5. Prediction
6th
The Raiders will be there or there-abouts again in 2021. I have no doubt in the world that they'll play finals footy, however I feel as though they may have fallen out of the top four.
Other teams around them have strengthened whereas the Raiders enter 2021 probably a little weaker than prior. Bateman's lost is massive and Cotric is a proven try scoring metre-eater they no longer have. Rapana is also another year older.
That said, they have an abundance of talent and one of the best operators in the business at the helm in Ricky Stuart.
Jack Wighton is an elite-level superstar and has a magnificent halves partner in George Williams. At the back they have Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who I believe will step up into that top level of fullbacks in 2021.
The return of Josh Hodgson is massive. As brilliant as young Tom Starling was, Hodgson's return makes the Raiders a much scarier outfit. Throw in Josh Papalii, who again, is the best prop in the game right now, as well as the hugely underrated Elliott Whitehead and superstar Joseph Tapine, and this is a side to be feared.
Croker is set to miss the opening month-or-so, however the squad looks deep enough to handle losing their captain and star centre.
Canberra have a side capable of troubling any side on any day. That said, there are too many spots where other teams are simply better than them.
