as Raiders captain". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
- ^ McAllister, Josh (2021-06-17). "George Williams says Canberra farewell following exit". LoveRugbyLeague. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
- ^ "Injury Update: Savage out for the season". Canberra Raiders. 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
- ^ "'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.
- ^ "John Bateman to depart Raiders at end of 2020". Canberra Raiders. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
- ^ "Cotric set to become a Bulldog after rejecting Raiders re-signing offer". National Rugby League. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
- ^ "Eels sign Hipgrave, Oldfield, Roache". National Rugby League. 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
- ^ a b Millard, Benjamin (2021-08-10). "Desperate Bulldogs sign two players on loan deals". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
- ^ "Ryan James to join Raiders in 2021". Canberra Raiders. 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
- ^ "Raiders Sign Harry Rushton". Canberra Raiders. 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
- ^ "Raiders Sign Caleb Aekins". Canberra Raiders. 2020-10-15. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
- ^ Until his step-down from captaincy on May 5th.