Canberra Raiders to get compo for lost home games

When all the clubs relocated to Queensland, the Raiders were initially hopeful they could return to Canberra before the original four weeks were up - given there's no coronavirus cases in the capital.

But those hopes were dashed when the NRL announced the Raiders' round 21 home game against St George Illawarra would be played on the Gold Coast.

The Raiders have two more home games after that - against Manly (August 20) and the Sydney Roosters (September 2) - although Canberra chief executive Don Furner felt they might end up being moved from Canberra Stadium as well.

All of the 13 NRL clubs who have relocated to south-east Queensland will receive compensation from the NRL for their loss of revenue while away.

Furner was waiting to find out exactly how many home games they would lose while in the Queensland bubble before offering their members compensation as well.

That could either come in the form of rolling over part of this year's membership into the 2022 season or monetary refunds.

"A bit like last year - they're just flat out at the moment as you can imagine - they have told us they'll sit down and look at some type of compensation package ... which will be very good," Furner said.

"We've got to offer refunds and all that. I'm hoping it's just that. But we're not going to go back to our members until we know how many games are missed.

"It could be all of them or it could only be two of them. But we've got to do something with the members and hopefully do a rollover or some type of pro-rata rebate.

"The NRL have told us they're going to look at all that."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

The Queensland government closed its border to all of NSW last week as the state continues to struggle with containing the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

But they've kept them open to Canberrans, keeping the possibility alive the Raiders could return home at some stage this season.

It would allow the Green Machine to play at Canberra Stadium where there are currently no crowd restrictions.

But Furner felt that was looking unlikely the longer the NSW lockdown continued, with the state announcing a record 141 new cases on Sunday.

The Raiders have thrived since beginning their Gold Coast bubble, winning both of their games - including a massive win over the fourth-placed Parramatta Eels.

"Apart from the small concession the Queensland government made for the ACT [on Thursday], it's more than likely it will be the full seven weeks I think," Furner said.

"They said they'd review it in a couple of weeks' time so we'll talk to them in a couple of weeks."

NRL ROUND 20

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights at Lang Park, 5.30pm.

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