# 2021 Canberra Raiders season

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 and Elliott Whitehead, they competed in the 2021 NRL season, placing 10th out of 16 teams and thus failing to make the finals.

## Season summary

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 between Stuart and a certain number of players led to the stand-down of Josh Hodgson as captain and the departure of English import George Williams. 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 and hooker Tom Starling 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

| Round | Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Round | Home | Score | Away | Date and Time | Venue | Crowd |
| 1 | Canberra Raiders | 30 - 12 | Wests Tigers | Sun 14 Mar, 4:05pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 15,680 |
| 2 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 10 - 12 | Canberra Raiders | Sun 21 Mar, 6:15pm AEDT | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | 3,145 |
| 3 | Canberra Raiders | 31 - 34 | New Zealand Warriors | Sat 27 Mar, 3:00pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 13,456 |
| 4 | Canberra Raiders | 20 - 4 | Gold Coast Titans | Sat 3 Mar, 7:45pm AEDT | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | 5,117 |
| 5 | Penrith Panthers | 30 - 10 | Canberra Raiders | Fri 9 Apr, 7:55pm AEDT | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium | 20,890 |
| 6 | Canberra Raiders | 10 - 35 | Parramatta Eels | Sat 17 Apr, 7:35pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 20,089 |
| 7 | North Queensland Cowboys | 26 - 24 | Canberra Raiders | Sat 24 Apr, 7:35pm AEDT | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 13,791 |
| 8 | Canberra Raiders | 10 - 35 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Thu 29 Apr, 7:50pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 14,260 |
| 9 | Newcastle Knights | 24 - 16 | Canberra Raiders | Sat 8 May, 3:00pm AEDT | McDonald Jones Stadium | 6,642 |
| 10 | Canberra Raiders | 20 - 18 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Sat 15 May, 3:00pm AEDT | Suncorp Stadium | 45,115 |
| 11 | Canberra Raiders | 10 - 34 | Melbourne Storm | Sat 22 May, 7:35pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 14,120 |
| 12 | Sydney Roosters | 44 - 16 | Canberra Raiders | Sat 29 May, 7:35pm AEDT | Central Coast Stadium | 10,113 |
| 13 | | BYE | | | | |
| 14 | Canberra Raiders | 38 - 16 | Brisbane Broncos | Sat 12 Jun, 7:35pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 9,608 |
| 15 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 22 - 20 | Canberra Raiders | Sat 19 Jun, 5:30pm AEDT | WIN Stadium | 9,239 |
| 16 | Canberra Raiders | 6 - 44 | Gold Coast Titans | Sat 3 Jul, 5:30pm AEDT | Canberra Stadium | 7,646 |
| 17 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 16 - 30 | Canberra Raiders | Thu 8 Jul, 7:50pm AEDT | Brookvale Oval | 0 |
| 18 | Canberra Raiders | 34 - 18 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Sat 17 Jul, 5:30pm AEDT | CBUS Super Stadium | 3,874 |
| 19 | Canberra Raiders | 12 - 10 | Parramatta Eels | Thu 22 Jul, 7:50pm AEDT | CBUS Super Stadium | 2,566 |
| 20 | Canberra Raiders | 24 - 34 | Newcastle Knights | Sun 1 Aug, 1:50pm AEDT | Suncorp Stadium | 0 |
| 21 | Canberra Raiders | 20 - 12 | St. George-Illawarra Dragons | Fri 6 Aug, 6:00pm AEDT | CBUS Super Stadium | 0 |
| 22 | Canberra Raiders | 16 - 26 | Melbourne Storm | Thu 12 Aug, 7:50pm AEDT | Sunshine Coast Stadium | 2,523 |
| 23 | Canberra Raiders | 18 - 19 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Fri 20 Aug, 6:00pm AEDT | Suncorp Stadium | 6,181 |
| 24 | Canberra Raiders | 28 - 16 | New Zealand Warriors | Fri 27 Aug, 6:00pm AEDT | BB Print Stadium | 4,079 |
| 25 | Canberra Raiders | 16 - 40 | Sydney Roosters | Thu 2 Sept, 7:50pm AEDT | BB Print Stadium | 3,473 |

## Ladder

2021 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 815 | 316 | +499 | 44 |
| 2 | Penrith Panthers (P) | 24 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 676 | 286 | +390 | 44 |
| 3 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 775 | 453 | +322 | 42 |
| 4 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 744 | 492 | +252 | 34 |
| 5 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 630 | 489 | +141 | 34 |
| 6 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 566 | 457 | +109 | 32 |
| 7 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 428 | 571 | −143 | 26 |
| 8 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 580 | 583 | −3 | 22 |
| 9 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 520 | 556 | −36 | 22 |
| 10 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 481 | 578 | −97 | 22 |
| 11 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 474 | 616 | −142 | 18 |
| 12 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 453 | 624 | −171 | 18 |
| 13 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 500 | 714 | −214 | 18 |
| 14 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 446 | 695 | −249 | 16 |
| 15 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 460 | 748 | −288 | 16 |
| 16 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 340 | 710 | −370 | 8 |

## Transfers

Losses:
| Player | Signed From | Signed To |
| John Bateman | Canberra Raiders | Wigan Warriors |
| Nick Cotric | Canberra Raiders | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Michael Oldfield | Canberra Raiders | Parramatta Eels |
| Corey Horsburgh | Canberra Raiders | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (mid-season loan) |
| Ryan James | Canberra Raiders | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (mid-season loan) |
Gains:
| Player | Signed From |
| Ryan James | Gold Coast Titans |
| Harry Rushton | Wigan Warriors |
| Caleb Aekins | Penrith Panthers |

## 2021 Meninga Medal Award Winners

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