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[lower-alpha 1] and Elliott Whitehead, they competed in the 2021 NRL season, placing 10th out of 16 teams and thus failing to make the finals.

2021 Canberra Raiders season
NRL Rank10th
2021 recordWins: 10; losses: 14
Points scoredFor: 481; against: 578
Team information
CEO
Chairman		Don Furner Jr.
Allan Hawke
CoachRicky Stuart
Captain
StadiumCanberra Stadium
Top scorers
Goals38 - Jarrod Croker
Points24 - Jordan Rapana
< 2020 List of seasons 2022 >

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[1] between Stuart and a certain amount of players led to the stand-down of Josh Hodgson as captain[2] and the departure of English import George Williams.[3] 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[4] and hooker Tom Starling[5] 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
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 season
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Melbourne Storm 2421031815316+49944
2 Penrith Panthers (P) 2421031676286+39044
3 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2420041775453+32242
4 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 2416081744492+25234
5 Sydney Roosters 2416081630489+14134
6 Parramatta Eels 2415091566457+10932
7 Newcastle Knights 24120121428571−14326
8 Gold Coast Titans 24100141580583−322
9 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24100141520556−3622
10 Canberra Raiders 24100141481578−9722
11 St. George Illawarra Dragons 2480161474616−14218
12 New Zealand Warriors 2480161453624−17118
13 Wests Tigers 2480161500714−21418
14 Brisbane Broncos 2470171446695−24916
15 North Queensland Cowboys 2470171460748−28816
16 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2430211340710−3708

2021 Squad

Canberra Raiders 2021 Squad
Top 30 Squad - 2021 Season Development Players Coaching staff

Extended squad

Head coach

Assistant coaches

Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)
  • (gk) Goal kicker(s)

Updated: 23 August 2021
Source(s): Raiders Team Profiles

Transfers

Losses:

Player Signed From Signed To Notes
John Bateman Canberra Raiders Wigan Warriors [6]
Nick Cotric Canberra Raiders Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs [7]
Michael Oldfield Canberra Raiders Parramatta Eels [8]
Corey Horsburgh Canberra Raiders Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (mid-season loan) [9]
Ryan James Canberra Raiders Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (mid-season loan) [9]

Gains:

Player Signed From Notes
Ryan James Gold Coast Titans [10]
Harry Rushton Wigan Warriors [11]
Caleb Aekins Penrith Panthers [12]

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

References

  1. ↑ "Stuart flags team changes after 'unacceptable' defensive display". National Rugby League. 2021-07-03. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  2. ↑ Chammas, Michael (2021-05-05). "Why Hodgson stepped down as Raiders captain". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  3. ↑ McAllister, Josh (2021-06-17). "George Williams says Canberra farewell following exit". LoveRugbyLeague. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  4. ↑ "Injury Update: Savage out for the season". Canberra Raiders. 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  5. ↑ "'I couldn't speak': Raider reveals gruesome injury that saw him lose a tooth and gain two plates". Fox Sports. 2021-08-19. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  6. ↑ "John Bateman to depart Raiders at end of 2020". Canberra Raiders. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  7. ↑ "Cotric set to become a Bulldog after rejecting Raiders re-signing offer". National Rugby League. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  8. ↑ "Eels sign Hipgrave, Oldfield, Roache". National Rugby League. 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  9. 1 2 Millard, Benjamin (2021-08-10). "Desperate Bulldogs sign two players on loan deals". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  10. ↑ "Ryan James to join Raiders in 2021". Canberra Raiders. 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  11. ↑ "Raiders Sign Harry Rushton". Canberra Raiders. 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  12. ↑ "Raiders Sign Caleb Aekins". Canberra Raiders. 2020-10-15. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  1. ↑ Until his step-down from captaincy on May 5th.
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