Canberra Raiders Cup: Grand Final Preview

For the second year in a row, the battle lines have been set in Queanbeyan with one half of the town Blue and the other Maroon, as the Blues and Kangaroos battle it out for the 2025 Canberra Raiders Cup Premiership. 

The Quenbeyan Blues have spent the past week preparing for the Grand Final, after a comprehensive victory over their rivals in the Major Semi Final, with Blues hooker Blake Murray stating his side hasn't taken the foot of the peddle. 

"We still kept the intensity high at training, we had a run on Sunday morning as well to keep some air in the lungs and got together to have a chat, so nothing has really changed for us," Murray said. 

Despite the heavy score line, the Blues felt that the game two weeks ago was a solid arm wrestle, with that holding the key to victory against a side like the Kangaroos. 

“We know that if we can stick in there and tough it out, that the talent and the strike we’ve got across the park will come into play at some stage.”

“Roos are a quality team, and they are going for their third in a row so that shows that they’ve got the history, they’ve got the strike across the park, got a lot of older heads that bring in the experience in the big games, and all these things matter.”

For the Blues, they have held the wood over the Kangaroos this season, claiming victory in all three of their previous matchups this year, however Murray is aware that they count for nothing this weekend. 

“There is a certain level in confidence just in winning in general, but you know those three games that we played previously, they got us here, but they don’t mean anything this weekend.”

"We are confident but those three games they don't really mean anything come Saturday afternoon."

After suffering defeat in the last year's premiership decider, the Blues will be aiming to overturn the heartbreak experienced in the corresponding game last year, however it hasn't been directly mentioned by the playing squad. 

"It's something you always look back on, the little things that get away, that's why we play footy from when you can walk until, it's to play in that last game of the season."

"To lose it, it hurts but honestly it hasn't been spoken about, and we aren't really thinking about because we have a pretty new squad, and we are just looking forward to Saturday."

Saturday will be Blake Murray's last game in his footballing career, and whilst joking that it had been on the cards for a couple of seasons, he declared it was the right time to make this decision. 

"It would be nice, I'm glad that I would get to do it at the Blues, it's a club that's given me so much over the last couple of years and to have an opportunity to lift the trophy at the end is pretty special." 

Whilst, for the Kangaroos their journey to the 2025 decider saw them claim a compelling victory in the Preliminary Final against the Bushrangers, with Captain Coach Sam Williams noting his side just had to return to their best after their defeat against the Blues the week before. 

"The Blues are a really good side, and sometimes you lose games to really good sides." 

"I felt that they were a classy side the Blues and that if we got back to playing some good footy, we would give ourselves a chance on the weekend and we did that," Williams said. 

History beckons for the Kangaroos this weekend, as they have an opportunity to be the first side in Canberra Raiders Cup history to win three consecutive titles, with Williams declaring it's a good opportunity. 

"It is a really good opportunity, but there have been some very good sides that haven't been able to do it because it is so hard."

"There is a reason why that hasn't happened, it's a lovely opportunity that we have got but it's a long way away just yet."

The Kangaroos are yet to defeat the Blues this season with the side understanding the enormity of the task and admit that they have to reach another level to win the decider. 

“We’ve got to go to a new level. They’ve comprehensively beaten us all three games this year."

"We’ve had some good contests, but we haven’t really been in it to be honest, so we’ve just got to play better, simple as that.”

With this being the second straight Grand Final matchup between the sides from Queanbeyan, despite the stakes on the field the respect both sides have for each other still remains.

"It's nice going down Queanbeyan and seeing everyone in their merchandise for both clubs, it's a very proud town with a lot of Rugby League history I'm glad that both Queanbeyan teams are in the final game of the season," Murray said.  

“There is a large amount of respect between the two sides, we’ve had some cracking battles over the last couple of years, and Saturday will be no different again,” Williams said. 

Saturday afternoon's Canberra Raiders Cup Grand Final will go down in history, as the Blues look to overcome last year's premiership decider heartbreak, whilst the Kangaroos search for the history looking for back-to-back-to-back titles.