# 2011 Canberra Raiders season

The 2011 Canberra Raiders season was the 30th in the club's history. Coached by David Furner and captained by Alan Tongue, they competed in the NRL's 2011 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 15th (out of 16) so failing to make the play-offs.

## Season summary

Following on from an encouraging 2010 season where the Raiders made it to the second week of the finals for the first time in 7 years, the Raiders will be looking to seriously challenge for the title in 2011. The club has managed to keep the bulk of its exciting young roster together, whilst adding experienced campaigners Brett White and former Dally M medalist Matt Orford to the team. Young speedster Blake Ferguson has also been recruited by the Raiders from the Cronulla Sharks for the 2011 season.
The Raiders have performed well below expectations since their convincing Round 1 victory against the Cronulla Sharks. New recruit Blake Ferguson has been a shining light, having scored a team high 10 tries so far this season for the Canberra Raiders, including a hat-trick against the Wests Tigers in Round 3. Matt Orford is yet to make a considerable impact for the Green Machine in 2011.
The Raiders equalled their longest ever losing streak of 8 matches between Round 2 and Round 9, and only managed to avoid breaking their longest ever losing streak with a shock win against the Melbourne Storm in Round 10. Melbourne were at odds of $1.14 to win the game before going on to lose 20–12. Canberra holds on to slim hopes of making the finals at the end of the 2011 season. Based on previous seasons, Raiders would be expected to need to win at least 7 of their remaining 9 matches to make the Top 8.

## Results

Trial Games :
| Round | Opponent | Result | Can. | Opp. | Date | Venue | Venue | Crowd |
| Trial 1 | Melbourne Storm | Loss | 4 | 24 | 19 Feb | Bega Recreation Ground | Bega Recreation Ground | 6,169 |
| Trial 2 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Loss | 18 | 30 | 26 Feb | Scully Park Tamworth | Scully Park Tamworth | 4,000 |
| Colour | Result |
| Green | Win |
| Red | Loss |
| Yellow | Golden point Win |

### Telstra Premiership
## Squad

| No. | Position | Player Glen Buttriss – HK Terry Campese (captain) – FE Jarrod Croker – CE (GK) Josh Dugan – FB Blake Ferguson – CE Shaun Fensom – LK Danny Galea – SR Bronson Harrison – SR Tom Learoyd-Lahrs – PR Drury Low – WG Josh McCrone – FE Nathan Massey – SR Sam Mataora – SR David Milne – FB |
| No. | Position | Player Matt Orford – HB Josh Papalii – SR Joe Picker – SR Reece Robinson – WG David Shillington – PR James Stuart – CE Joel Thompson – CE Trevor Thurling – SR Dane Tilse – PR Alan Tongue (captain) – LK Daniel Vidot – WG Travis Waddell – HK Brett White – PR Sam Williams – HB |

### Preseason transfers

IN
* Blake Ferguson (from Cronulla Sharks)
* Matt Orford (from Bradford Bulls)
* Brett White (from Melbourne Storm
OUT
* Justin Carney (to Sydney Roosters)
* Marc Herbert (to Bradford Bulls)
* Brett Kelly (to Avignion)
* Adam Mogg (Retirement)
* Joel Monaghan (to Warrington Wolves)
* Scott Logan (Retirement)
* Troy Thompson (to Melbourne Storm)

## Player statistics

| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| Glen Buttriss | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jarrod Croker | 11 | 2 | 27 | 0 | 62 |
| Josh Dugan | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Shaun Fensom | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Blake Ferguson | 11 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Danny Galea | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bronson Harrison | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Tom Learoyd-Lahrs | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh McCrone | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Nathan Massey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Mataora | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh Miller | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David Milne | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Orford | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh Papalii | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Picker | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Reece Robinson | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| David Shillington | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joel Thompson | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Trevor Thurling | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dane Tilse | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Alan Tongue | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daniel Vidot | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Travis Waddell | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brett White | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Williams | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | – | 32 | 27 | 0 | 182 |

## Ladders

2011 NRL Telstra Premiershipvte :
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 521 | 308 | 213 | 42 |
| 2 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (P) | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 539 | 331 | 208 | 40 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 511 | 372 | 139 | 40 |
| 4 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 519 | 430 | 89 | 34 |
| 5 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 483 | 341 | 142 | 33 |
| 6 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 504 | 393 | 111 | 32 |
| 7 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 532 | 480 | 52 | 32 |
| 8 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 478 | 443 | 35 | 28 |
| 9 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 449 | 489 | -40 | 28 |
| 10 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 531 | 562 | -31 | 26 |
| 11 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 417 | 500 | -83 | 24 |
| 12 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 430 | 517 | -87 | 22 |
| 13 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 428 | 557 | -129 | 18 |
| 14 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 6 | 1 | 17 | 2 | 385 | 538 | -153 | 17 |
| 15 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 423 | 623 | -200 | 16 |
| 16 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 363 | 629 | -266 | 16 |
2011 National Youth Competition seasonvte :
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | New Zealand Warriors (P) | 24 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 851 | 494 | +357 | 43 |
| 2 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 758 | 509 | +249 | 38 |
| 3 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 707 | 600 | +107 | 37 |
| 4 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 678 | 517 | +161 | 36 |
| 5 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 639 | 523 | +116 | 35 |
| 6 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 659 | 458 | +201 | 32 |
| 7 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 607 | 529 | +78 | 30 |
| 8 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 638 | 660 | -22 | 29 |
| 9 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 11 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 752 | 551 | +201 | 28 |
| 10 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 558 | 709 | -151 | 28 |
| 11 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 562 | 594 | -32 | 26 |
| 12 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 547 | 556 | -9 | 25 |
| 13 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 683 | 749 | -66 | 21 |
| 14 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 2 | 467 | 779 | -312 | 15 |
| 15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 2 | 454 | 881 | -427 | 13 |
| 16 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 432 | 843 | -411 | 12 |