NRLW: Canberra Raiders set sights on crowd record at first home game

The Raiders women will play a doubleheader alongside the Raiders men on Saturday afternoon, signalling a new era after the club made its debut in the female competition last weekend.

The two games coincide with women in league round and the opening of new change rooms at Canberra Stadium, with a viking clap double and two guards of honour to celebrate the occasion.

The Raiders are hopeful they can attract a bumper crowd for the early NRLW kick-off at 12.50pm to help them break through the 6769 fan number.

The number is significant because that's how many supporters turned up to watch the first Raiders men's game at Seiffert Oval in 1982.

Now club officials are urging the new age of fans to turn up when gates open at 12.20pm to catch the women's team and to be a part of history.

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Raiders chief executive Don Furner said the club had been inundated with corporate hospitality and ticket requests, while membership options are still open for the women's and men's teams.

"Having both teams playing gives a different feel to the day. I saw it last week in Cronulla and I saw it last year at Newcastle," Furner said.

"People getting there early to watch the women play and then waiting around ... we're really looking forward to this weekend and we'd encourage people to get there early.

"The team did us proud in their first game last weekend and they will do for the rest of the year.

"We're lucky because we weren't in the NRLW from the start, but we've taken a lot of learnings from the inaugural teams and we've done a lot of research about what worked and what didn't, and how the women were integrated into clubs."

A decent crowd was at Cronulla for the first game last weekend, with Raiders great Ruben Wiki one of many breaking into a post-game haka to honour New Zealand players in the team.

The team lost its opener 28-14, but showed signs they'll be competitive against the more established clubs.

The Raiders men's team will wear a replica NRLW jersey for their match against the Knights as they attempt to force their way back into the top four, while ACT Sport Minister Yvette Berry and women's rugby league great Nicole Pollard-Fleming will blow the Viking horn on two separate occasions.

The Raiders have taken out advertising on billboards around the city as well as mobile advertising to make sure their supporters know the women's game starts at 12.50pm, with the men to follow at 3pm.

Raiders officials have also encouraged the players to be a part of almost every process, including helping decide how their player numbers are ordered in the history books.

It is yet to be decided whether NRLW Raider No.1 will be fullback Api Nicholls because she wore the No.1 jersey in the first game or Simaima Taufa, who was the club's first official signing, or alphabetically.

"Everyone is behind it, we've got feedback from staff and players when they arrived," Furner said.

"We took on board what they said, even [on Monday] discussing how their official number is allocated. We didn't issue numbers back in 1982, it was done retrospectively.

"They get to set the tone for the future of NRLW at this club."

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