Pre-Season Prediction: 12th
Actual Finish: 4th (Grand Finalists)
Highlights:
- Finals Run: Making the finals is tough enough, but making an impact is a whole other world.
The Raiders went to Melbourne and beat the clear minor Premiers in the Storm before bouncing the Bunnies in the prelim at home.
This was, initially a more difficult route to the Grand Final than they enjoyed in 2016 but the fact this team went one step closer shows what the 2019 Raiders were all about.
- The English: The Raiders' recruitment was A+ and it was headlined by their English ins.
Recruits from the Super League have been anything from the almighty hit (Sam Burgess) to the huge miss (Sam Tompkins) yet remains a largely untapped resource.
Ryan Sutton was a more than decent signing but John Bateman ended up as the Dally M second-rower of the year: two wins!
Bateman's season was nothing short of incredible. Five tries, four line breaks, four line break assists, over 100 metres per game and 40 offloads make for impressive reading.
- Ins/Outs: As good as the Raiders' recruitment was, their decisions re letting players go were equally as fruitful.
Canberra let two big props go and replaced them with players capable of bigger minutes.
Raiders fans won't need reminding of how many games over the next two seasons were lost in the final moments.
CNK was arguably the buy of the season and almost definitely the value signing of the year.
Bailey Simonsson was also a brilliant value signing. Luke Knight was arguably only the only player they let go that would have made the 2019 squad despite Blake Austin's success in England.
- Forward Power: The Raiders forward pack was a major reason for their success.
Bateman was a genuine difference-maker in many games, Elliott Whitehead was magic and Josh Papalii was an absolute wrecking ball.
Lui improved out of sight, and Guller was good despite his moments of madness. Young Corey Horsburgh added grunt from the bench while the aforementioned Sutton was very good. Joseph Tapine is one of the game's most underrated players.
Soliola is ageless and continues to dent defensive lines on the field and star off it.
Low Lights:
- Grand Final Loss: We've all heard the cliches. You need to lose one to win one, a grand final loss is the ultimate experience/learning curve etc etc, but try telling that to Raiders fans.
Forget the refereeing, forget the trainer, the Raiders had more than enough in terms of footy and opportunities to lift that trophy.
If BJ had passed that ball early I think we'd be referring to the Raiders as premiers right now.
That's gotta hurt, but if you offered me a grand final next year I'd take it.
- Worrying Home Form: It's almost impossible to imagine given the scenes that saw them qualify for the Grand Final but the Raiders' home record this year was pretty poor.
Incredibly they suffered six losses at home including their last three regular season fixtures.
The Warriors seemed to have halted the Raiders' run in round 25 when they scored late to beat Canberra 24-20.
Canberra, traditionally a very strong home team, finished top four with a 50% home record before a seventh home with over South Sydney sent them to the big dance.
Star Player: Jack Wighton
The Raiders' season was going to fade or be made via the level of success of Wighton's shift into the halves.
He started with mixed success but ended up playing a big part in NSW's Origin success (albeit as a centre) and being named man of the match in the Grand Final.
This could have been Bateman or Papalii but Wighton played a massive part in his season's success from the six.
He developed a kicking game over one off season while becoming one of the games best running halves.
Over 100 metres per game plus 89 tackle breaks made him a very dangerous threat with the ball. his shift proved to be a big success.
Season Grading: A+
I was massively wrong with my pre-season prediction. I just couldn't see them playing finals yet they were one 'non-pass' away from lifting the title.
Every recruitment decision they made paid off. Wighton's shift into the halves was a huge success.
The Viking Clap became iconic as the fans returned to GIO Stadium in massive numbers.
They may have fallen just short of the ultimate prize but overall it was an A+ season in the nation's capital.