No one expected the Raiders to make the semi-finals — especially when they sat 15th after the first seven rounds.
The ‘underdog’ tag is exactly what coach Ricky Stuart operates best under and so while all the noise was around the Broncos’ implosion in the final six weeks of the season, the Raiders clawed their way up the ladder and into finals.
But then the Raiders were dealt a brutal reality check when the Eels piled 40 points on them in a complete semi-final mismatch.
Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
LISTEN TO EPISODE 25 OF THE FOX LEAGUE PODCAST WITH AARON WOODS
Regardless, it was a small miracle they had even made to a semi-final. Even Stuart admitted after the game that if you offered him a semi-final exit halfway through the season he would have taken it in a heartbeat.
The season had both highs and lows. It started with injuries to two key spine players and finished with Joe Tapine and Hudson Young in career-best form.
And while the Raiders didn’t win the premiership, Ricky Stuart’s “weak-gutted dog” press conference might win the biggest story of the year title.
Read on for the Raiders’ end of season review.
2022 Record: 15W 11L – 57.7% win record, knocked out in semi-final
Grading: B
What went right: Joe Tapine. The Kiwi international had his best season to date and was rewarded with the Mal Meninga Medal as Canberra’s player of the year. Tapine’s form really hit new heights in the second half of the season as the Raiders clawed their way into the top eight and although they bowed out of the finals in week two, Tapine finished the year widely regarded the best prop in the game. His efforts in the week one upset over the Storm sparked conversation over whether he was worth $1 million a season after he notched up a try assist, three linebreak assists, three offloads, six tackle busts, a game-high of 203 running metres and 28 tackles with zero misses. He was the only forward that made over 100 running metres in their loss to the Eels and was flawless in defence, making 32 tackles with zero misses. It’s a dramatic turnaround from last season, where he spent a seven-week block starting off the bench and there was rumoured tension with Stuart after his wife had a dig at the coach’s use of the bench on social media. A special mention goes to Hudson Young as well after emerging as one of the form second-rowers in the competition and putting his name in the mix for a Kangaroos jersey.
MORE RAIDERS NEWS
BIG HITS: Eels send ruthless title message, bury finals ‘ghosts’ in Raiders no-show
RATINGS: Canberra’s big guns go missing in biggest finals defeat in club history
‘DON’T SELL THE FARM FOR HIM’: Big warning for Raiders as rivals circle star
‘TOP FOUR’: Ricky Stuart reveals ‘deal’ he would have cut amid bold claim
What went wrong: Early injuries to key players. Stuart said if injuries hadn’t cruelled the Raiders they would have finished in the top four. A top four finish is debatable but there’s no doubt having Josh Hodgson and Jamal Fogarty on deck for the entire season would have helped their cause. Hodgson suffered an ACL injury in the first five minutes of the season, while Fogarty’s club debut was put on ice for the first 12 rounds after suffering a knee injury in a trial game. Both injuries were a major disruption for the Raiders and Stuart had to scramble to fill the holes. He fiddled with his hooking combination a few times in the early rounds, starting Tom Starling, then using Matt Frawley and even at one stage playing the unlikely Adam Elliott at dummy half. But then he unearthed Zac Woolford, who actually started the year on the bench for Newtown Jets in New South Wales Cup. Woolford joined the Raiders as a 25-year-old with a stack of reserve grade experience, but the closest thing he had to NRL exposure was one year in the Knights’ top 30 back in 2019. He made his debut in Round 10 and retained his spot for the remainder of the season. He finished 2022 as one of the feel-good stories to come out of Canberra — and with a two-year NRL deal in his back pocket. But there’s no denying the experience of Hodgson — an English international with 138 NRL games to his name — was missed in the big moments. The big hole was in the halves though. 21-year-old playmaker Brad Schneider did an admirable job filling in for Fogarty, but he couldn’t provide the direction that 28-year-old Fogarty did once he returned from injury. The Raiders only lost five of 15 games when Fogarty was in the No.7 jersey. He scored three tries and set up 10 in those 15 games and more importantly, eased the pressure on the Raiders’ marquee man Jack Wighton.
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!
What they need: To lock in Joe Tapine and fill positions. The most pressing thing the Raiders need to settle is the future of Tapine. The 28-year-old comes off contract at the end of 2023, meaning he can negotiate with rivals from November 1 if the Raiders don’t lock him in. There will be no shortage of suitors lining up for Tapine’s signature after stunning year for the Green Machine, which is why Stuart and Canberra’s football staff need to move quickly. But they also need to get the price tag right. With Hodgson departing, the Raiders will have around an extra $700,000 up their sleeve to play with. They’ve seemed to discover a cheap but effective hooking combination in Woolford and Starling so can afford to use that cash on Tapine. The question has been floated several times of whether Tapine is worth $1 million a season and it’s something the Raiders are no doubt mulling over given a rival club could throw somewhere near that mark at him. Rugby league great Gorden Tallis recently warned the Raiders that they should “pay on position” and the $1 million salary should be reserved for players that can change the result of a game. But every footy fan would agree the Raiders simply can’t afford to lose Tapine. Beyond that big contract call, Adam Elliott, Ryan Sutton and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad will need to be replaced. Corey Horsburgh seems the most likely player to step into Elliott’s lock role, while there’s a bunch of emerging forwards at the club who will fight it out for spots on the bench. Nicoll-Klokstad only played 11 games this season — three off the bench — but the Raiders will need to find a genuine back up fullback now that he’s heading back to the Warriors.
If they get it right the positive signs from the 2022 campaign show the Raiders can be a strong premiership force in the coming years.
“Their second half of the season was almost as good as any other club in the competition,” Daily Telegraph reporter Phil Rothfield said on the Big Sports Breakfast.
“While they’ve got Tapine and Papali’i up front and Wighton at five-eighth I think they’re going to be a strong club for a few more years yet.
“I think their premiership window is still open.”
Going: Adam Elliott (Knights), Josh Hodgson (Eels), Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (Warriors), Ryan Sutton (Bulldogs)
Coming: N/A
SEASON REVIEWS
ROOSTERS: Robbo switch woke sleeping giant as extent of cap crunch laid bare
STORM: The $1.3m Munster question as scrambling Storm hit eight-year low
BRONCOS: $1 million elephant in the room as finals disaster exposes divide
DRAGONS: $800k call holds key for Dragons as awkward issue hits tipping point
SEA EAGLES: How Manly’s season came unstuck — and why it’s not Des’ fault
BULLDOGS: Barrett sacking a double-edged sword as Dogs face big unknown
TITANS: Million-dollar man goes missing as Holbrook rues costly mistake
KNIGHTS: How Newcastle’s season fell apart — the Ponga switch that needs to pay off
WARRIORS: Recruits fail to fire as players walk amid worst defensive record
TIGERS: They hit a ‘diabolic’ low. Now Tigers ‘need to change everything’
