# 2009 Canberra Raiders season

The 2009 Canberra Raiders season was the 28th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 13th (out of 16).

## Pre-season

The Canberra Raiders lost founding father Les McIntyre in the pre-season in February leading to the disruption of a pre-season camp and his name being embroidered on the club jerseys for the rest of the season 2009 season.

## Season summary

Despite a disappointing start to the season for the Raiders, losing too many close matches, they were able to defeat the Melbourne Storm 26 – 16 at Canberra Stadium (Canberra's first victory over Melbourne in 7 years and 14 games) in round 16, keeping their slim finals hopes alive. The Raiders in round 21 handed the Brisbane Broncos club the heaviest defeat in their history with a 56–0 trashing at Canberra Stadium, the largest winning margin of the season. The Raiders also had a memorable win over the number one team at the time St George-Illawarra Dragons, by 24–12. Despite wins against three of the top four (St George Illawarra Dragons, Gold Coast Titans and the Melbourne Storm) and coming within three points of the other (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs) losses to bottom placed teams Cronulla Sharks and Sydney Roosters at home saw the Raiders finish in 13th.

## Results
### Telstra Premiership

Trial Games :
| Round | Opponent | Result | Can. | Opp. | Date | Venue | Crowd | Position |
| Trial 1 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 32 | 12 | 24 Jan | Seiffert Oval | | N/A |
| Trial 2 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 16 | 30 | 21 Feb | Dolphin Oval | 10,500 | N/A |
| Trial 3 | Bulldogs | Loss | 16 | 24 | 28 Feb | Meakin Park | | N/A |
| NRL Regular Season Games |||||||||
| 1 (1989 League Legends Cup) | Wests Tigers | Loss | 26 | 34 | 16 Mar | Campbelltown Stadium | 17,392 | 11/16 |
| 2 | Sydney Roosters | Loss | 4 | 28 | 22 Mar | Canberra Stadium | 13,100 | 16/16 |
| 3 | Parramatta Eels | Loss | 16 | 18 | 28 Mar | Parramatta Stadium | 11,110 | 16/16 |
| 4 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 23 | 18 | 6 Apr | Canberra Stadium | 12,193 | 15/16 |
| 5 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 24 | 14 | 11 Apr | Toyota Stadium | 8,561 | 11/16 |
| 6 | Gold Coast Titans | Loss | 10 | 16 | 17 Apr | Skilled Park | 18,510 | 14/16 |
| 7 | Bulldogs | Loss | 20 | 30 | 26 Apr | Canberra Stadium | 10,241 | 13/16 |
| 8 | Penrith Panthers | Loss | 10 | 18 | 2 May | Canberra Stadium | 8,850 | 14/16 |
| 9 | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | 9–11 May | | | 14/16 |
| 10 (Heritage Round) | Melbourne Storm | Loss | 6 | 46 | 18 May | Olympic Park | 10,112 | 14/16 |
| 11 | New Zealand Warriors | Win | 38 | 12 | 24 May | Canberra Stadium | 8,383 | 14/16 |
| 12 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Win | 34 | 18 | 1 Jun | ANZ Stadium | 9,805 | 12/16 |
| 13 | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | 5–8 Jun | | | 11/16 |
| 14 | Cronulla Sharks | Loss | 22 | 24 | 14 Jun | Canberra Stadium | 10,104 | 12/16 |
| 15 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Loss | 14 | 20 | 21 Jun | Brookvale Oval | 8,182 | 15/16 |
| 16 | Melbourne Storm | Win | 26 | 16 | 28 Jun | Canberra Stadium | 9,551 | 12/16 |
| 17 | Gold Coast Titans | Win | 34 | 28 | 5 Jul | Canberra Stadium | 9,800 | 10/16 |
| 18 | Newcastle Knights | Loss | 4 | 23 | 11 Jul | Energy Australia Stadium | 15,355 | 12/16 |
| 19 | Penrith Panthers | Loss | 14 | 27 | 18 Jul | CUA Stadium | 8,074 | 14/16 |
| 20 | Wests Tigers | Loss | 4 | 25 | 26 Jul | Canberra Stadium | 11,150 | 14/16 |
| 21 | Brisbane Broncos | Win | 56 | 0 | 1 Aug | Canberra Stadium | 10,200 | 13/16 |
| 22 | Bulldogs | Loss | 20 | 23 | 8 Aug | ANZ Stadium | 13,310 | 13/16 |
| 23 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Win | 24 | 12 | 15 Aug | Canberra Stadium | 19,350 | 13/16 |
| 24 | New Zealand Warriors | Loss | 20 | 34 | 23 Aug | Mount Smart Stadium | 8,812 | 13/16 |
| 25 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 30 | 14 | 31 Aug | Canberra Stadium | 9,400 | 13/16 |
| 26 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 10 | 22 | 6 Sep | Suncorp Stadium | 35,112 | 13/16 |
| Colour | Result |
| Green | Win |
| Red | Loss |
| Yellow | Golden point Win |
| Blue | Bye |

### Toyota Cup (Under 20s)

The Under 20s team was unsuccessful in defending its National Youth Competition title, the season started well but injuries and players moving up into first grade saw them enter a six match losing streak late in the regular season and saw them just scrape into the top eight on points differential. The team were able to upset the minor premiers Manly in week one of the finals but fell to the Wests Tigers in week two ending their title defence.

## Club awards

| Award | Winner |
| Mal Meninga Medal | Josh Dugan Josh Miller |
| Coaches Award | Bronson Harrison |
| Rookie of the Year | Josh Dugan |
| Fred Daly Memorial Clubman of the Year Trophy | John Woods |
| National Youth Competition Player of the Year | Steve Naughton |
| National Youth Competition Coaches Award | Jarred Kennedy |
| Gordon McLucas Memorial Award (Junior representative player of the year) | Haydon Hodge |
| Geoff Caldwell Memorial Award (Vocational Encouragement) | Mark Nicholls |

## Squad

| No. | Position | Player David Milne – FB Adrian Purtell – WG Jarrod Croker – CE Joel Monaghan – CE Phil Graham – WG Terry Campese – FE Marc Herbert – HB Dane Tilse – PR Glen Buttriss – HK Scott Logan – PR David Shillington – PR Bronson Harrison – SR Alan Tongue (Captain) – LK Trevor Thurling – SR Tom Learoyd-Lahrs – SR Nigel Plum – SR Troy Thompson – PR Joe Picker – SR Michael Brophy – WG Daniel Vidot – CE |
| No. | Position | Player Justin Carney – WG Brad Cross – CE Andrew Edwards – SR Shaun Fensom – LK Stuart Flanagan – HK Sam Huihahau – WG Daniel Joyce – PR Brett Kelly – WG Cy Lasscock – SR Josh McCrone – FE Josh Miller – PR Zac Russ – FE Nick Skinner – PR Matt Smith – HB James Stuart – CE Joel Thompson – SR Glen Turner – SR Josh Dugan – FB Travis Waddell – HK Drury Low – WG |

## Ladders

2009 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 548 | 329 | +219 | 38 |
| 2 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 575 | 428 | +147 | 38$^1$ |
| 3 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 514 | 467 | +47 | 36 |
| 4 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 505 | 348 | +157 | 33 |
| 5 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 549 | 459 | +90 | 32 |
| 6 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 511 | 566 | −55 | 32 |
| 7 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 508 | 491 | +17 | 30 |
| 8 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 476 | 473 | +3 | 29 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 558 | 483 | +75 | 28 |
| 10 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 566 | 549 | +17 | 27 |
| 11 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 515 | 589 | −74 | 27 |
| 12 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 558 | 474 | +84 | 26 |
| 13 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 489 | 520 | −31 | 22 |
| 14 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 7 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 377 | 565 | −188 | 20 |
| 15 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 359 | 568 | −209 | 14 |
| 16 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 382 | 681 | −299 | 14 |
National Youth Competition season 2009vte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 879 | 417 | +462 | 43 |
| 2 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 758 | 461 | +297 | 42 |
| 3 | Melbourne Storm (P) | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 833 | 597 | +236 | 42 |
| 4 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 709 | 588 | +121 | 35 |
| 5 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 698 | 551 | +147 | 34 |
| 6 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 776 | 568 | +208 | 31 |
| 7 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 725 | 612 | +113 | 31 |
| 8 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 11 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 706 | 685 | +21 | 28 |
| 9 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 668 | 683 | -15 | 28 |
| 10 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 596 | 756 | -160 | 23 |
| 11 | Canterbury Bulldogs | 24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 649 | 867 | -218 | 23 |
| 12 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 604 | 698 | -94 | 20 |
| 13 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 573 | 755 | -182 | 20 |
| 14 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 542 | 738 | -196 | 20 |
| 15 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 443 | 736 | -293 | 16 |
| 16 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 391 | 838 | -447 | 12 |