Why an NRL premiership dream is 'now or never' for the Canberra Raiders

Iconic Raiders Jack Wighton and Josh Papali'i are both aged 30 while skipper Elliott Whitehead and Jordan Rapana are 33, meaning four core members of the 2019 grand final side could leave the game without a premiership ring unless they can strike in the next few seasons.

Canberra backed up the 2019 grand final effort with a preliminary final appearance the following year, and addressed fears their window had already shut after slumping to 10th in 2021 with a semi-final run last year.

But powerhouse prop Joe Tapine, aged 28 and now widely-regarded as the premier front-rower in the game, acknowledged there was no time to lose in order to achieve the ultimate accolade as one unit.

"Premiership windows aren't big and the players we have around us - Jacko [Wighton], Paps [Papali'i], Smell [Whitehead] - we're getting into our 30s," Tapine said.

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"We need to push to win a competition soon or it might not come.

"I've got a few years and I'll just keep building my game and my leadership around the club."

Just about every player looks back on their career and wonders how many premierships they should have won.

Andrew Johns reckons the star-studded Newcastle Knights should have won five. Titles in 1997 and 2001 remain their only triumphs. Even Ricky Stuart and the all-conquering Raiders of the late 1980s and early 1990s could have jagged another, had the mercurial halfback not broken his ankle.

Wighton, especially, lacks that one precious piece of silverware to complete a set any champion footballer would dream of. The Canberra five-eighth can already lay claim to State of Origin success, a World Cup, a Clive Churchill medal and a Dally M medal.

Raiders forward Corey Harawira-Naera says it falls to the middle tier of players - such as Hudson Young [24], Corey Horsburgh [25], Tom Starling [24] and himself - to take their games to new heights to support the stars who have delivered for so long.

"We can't really keep relying on the same core, which means we're going to have to stand up ... guys like me, Hudson, Horsburgh, Emre [Guler], Tommy Starling," Harawira-Naera said.

"I'm not much younger than those older guys, but there's a next crop of boys that can start putting their hands up and helping those guys out every week.

"It is a team game and we can't rely on our superstars so I'm pretty keen on hopefully making this step up and helping those poor guys out that are bashing their bodies every week for us."

The Raiders spent just four rounds inside the top eight last year. The fact two of them just happened to be the final two weeks of the regular season is so perfectly Canberra.

After Josh Hodgson's season ended in the opening six minutes, a freak accident saw Jarrod Croker go under the knife, and Ricky Stuart was hit with a one-game ban for a post-match press conference tirade, all the pieces fell into place.

Tapine was top of the props, Jamal Fogarty took the keys to the Green Machine and Hudson Young rocketed onto Big Mal's 'Roos radar. Should the injury curse not strike once more, the way Canberra stormed into the finals last year is enough to suggest they can give the competition a shake this time around.

Well, maybe this is as much about what they do need. They need Tapine and Papali'i carting a Steeden upfield so Wighton and Fogarty have room to play with and time to unlock Canberra's outside backs.

The Raiders had 385 possessions per game last year - the least of any team - and gave away an average of 5.8 penalties per game, which was the fourth-most in the competition.

Only Melbourne (6.6), the Roosters (6.1) and South Sydney (5.9) conceded a higher number of penalties on a per game basis.

If Canberra want more of the ball, they need to stop giving away penalties.

What do you do when you lose your x-factor?

A broken jaw should sideline Xavier Savage for the first six weeks of the season, leaving Jordan Rapana and Seb Kris in a shootout for the No. 1 jersey to start the competition.

Rapana has played down his desire to move off the wing and Kris is relatively untested at the back, but somebody has to stand up and own the position early in the season.

Stuart has played the long game with Savage throughout his NRL career to date. Savage's moments of brilliance make for thrilling highlight reels but he has often been found guilty of drifting in and out of games as he finds his feet in the top grade.

With another pre-season under his belt, Savage now has a chance to deliver on his potential and ignite Canberra's run to the finals this year.

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