Canberra Raiders NRL News

Pre-season games are not indicative of regular season success, as shown by past champions' poor performance.

The Riotact

It's hard to read too much into pre-season games with key players either rested or given limited time on the field.

You only have to look at the fate of the two previous NRL pre-season champions. The Broncos won the 2024 pre-season challenge only to finish 12th in the premiership while the 2023 pre-season champions, Manly, also finished 12th in the regular season.

The Raiders accounted for a Panthers outfit minus their premiership players, 22-16, in their opening pre-season game before going down to the Sharks 40-10.

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Tapine supports Papali'i, focusing on game despite off-field issues before Las Vegas trip.

The Canberra Times

One half of the Canberra Raiders' intimidating starting prop duo, Joe Tapine, is backing teammate Josh Papali'i to put aside his off-field drama ahead of a blockbuster round one in Las Vegas.

The Raiders will leave Canberra on Thursday morning to start their journey for the NRL's Sin City spectacular on March 2, with the team to base itself in Las Vegas for a full week of preparations.

But they return, the legendary forward Papali'i will face ACT Magistrates Court on March 6 fighting charges of intimidating police and failing to leave a licensed premises for an alleged incident on September 16 at Raiders Gungahlin licensed club.

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The Daily Telegraph

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has slammed Maori All Stars coach Adam Blair for suggesting Canberra's best players were pressured into missing the annual pre-season contest against the Indigenous All Stars held last weekend.

Stuart said Blair was "naive", ''inexperienced' and "selfish" for bringing into question the Raiders support for the growth and development of both Maori, Pasifika and Indigenous players.

Blair led the Māori to a 10-6 victory over the Indigenous team last...

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