BY ROB

Grab your inflatable baseball bats, an 11am appropriate snack and settle in for the first game of the NRL 2025 season live from Las Vegas, Nevada this Sunday morning! After an interminably boring offseason and two trial games the Raiders are finally ready to hit the ground running.

Despite claims it’s the “entree” game the Raiders and Wahs have been handed the honour of kicking off the season. Last year the Green Machine featured in the opening domestic game, where they sprung an ambush on the Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium. Can they repeat this feat in Vegas?

Mainstream pundits have spent much of the offseason trying to preemptively hang the wooden spoon around Canberra’s neck. This, in my humble opinion, is always a laughable ploy, for two reasons. Firstly, the Raiders have only ever accrued one spoon in their entire history (their inaugural season of ’82). Secondly, the spoon honorifics almost always go to a Sydney/NSW club, with the Titans and Broncos being exceptions in 2019 and 2020.

Of course one could argue that this means that the Raiders are long overdue an annus horribilis (look it up and stop sniggering), but I would counter that it takes a special type of club to steer clear of the dreaded cutlery for over 40 years.

Where others see raw, undeveloped players Raiders fans see potential and possibilities. Sticky has assembled a strong batch of youngsters, arguably one of the most promising groups since a NYC winning team began to filter into first grade approximately 15 years ago.

In fact one of those veterans still remains. Seasoned warhorse Josh Papali’i enters his 15th season in the NRL, an incredible achievement for a player whose ability and leadership has been critical to the club over the last decade. Papa has been looking absolutely svelte during this preseason.

Much has been made of the Raiders lack of experience heading into this season, and while it’s true that the likes of Rapana and Whitehead have moved on, it does seem quite the slight against Tapine, Papa and Fogarty. Below those three are a host of mid career talents, and while they may not be grizzled old-timers they’ve certainly got enough to help the youngsters on their journey.

The Warriors find themselves in a somewhat similar situation – their star half Shaun Johnson has retired (sparing those of us in green from recurring nightmares), as has Tohu Harris, and Addin Fonua-Blake is now a Shark. To underestimate them though would be to any team’s detriment: they still have a lethal backline and a forward pack spearheaded by Origin rep Barnett and shiny new recruit James Fisher-Harris. The former Panther will be keen to show the league that he’s just as dangerous outside of the Penrith system.

The New Zealand side has been a gremlin outfit for Canberra in recent years. The Raiders hold the most recent bragging rights, but that victory was preceded by three losses to the Warriors, including Jarrod Croker’s 300th game at home.

Assessing both team lists it’s hard to determine who has the edge. In recent years Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad would have comfortably been the better fullback, and while he’s certainly more fully-formed he may have met his match in the pure speed of Kaeo Weekes.

One key personnel change of note for the Raiders is Owen Pattie’s elevation to the #14 jumper, with Danny Levi relegated to the reserve list. While those outside the Sphere of Green may be somewhat puzzled by this, those of us in the know see this as a sensible pathway to the future. Levi knows that he’s on borrowed time here, and Pattie may actually already eclipse him in skill and vision.

As for predicting game-plans I reserve the right to abstain for this opening Rumble – partly because I don’t know what style of footy this new incarnation of the Warriors will present, and in turn what the Raiders will bring out (although I think it’s safe to expect a minimum of at least 3 massive J-Fog bombs). I would like to see the Green Machine work wide early and use their backline speed to test the Wahs edges.

So bring on Round 1, that first game twinkling as though it were an emerald on the path to a Raiders premiership.

Prediction: Raiders by a tight 8 points!

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