Canberra fans

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

Whenever I see a Canberra away game on TV they always seem to have a decent following with them.

Just wondered, whats the travelling time to Sydney, how many do they take when they are playing well and of this number how many travel from Canberra as opposed to living in Sydney.

[The Rocket]

4 hours ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

Whenever I see a Canberra away game on TV they always seem to have a decent following with them.

Just wondered, whats the travelling time to Sydney, how many do they take when they are playing well and of this number how many travel from Canberra as opposed to living in Sydney.

Have to admit I have never really noticed an over-representation of Canberra fans at away games in the past and they do tend to stand out with that lime green jumper, flags and other paraphernalia. 

It`s been 7 years since Ricky has been back at the club now, feels like 2 or 3, usually with his intensity he never lasted that long at other clubs, I think he used to wear the players out, but this shows his commitment to bringing success to his home club. And I think you will find success for Ricky will be on and off the field, they have opened that multi-million dollar brand spanking new centre of excellence last year, the club has significant real estate investments in Canberra and Brisbane, where talking 10`s of millions of dollars and on-field they are fielding their own stand-alone reserve grade side in the NSW Cup for the first time in ages instead of the usual partnership with a QLD or NSW feeder club. Not to mention the success of the first grade side. You probably didn`t see it but when they made the GF a couple of years ago the fans lined the streets all the way out of Canberra when the team drove out for Sydney, cheering and waving,  it was quite a sight. 

 

Some of this may well explain your observation, it wouldn`t surprise me if they did run extra coaches for travelling fans now. I think under Ricky and Don Furner Jr. they are a very forward thinking club.

An extract from a article I read yesterday:

 

The NRL’s most experienced club boss, Canberra’s Don Furner, believes it is important to play the long game. When Ricky Stuart was appointed coach in 2014, he missed the finals in the first two years. However, they kept faith in Stuart rather than looking for a short-term fix that would create problems down the track.

“He had to clean out the roster, but at least he knew we had his back,” Furner said.

The Raiders were struggling in the player market at the time. They went for marquee men including James Tedesco, Kevin Proctor, Michael Ennis and Josh Mansour, but couldn’t lure them to the nation’s capital.

“We couldn’t recruit anyone here, we had a lot of high-profile knockbacks,” Furner said. “We had to develop talent, we had no choice. We had to look for another avenue and for us it ended up being the UK. We ended up having some success stories.”

 

“Sometimes the clubs can be guilty of short-termism,” Furner said. “We haven’t gone out and splashed big money on duds or long-term deals. We’ve never done that, we haven’t been hamstrung in our salary cap with that sort of stuff.

 

Hope this gives you a little insight into the Canberra Raiders and what might explain what you have witnessed with away fans

Postscript. How about that Canberra Viking clap before games, imagine being a kid in that, wouldn`t that make you a fan for life.

Sorry late edit: ~2 hours to Sydney by road.

 

[Anita Bath]

I think there might be a fair number of canberra fans living in sydney and brisbane....they had a substantial following at Gold Coast last season when anybody entering Queensland had to go in 14 day hotel quarantine at $2800 each so I dont think any of them had travelled from Canberra.

[Graham]

Panthers v Raiders R5 2021

Quote

In rowdy scenes, the Panthers' fans stood up in the 64th minute and performed a Viking Clap, mocking the traditional pre-game celebration of the Canberra Raiders. ... Penrith coach Ivan Cleary said after the game he thought the fans taunting was “just in good fun, I think".

 

[unapologetic pedant]

4 hours ago, Graham said:

Panthers v Raiders R5 2021

 

Paul Gallen endeared himself to Raiders fans when he did something similar down in Canberra after the Sharks had won a play-off. Must have been 2016.

Edit: just read a piece saying it was Michael Ennis. Gal must have endeared himself in other ways.

[unapologetic pedant]

On 09/04/2021 at 22:11, The Rocket said:

 And I think you will find success for Ricky will be on and off the field, they have opened that multi-million dollar brand spanking new centre of excellence last year, the club has significant real estate investments in Canberra and Brisbane

I read somewhere the Raiders made a cool $2 million recently from sales of 1989 retro jerseys. Their Achilles heel is the stadium.

Having said that, it`s noticeable that even when there`s a big crowd at Bankwest or Queensland Country Bank, most of the upper tier seats are empty. Clearly the majority of people who attend games prefer to be closer to the pitch or milling round the hospitality areas. Those who want to sit in the same spot with a panoramic view stay at home and watch it on TV.

Vast sums have been spent at Parramatta and Townsville on high steep-sided stands most of whose seats will rarely ever be sat on.

[Graham]

Just had a scam call. American robot woman claiming a case of tax fraud..........