Canberra Raiders expecting plenty of NRLW, NRL doubleheaders

The release of the NRLW draw might have been delayed, but Raiders chief executive Don Furner got the impression almost all of their NRLW home games could be played alongside their men's team.

Despite having started signing women's players for their inaugural season, Furner was unconcerned by the lack of a collective bargaining agreement for the NRLW.

He has a "fair idea" of what the salary cap will be - given he's one of the club's representatives in the CBA dicussions, which he simply described as "ongoing".

Furner confirmed the Raiders were interested in luring Gold Coast star second-rower David Fifita to the club for the 2024 campaign.

Fifita's now off-contract and able to sign with other clubs for that season and onwards.

The Titans want to keep Fifita, with the Dragons and South Sydney reportedly also interested.

Raiders NRLW coach Darrin Borthwick's keen on signing St George Illawarra second-rower Shaylee Bent, who's also Fifita's partner, potentially opening the door for the super couple to end up in the capital.

"We're always looking at really good players," Furner said when asked about Fifita.

Furner felt a final NRLW draw wasn't far off and from his own observations he thought there could be plenty of doubleheaders as part of it.

The Raiders NRL side will play four of their final six games at Canberra Stadium.

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"It shouldn't be long, but it looks to me like we might get all of them as doubleheaders," Furner said.

NRLW star players were furious everything surrounding next season was yet to be resolved - there's still no salary cap, draw or indication of how long the 2023 campaign will be.

Furner was unconcerned by all the uncertainty and was simply working towards his rough idea of what the salary cap might be.

It's believed they've already signed about five players for their NRLW squad, with Borthwick now set-up and working in his office at Raiders HQ.

"Not really [hamstrung], I've got a fair idea what the salary cap will be - I'm on the committee - so we've made offers, we've had acceptances and we are just working through others," Furner said.

"We're going OK."

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