The Canberra Raiders return home to GIO Stadium this week as they look to end their losing streak against the boys from Belmore. Here’s five things to look out for ahead of this week’s clash.
1. Thursday night footy – What a great way to start the run into the weekend. Thursday night footy is the perfect occasion to get out of the house and watch some NRL footy. Bring the family out to GIO Stadium and cheer on the mighty green machine as they aim to register their first win of 2018.
2. Return of Dean Pay – The Bulldogs coach returns to Canberra for the first time in his newly appointed role. The former Raiders assistant joined the green machine in 2014 and served as an assistant coach to Ricky Stuart until the end of the 2017 season to take up the top job with the Bulldogs.
3. Local League at GIO Stadium – The Raiders match against the Bulldogs will be a celebration of Canberra Region Rugby League. The curtain raiser to the NRL game will be the Canberra Raiders Cup Match between the Queanbeyan Blues and the Yass Magpies. At halftime there will be the annual CRRL Junior relay race, with 10 local rugby league clubs represented from under 6’s through until under 16’s. The winning club will receive a $500 Gift voucher from Hart Sport, a $300 voucher for second and a $200 voucher for third. Get down early and support some local Rugby League.
4. Les Gock and ‘drive’ performing ‘Mighty Green Machine’ – How good is this going to be! This week’s Viking Ambassador is Aussie Rock Legend Les Gock who was part of the famous band Hush. Even more exciting for Raiders fans is that Gock was the man who produced the ‘Mighty Green Machine’ song. Les and his band ‘Drive’ will be performing Pre-Game. Les will also lead the Viking Clap Ceremony as the Viking Ambassador! This is worth the admission ticket alone!
5. Battle of the forwards – Both sides boast huge forwards packs with the likes of Klemmer, Woods, Jackson and Faitala-Mariner up against the Green Machine’s Soliola, Boyd, Paulo and Tapine. Expect to see some big hits and heavy clashes.
