# 2010 Canberra Raiders season

The 2010 Canberra Raiders season was the 29th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2010 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 7th (out of 16). They then proceeded as far as the second week of the finals when they were knocked out by the Wests Tigers.

## Season summary

The 2010 season began poorly for the Raiders with a loss to Penrith in the opening round however against early-season expectations that the Raiders would again struggle the club posted early season wins over Brisbane in round two, Parramatta in round five and the New Zealand Warriors in round eight in New Zealand in what was the club's first win in New Zealand since the early 2000s. However, losses to Todd Carney's new club the Roosters in round six and a narrow loss at home to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in round seven saw the club sitting second from last after round seven (last had the Melbourne Storm not been stripped of competition points due to salary cap breaches) of the 2010 season. Wins over the ladder-leading Dragons and the Gold Coast Titans followed until a four-game losing streak ensued; with the club sitting third from last after a round 17 home loss to the Roosters in what was Todd Carney's return to the nation's capital. The Raiders then began a run similar to that of Parramatta last year; winning eight of their next nine regular season matches to sneak into the top eight by season's end. The regular season's highest home attendance came when 20,445 fans filled Canberra Stadium to see the Raiders defeat the ladder-leading Dragons 32-16 for the second time in the season.
The Raiders advanced to the finals on the back of eight wins from their past nine and were drawn a tough away final against the second-placed Penrith Panthers whom the Raiders had beaten just five weeks earlier. The Raiders led from the start and despite lapses at times during the match they managed a narrow 24–22 win, thus achieving its first final win in a decade, which was also against the Panthers. This saw the Raiders draw a home final against the Wests Tigers in round two of the finals. Having lost to the Tigers twice during the regular season, it was hoped that a record crowd of 26,746 would inspire the Raiders to continue their fairytale run deep into the finals, however a missed penalty attempt by Jarrod Croker in the final minutes of the match saw Canberra lose by 26–24 and therefore draw a curtain on the Raiders' 2010 season.

## Results

Trial Games :
| Round | Opponent | Result | Can. | Opp. | Date | Venue | Venue | Crowd |
| Trial 1 | Western Suburbs Magpies | Win | 20 | 12 | 13 Feb | Southwell Park | Southwell Park | |
| Trial 2 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 24 | 32 | 20 Feb | Ballymore Stadium | Ballymore Stadium | |
| Trial 3 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Loss | 12 | 22 | 27 Feb | APEX Oval | APEX Oval | 8,050 |
| NRL Regular Season Games |||||||||
| Round | Opponent | Result | Can. | Opp. | Date | Venue | Crowd | Position |
| 1 | Penrith Panthers | Loss | 16 | 34 | 13 Mar | CUA Stadium | 11,133 | 15/16 |
| 2 | Brisbane Broncos | Win | 22 | 14 | 22 Mar | Canberra Stadium | 14,200 | 12/16 |
| 3 | Gold Coast Titans | Loss | 4 | 24 | 27 Mar | Skilled Park | 11,521 | 14/16 |
| 4 | Wests Tigers | Loss | 22 | 35 | 4 Apr | Canberra Stadium | 17,112 | 15/16 |
| 5 | Parramatta Eels | Win | 24 | 12 | 12 Apr | Parramatta Stadium | 15,122 | 11/16 |
| 6 | Sydney Roosters | Loss | 6 | 36 | 17 Apr | Sydney Football Stadium | 9,308 | 15-14/16* |
| 7 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Loss | 24 | 26 | 25 Apr | Canberra Stadium | 13,145 | 15/16 |
| 8 | New Zealand Warriors | Win | 23 | 16 | 1 May | Mt Smart Stadium | 11,499 | 12/16 |
| 9 | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | 8–10 May | | | 11/16 |
| 10 | Melbourne Storm | Loss | 6 | 17 | 15 May | Canberra Stadium | 12,165 | 13/16 |
| 11 | St. George-Illawarra Dragons | Win | 22 | 14 | 23 May | WIN Stadium | 14,728 | 11/16 |
| 12 | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | 28–31 May | | | 10/16 |
| 13 | Gold Coast Titans | Win | 28 | 24 | 6 Jun | Canberra Stadium | 10,425 | 10/16 |
| 14 | North Queensland Cowboys | Loss | 8 | 16 | 12 Jun | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 12,058 | 11/16 |
| 15 | Wests Tigers | Loss | 8 | 12 | 20 Jun | Leichhardt Oval | 19,428 | 11/16 |
| 16 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Loss | 10 | 18 | 28 Jun | Canberra Stadium | 11,194 | 12/16 |
| 17 | Sydney Roosters | Loss | 12 | 22 | 4 Jul | Canberra Stadium | 10,767 | 14/16 |
| 18 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Win | 24 | 22 | 10 July | Brookvale Oval | 10,027 | 13/16 |
| 19 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 52 | 18 | 18 July | Canberra Stadium | 9,459 | 11/16 |
| 20 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 20 | 13 | 24 July | Canberra Stadium | 9,280 | 11/16 |
| 21 | Melbourne Storm | Loss | 12 | 36 | 1 Aug | AAMI Park | 9,112 | 12/16 |
| 22 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 30 | 26 | 9 Aug | Canberra Stadium | 8,850 | 11/16 |
| 23 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Win | 28 | 14 | 14 Aug | ANZ Stadium | 10,116 | 11/16 |
| 24 | St. George-Illawarra Dragons | Win | 32 | 16 | 22 Aug | Canberra Stadium | 20,445 | 9/16 |
| 25 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 48 | 4 | 28 Aug | Canberra Stadium | 11,434 | 8/16 |
| 26 | Brisbane Broncos | Win | 18 | 16 | 3 Sep | Suncorp Stadium | 38,872 | 7/16 |
| NRL Finals Games |||||||||
| Round | Opponent | Result | Can. | Opp. | Date | Venue | Venue | Crowd |
| QF | Penrith Panthers | Win | 24 | 22 | 11 Sep | CUA Stadium | CUA Stadium | 16,668 |
| SF | Wests Tigers | Loss | 24 | 26 | 17 Sep | Canberra Stadium | Canberra Stadium | 26,476 |
| Colour | Result |
| Green | Win |
| Red | Loss |
| Yellow | Golden point Win |
| Blue | Bye |
*Finished round in 15th but promoted to 14th after Melbourne were stripped of competition points

## Club awards

| Award | Winner |
| Mal Meninga Medal | David Shillington |
| Coaches Award | Daniel Vidot |
| Rookie of the Year | Sam Mataora |
| Fred Daly Memorial Clubman of the Year Trophy | Dane Tilse |
| National Youth Competition Player of the Year | Mark Nicholls |
| National Youth Competition Coaches Award | Sam Williams |
| Gordon McLucas Memorial Award (Junior representative player of the year) | Jack Wighton |
| Geoff Caldwell Memorial Award (Vocational Encouragement) | Mark Appleton |

## 2010 squad

| No. | Position | Player Glen Buttriss – HK Terry Campese – FE Jarrod Croker – CE Josh Dugan – FB Shaun Fensom – LK Danny Galea – SR Bronson Harrison – SR Marc Herbert – HB Cy Lasscock – SR Tom Learoyd-Lahrs – SR Scott Logan – PR Drury Low – WG Sam Mataora – SR Josh McCrone – HB Josh Miller – PR |
| No. | Position | Player David Milne – FB Adam Mogg – FE Joel Monaghan – CE Joe Picker – SR Reece Robinson – WG David Shillington – PR James Stuart – CE Joel Thompson – CE Troy Thompson – PR Trevor Thurling – SR Dane Tilse – PR Alan Tongue – LK Daniel Vidot – WG Travis Waddell – HK |

## Ladders

2010 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | St. George Illawarra Dragons (P) | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 518 | 299 | +219 | 38 |
| 2 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 645 | 489 | +156 | 34 |
| 3 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 537 | 503 | +34 | 34 |
| 4 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 520 | 498 | +22 | 34 |
| 5 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 539 | 486 | +53 | 32 |
| 6 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 559 | 510 | +49 | 32 |
| 7 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 499 | 493 | +6 | 30 |
| 8 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 545 | 510 | +35 | 28 |
| 9 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 584 | 567 | +17 | 26 |
| 10 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 508 | 535 | −27 | 26 |
| 11 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 499 | 569 | −70 | 24 |
| 12 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 413 | 491 | −78 | 24 |
| 13 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 494 | 539 | −45 | 22 |
| 14 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 354 | 609 | −255 | 18 |
| 15 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 425 | 667 | −242 | 14 |
| 16 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 489 | 363 | +126 | 0$^1$ |
National Youth Competition season 2010vte :
| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 687 | 567 | +120 | 38 |
| 2 | New Zealand Warriors (P) | 24 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 731 | 481 | +250 | 37 |
| 3 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 15 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 773 | 596 | +177 | 36 |
| 4 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 673 | 540 | +133 | 35 |
| 5 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 695 | 588 | +107 | 33 |
| 6 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 764 | 734 | +30 | 33 |
| 7 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 568 | 583 | -15 | 30 |
| 8 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 581 | 663 | -82 | 29 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 620 | 532 | +88 | 28 |
| 10 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 690 | 635 | +55 | 27 |
| 11 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 568 | 543 | +25 | 25 |
| 12 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 612 | 732 | -120 | 23 |
| 13 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 683 | 782 | -99 | 22 |
| 14 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 492 | 634 | -142 | 21 |
| 15 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 643 | 838 | -195 | 20 |
| 16 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 2 | 454 | 786 | -332 | 11 |