If the NRL Integrity Unit clears Blake Ferguson to play for another NRL club in 2014, the Canberra Raiders might as well pack up shop and pull out of the NRL.
Ferguson pulling on a Roosters, Rabbitohs or any other jersey next season will send a clear message to the Raiders’ team, board and fans – NRL HQ doesn’t care about you.
And why would they?
In the money driven rugby league, the Green Machine simply doesn’t pull big enough crowds or TV audiences for the powerbrokers of the NRL to really be concerned about their wellbeing. They are making up the numbers.
Only having four of their games – two of which were finals – shown on free-to-air television in the last two seasons illustrates clearly how the game’s ruling body feels about them.
So what is the point of continuing the charade?
While the Raiders enjoyed a golden period between 1987 and 1995, those halcyon days were triggered by a set of circumstances that have long since evaporated.
When a young Wayne Bennett was lured down to Queanbeyan to help Don Furner Sr out with the coaching, he bought a few handy players with him. Along with the great Mal Meninga, there were also the likes of Steve and Kevin Walters, Sam Backo, Peter Jackson, Gary Coyne and Gary Belcher.
Added to a line-up that included Dean Lance, John Ferguson, Brad Clyde, Ricky Stuart, Laurie Daley and Glenn Lazarus, the Raiders became a powerful force.
When the Brisbane Broncos arrived in 1988 they caused a massive upheaval in Australian rugby league, and some of the biggest impacts were felt by the Raiders.
The first major hit was in Paul Morgan luring Wayne Bennett back to Brisbane to coach. The next was the ready supply of talent from Queensland either not wanting to come or heading home.
While Sheens ably took over the fantastic groundwork laid down by Furner and Bennett and won the ’89, ’90 and ’94 grand finals, it wasn’t long until that generation passed through.
By 1999 the Canberra Raiders were no longer a force – and they haven’t been since.
Next year will mark two decades since the Raiders last played in a decider and while the 2012 season showed promise, 2013 was dreadful.
The Raiders lurched from misfortune to disaster:
• Star Josh Dugan was sacked by the board for continued issues
• Blake Ferguson was suspended by the NRL after allegedly assaulting a woman in Cronulla
• The Raiders suffered their worst ever defeat – 68-4 at the hands of the Melbourne Storm
• David Furner became the first coach in the history the Canberra Raiders to be sacked
• Ferguson failed to turn up to training and games and was sacked by the Raiders board
• Star players Edrick Lee and Jack Wighton suffered season-ending bone breaks
• Up-and-coming superstar Anthony Milford sought a release for season 2014
• Sandor Earl was stood down following drug charges
• The Raiders lost their last six matches to finish 13th
For a season that had fans dreaming at the start, by the end it had been a nightmare.
While the arrival of Ricky Stuart and the contract extension of Jack Wighton have provided some optimism, the question must really be posed as to whether there is any point in the Canberra Raiders staying in the competition.
Consider these two major handicaps the Raiders have:
• The weather. Scott Prince told me a few years ago that he would never consider living in a place as cold as Canberra. Most other players feel the same. ABC Commentator Tim Gavel told me that a player once came down from Brisbane to discuss a possible Raiders contract but refused to leave the airport when he felt the cold.
• The location. Added to the weather, Canberra’s location is not attractive. It is neither on the coast, nor is it a major city. It is the only NRL club with both of these handicaps. There is little glamour or ‘scene’ to be had in the nation’s capital.
If the NRL’s annual player survey included a question on what team players would least like to play for, you can safely bet that the Raiders would be easily #1.
As a result, the Raiders are right up against it in attracting and retaining players and this has resulted in their poor results over the past 15 seasons.
The Raiders need assistance from the NRL in the form of extra salary cap room to lure and retain players – like the AFL did to help the Brisbane Lions and the Sydney Swans.
Further, the Raiders must be given considerable salary cap concessions to help them keep players they’ve developed from juniors.
The thought of Anthony Milford being poached by the Brisbane Broncos – now he has actually showed great return on the long term investment the Raiders have made in him – has Canberra fans beside themselves.
How is it fair that a side that is by far the richest in the land, has massive sponsorship, barely misses a week on free-to-air TV, has access to a massive grassroots talent pool and has players lining up to join them is now able to just take Milford from the Raiders?
Surely all NRL clubs should be given concessions under the cap for developing players, as the Raiders have with Milford from his early teens. These concessions would allow them to make him the sort of financial offer that entices him to stay put.
Given the Raiders’ difficulties in attracting and retaining players, the idea that they would let star players go without very good reason is ludicrous.
Under David Gallop, the NRL supported the Raiders’ sacking of Todd Carney by making him sit out the 2009 season. That sent a clear message that bad behaviour would not be tolerated and clubs would be supported if they took a stand.
In 2013, after all the Raiders’ troubles with homegrown star Josh Dugan that resulted in his sacking, the fullback was still allowed by the NRL to play for another side in the very same season.
That the NRL allowed it suggests that they thought Dugan and the Raiders had rugby league’s version of ‘irreconcilable differences’, and that Dugan’s issues weren’t deserving of wider sanction.
The Integrity Unit didn’t even have any issues registering his St George Illawarra contract after Dugan invited someone on Twitter to ‘end himself’.
Blake Ferguson, Dugan’s rooftop-Cruiser-drinking buddy, would have seen all this play out. So it is little surprise that the want-away player just stopped turning up for Raiders training and games.
His resultant sacking signalled the start of rumours that he was going to link up with the Roosters or the Rabbitohs in 2014.
And why shouldn’t he? After all he has found God, stopped going out drinking, hasn’t been arrested since June and it’s been over a year since he was last alleged to have spat on members of the public.
And you’ve got to feel sorry for him – he had to live in Canberra for two years…
By letting Dugan and Ferguson continue to play without further sanction, is the NRL not actually giving their anti-social behaviour the tick of approval?
Does it not say, “If you are a good player you can behave anyway you want”?
Further, if Dave Smith and Jim Doyle allow Ferguson to sign with another club for 2014, it may have great consequences in the player market. It will tell any player that if he wants out of a contract, he should just act appallingly until he gets sacked.
Then he can simply go to the new club that his player manager – those doyennes of integrity – has lined up for him.
Ferguson playing in 2014 creates a precedent that effectively lets clubs poach players. It is a safe bet that it will be the strong poaching from the weak too.
That has the potential to stop a club like the Raiders ever being successful again. And if that’s the case, then what is the point in continuing the Canberra Raiders at all?
The answer to this is found in Jim Doyle’s own words from the April 2012 issue of New Zealand’s M2 Magazine. The then NZRL Chiefs thoughts were as follows:
“If the NZRL runs a game in Auckland, they can be guaranteed there will be a certain income compared to holding it in Wellington, Christchurch or Dunedin where there will be less. But you have to in a sense share the games around. It’s not only just about the commercial side.
“If the games are always say held in Auckland, you are not going to be able to promote the game and develop the game anywhere outside of Auckland. We want more kids in the South Island to play but if we never ever take a high profile game there, how is that expected to happen?”
So by Jim’s own rationale rugby league having a strong and regular top level presence in the regions is just as important as the commercial side of rugby league. Now is the time for him to back those words up with action and support the sides in regional Australia.
There are only three sides in the NRL based in regional Australia: Newcastle (arguably), North Queensland and Canberra. The rest are in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
The Raiders’ home of Canberra/Queanbeyan is surrounded by Goulburn, Yass, Young, Crookwell, Wagga Wagga, Temora, Junee, Batemans Bay, Moruya, Bega and Cootamundra.
It is a huge nursery of rugby league talent and one that anyone serious about growing Rugby League should be dedicated to. The Raiders are a great pathway for the up and coming talent of the entire region.
If Smith and Doyle actually care about the Canberra Raiders surviving as anything more than a bastard child of the NRL, then they must give them salary cap concessions for juniors they’ve developed and also to help them attract and retain players.
But if they let Blake Ferguson play in the NRL in 2014, the Raiders should just get the message and close up shop.
Scott
Guest
A lot of what you all say is true, but I'm guessing that those of you who write about Canberra having no soul and the cold weather putting people off tells me you've probably never been here, and drfinitely never lived here! Sydney is the place with no soul, and the best thing about that stinky joint is the road out of it! I've been associated with the Raiders for over 20 years and have had players work for me, live with me and become great mates. Most of the boys we were associated with were from rural Queensland, and NONE of them had any issues with the weather or there being 'no soul'! They all had no trouble finding somewhere to have a night out, and if they were cold they did what most other people with half a brain do - they put on a jacket or turned on the heater!! The club may not be run like a well oiled machine, but let's be honest - rugby league clubs are run by rugby league players, and the culture goes down to the core! The problem players are just that, the problem! You don't blame a school because some kids are monsters, so why look at the 'culture' of a club to try and find out why someone is such an A hole? It's simple, they're born like that, and becoming famous and earning 50 times more than they would otherwise magnifies their already inflated sense of self worth and entitlement! I haven't seen anyone looking to blame the Knights, Sea Eagles or Bulldogs for their player's behaviour this week, so why does everyone continually look for a reason why these blokes are such idiots, when the answer is right in front of them??
Hez
Roar Rookie
Don't forget the Cavalry
Maximus
Guest
Yeah can anyone remember the Raiders penalties - I thought they kicked the tin because they were broke rather than cap penalties...
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
It boils down to this.If teams are performing well as a team,there is harmony and there is discipline in the club (from players to management),and the weather not arctic,the crowds will attend. Circa Mal Meninga,Stuart,Furner,Daley et al.They attracted the crowds. In the early stages of their behavioural issues Carney and Dugan should have been hit with a heavy fine,stood down even at the expense of the club being penalised.If it happened twice then 12 months on the sideline,a third time deregistered and banned from ever playing in the NRL. Trouble is today,it begins at home and in schools where corporal punishment(ie the cane is a no no).Look at Schoolies at the GC,kids from respectable schools and homes,some behaving like loons. To take it to the extremity, in New York murder was as common as sneezing not that long ago.A new Mayor came in with a zero tolerance approach,and you are now lucky to get a murder a week,not good,but a darn side better than before. I am fed up to my armpits with these loons in the NRL,who don't get it offfield.Managment be it Canberra or whatever club,needs to adopt the iron fist approach,and stamp on the flames before the bushfire erupts.And that means no Ferguson at the Sharks.
HG
Guest
@casper sorry mate, you're point blank wrong with your Peter Jackson comment and player power setting up a coaches sacking. Peter Jackson committed suicide because he was the victim of childhood abuse. His drug use spiraled out of control ending in his death. The Brumbies got rid of Andy Friend before Tony Rea was installed as interim coach. Everything said about Ferguson being registered again as a joke I completely agree with. And thirdly, one of the things Canberra actually has going for it is it's multiple code following. Having left there for Melbourne what we lack in AFL teams Canberrans more than compensate for with knowledge and support of all three sports. Seriously Victorians have to actually be the least educated sports fan in the country. They still think league and union are the same game. As for Abbott. You idiots put him there.
Muzz
Guest
Salary cap concessions would not solve the problem..If the the Raiders were a tree that was constantly getting sick you would say the problem lies in the roots..The NRL should work towards making transfer fee's legal and the Raiders could sell or trade young players with potential for established players who are married and have children and are not interested in the big smoke and party life...It is also my understanding that the Roosters and Bunnies are not interested in taking the risk with Ferguson regardless of his court appearance.
ctar
Guest
This is true, their average home crowd was 18k in 94, which is very respectable for RL.
Don
Roar Rookie
Ctar, exactly! The club, coach and management have more to answer for than the team. Allowing the Furner dynasty to run things has hurt the club. You can't have brothers in the CEO and Coach positions and expect unbiased decisions to be made. Don Jnr has made some stunningly bad decisions as CEO; signing his brother as coach after 2 moderate years as assistant. Giving the brother a 3 year extension in a year where the team went from 7th to 15th. Signing Matt Orford for big $ when he was old and he couldn't even train. Tolerating Dugan and Ferguson too many times. Taking 5 years to sack the coach because he is his brother and then only because he was forced by the board. It all contributes to a low performance / low standards culture in the business. The CEO should go. Matt Elliott took a worse Raiders team to the finals 4 out of 5 years as coach and they looked like a club with a big few years ahead. They can turn it around, the side isn't terrible, but I'm not sure Ricky Stuart is the man to do it. At least Millford will be there according to news today. Also, if Ferguson if found guilty of assaulting the woman, he should not be allowed anywhere near the NRL for 2 years. The ARU won't let a S15 club sign him with that on his record either. Time to take a strong stance on this stuff when it is proved true.
Ronny
Roar Rookie
If you understood the history of Canberra, you would know that Canberra itself was up untill the early 1980's more of a AF Town than a RL Town, however the surrounding towns that were mentioned in the article were essentially RL. Whether Canberra had a AFL team or not is besides the point, i am talking about the general population, and RU has always had strength through the Catholic boys schools. At a junior level, if you took all the junior teams from Goulburn, QBYan, Crookwell out, that play in ACT and District Junior RL, the amount of Junior RL from Canberra itself is quite small, the opposite of junior AF teams. Mentioned in this article ........ Stuart and Lazarus are from QBY, Daley is Junee, Clyde is from Canberra, but played both RL and AF, and in actual fact his father was junior President of the local AF club.
Geoff
Guest
That would be when Brett Mullins scored one of the best tries ever scored in the NRL. The memories. Raiders v Broncos back then was the match-up of the year. Shame we couldn't have flogged them in the GF instead.
Geoff
Guest
Yes we were found to be in breach of the first salary cap, established in 1991, but we lost the GF to the Chocolate Warriors. The club almost died as a result of the harsh financial penalties imposed. Whilst I was pretty young in 1992, I remember Raiders players literally rattling tins at Belco Mall asking for donations. It was heartbreaking, and we lost a lot of stars as a result in the coming years. Our forward pack went back to Queensland, and eventually, Clyde and Stuart and many others were moved on. Haven't been good since, although we do have a steady stream of players from Logan still, and have had to really fight the Broncos on that front in the last couple of years. It's remarkable to see how many ex-Raiders are spread throughout the competition. Be it through a massive junior base producing talent that gets poached or sold on, or players leaving because they are soft or can't learn how to be a professional footballer. Salary cap concessions would only go so far, but would certainly help keep our top talent. I expect Wighton, Lee, Ahearn and Cornish to be continually 'tapped up' by other clubs in the years to come, despite the long-term contracts and being local products. It's a disgrace.
Casper
Guest
Not so sure on the raiders, didn't player power depose a comp winning coach a few years back? The place has no soul & the weather is awful. Next year there will be mass departures from the region with Abbott's job cuts so there won't be any growth in support. I loved the raiders in the old green machine days of Mal & the Qld connection, but when you look at it retrospectively, did Peter Jackson's drug troubles start there because there was nothing to do? Not sure, but it's worth a thought. Most clubs need a core of family men to establish the culture & then they bring the yobs along with them. Not sure if Ricky can set that up, he's been known to tolerate bad behaviour if the player is a gun. We need the slary cap to give a 5% discount for players after they've come through the juniors/U20's and stayed 5 years. The discount then grows by 2% a year up to 10 years. That should be separate to the marquee allowances. Lock it into the cap 7 see how everyone tries to exploit it.
Aces
Guest
If I'm not mistaken Canberra actually has the highest number of Indigenious contracted players in their NYC, Mounties and 1st Grade teams.
Pork
Guest
ctar, I spent one Friday night in 1994 that was below freezing with around 24,000 fans for a Raiders V Broncos game. While the weather does deter some fans, the biggest detterence is the lacklustre results.
ctar
Guest
Canberra has never had an AFL team. It's had a soccer team in the NSL, basketball team in the NBL, netball, league and union. So i don't know how you could consider Canberra split between AF, RL and RU.
Australian Rules
Guest
I'm not sure where this is at, but the Minister was flogging it earlier this year: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/rugby-union/new-canberra-stadium-will-have-a-roof-20130721-2qcs3.html
ctar
Guest
I just think the club has been poorly managed for a long time. The fact that they sneak into the finals every second year doesn't do them any favors, it just takes the pressure off. The Raiders need to develop a strong culture again where players want to go if they want to knuckle down and get serious about their football, like how the Brumbies are seen in the Super 15 or the Storm in the NRL. I don't think the crowds will ever be great with the current setup unless they won a premiership again. But it is just too cold in winter to expect big numbers down there. The Indoor stadium would help a lot though.
Pot Stirrer
Guest
im over hearing about this. They signed Fergusson from the Sharks and knew exactly what they were getting. As for Carney he is a local Junior and they put up with his nonsense his whole career. Its no one elses fualt they couldnt see the writing on the wall.
andyincanberra
Guest
Regarding the roofed stadium, see the link below. It's everything that you've mentioned and at this stage still going to happen. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/city-promised-new-stadium-with-roof-by-2020-20120302-1u8si.html
Sev
Guest
Canberra definitely is doing it tough in terms of their success in recent decades. They get a raw deal when it comes to their FTA exposure however I think that a lot of Raiders fans prefer fox coverage rather than channel 9 anyways. The biggest issue is being an attractive club to players. They develop a lot of talent but they do always seem to eventually go elsewhere. I think they need to refine their vision and position and need to become a club that players want to play at. The ACT is redeveloping the Canberra CBD and the shore of the lake with plans to build a new indoor 30,000 seat stadium by 2020. This includes heaps of restaurants etc and a light rail line connecting the stadium. A stadium in the CBD will be huge because the current stadium is in woop-woop compared to the city of Canberra. So crowds can improve in the future.