The moments, magic and mayhem inspiring Canberra's 25-year wait for glory
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For 25 years, Canberra has been green with envy. Twelve different teams from three different states have lifted the trophy in the 9140 days since the Raiders last did.
But here they are again.
This one's for family. It's for the McIntyres. For the Crokers.
For Jason's 324 games. For Lachlan's one. It's for Jarrod's 256 and counting.
This one's for the Furners. For Don senior, fighting for his life.
It's for handing the baton over to his son. It's for his son having to sack his brother.
Yes, this one's for you Furnsy.
It's for Ruben Wiki.
It's for Mal. His playing career. His coaching career. His political career. Paul Osborne's political career. Glenn Lazarus' political career.
It's for the 30 Raiders one-gamers. From Lui Bon to Michael Spinks.
It's for Joel Monaghan. For Clinton Schifcofske.
Raiders fever hits Oktoberfest
It's for Queensland Adam. Adam who? Adam Mogg.
This one's for the Mac Attack. For Mark McLinden and Andrew McFadden.
This one's for Sheensy. For Don. For Wayne.
For David Grant's faders. For Laurie's entertainers.
For Badge and Boxhead. For the Brick with Eyes.
This one's for Sticky.
It's for the $10,000 fine he copped in 2014 for calling the officiating shit, laughable, poor and not at the standard of first grade.
It's for the $20,000 fine he copped 12 months later.
For the $125,000 worth of fines he's copped throughout his 18 years as a coach.
Croker praises calm Stuart
For the repeated needles he had injected between his scrotum and anus to play in the 1991 finals series.
It's for Canberra Milk. Video Ezy. It's for Woodger's.
This one's for Seiffert Oval. It's for Bruce Stadium.
This one's for Queanbeyan, the original home of the Raiders.
It's for Lake Burley Griffin. For Bobby Griffin.
It's for doing right by Goulburn after they ran one of their own out of town.
This one's for you, Toddy.
It's for the freezing winters that made talented Englishmen feel at home half way around the world.
Yes, this one's for Britain. For Turkey. For Serbia.
It's for Chicka Ferguson. For Blake Ferguson. For Josh Dugan.
For rooftop birds and Breezers.
For every player the Raiders begrudgingly sacked and watched shine at rival clubs.
Roosters v Raiders - Grand FInal
It's for James Tedesco back-flipping on the Raiders. It's for Josh Papalii back-flipping for the Raiders.
It's for green milk over lattes.
It's for politics over Politis. Belconnen over Bondi.
For green sausages over acai bowls.
For parliament house over the penthouse.
For not needing a big Willie when you have a great Tongue.
Yes, Tonguey. This one's for all his 220 games without a premiership.
Match: Roosters v Raiders
Grand Final -
home Team
Roosters
2nd Position
away Team
Raiders
4th Position
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
For the 240 games Simon Woolford endured the same.
For the 200 NRL games Sia Soliola will rack up in the big dance.
For the eight points Jarrod Croker needs to become the youngest player in history to reach 2000.
For the two points he missed that ripped the heart out of a city in the finals of 2010.
It's for Tina Turner. For a generation of kids who associated Simply the Best with the men in green.
For a generation of arm guards. Of white head gear. Of kids screaming 'Mullins!' in the backyard.
Raiders: The art of the steal
This one's for Campo. For Campo's knees. For Leilua's eye. For Bellamy's mullet. It's for Belcher's moustache.
It's for Finchy's 20-metre restart going out on the full.
This one's for Quentin Pongia, watching from the heavens.
It's for the many more watching alongside him. This one's for you Kato Ottio, gone too young.
It's for Les McIntyre building the club.
For the green couch that inspired a green reign.
It's for September 25, 1989 - the first Raiders premiership.
It's for the Sydney Football Stadium crossbar.
Bateman excited for Cordner challenge
It's for September 25, 1994. The last Raiders premiership.
It's for Ken Nagas' two tries that day. It's for the suspension that kept John Lomax from playing that day.
It's for every PM in Canberra. From John Howard to Paul Martin. From Kevin Rudd to Peter McGrath.
It's for the first NRL game played in snow.
This one's for Addin Fonua-Blake. For tears of joy.
It's for the Viking clap. For Michael Ennis mocking the Viking clap. For Michael Ennis leading the Viking clap.
It's for 70,000 people who will be doing the Viking Clap on Sunday. This one's for you, Victor.
It's for Gundagai sparkie Wayne Pollack and the home-made horn.
It's for Josh Hodgson's 14 one on one strips. For Trent Robinson not liking it.
It's for Sam Williams' three stints at the club.
Soliola explains origin story of post-match Viking Clap
It's for Michael Oldfield taking Josh Papalii into his home and becoming his nutritionist.
For taking a chance on Nicoll-Klokstad.
It's for Peter Mulholland's battle with cancer.
It's for the club's 66-4 record win against the Roosters in 1990.
It's for hoping history repeats itself this weekend.
It's for hoping the case of Edrick Lee and the 2016 preliminary final fumble doesn't repeat itself.
It's for being bad and mean. For being fearsome men from the ACT.
For every ‘hit ya' ever sung in the nation's capital. For everyone whose ever left seeing green.
It's for the five Hall of Famers. For the 357 mortals. For the one immortal.
For the last one out of Canberra turning the lights off this weekend.
It's for October 6, 2019.
This one, in the words of a man who once called Canberra home, is for the true believers.
