Almost everyone had written the Canberra Raiders off before the NRL season started after some lean years and their major sponsor informed the club it would not seek an extension of its deal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Fast-forward six months and the Green Machine are humming on the field after securing a top-four spot on Sunday for the first time since 2003 and the win was made sweeter by a $1 million sponsorship bonus.
The Raiders have finalised a new major partner deal with telecommunications company Huawei for the next three years in the biggest sponsorship deal in the club's history.
The timing couldn't have been better with the Raiders coming from behind to beat the Parramatta Eels 28-18 in their last home game of the year and in front of their biggest regular season crowd since 2010.
The Raiders are preparing for a return to the finals and have stamped themselves as a genuine premiership threat under the guidance of coach Ricky Stuart.
Huawei told the Raiders at the start of the year that they would not seek to extend their partnership, but the company's executives backflipped in June and wanted to buy into the lime green revival.
The three-year deal until the end of 2019 is understood to be worth close to $1 million per season and gives the Raiders off-field stability as they find their feet on the field.
"Huawei were looking like going elsewhere, but they've committed to a new deal for three years," said Raiders boss Don Furner.
"I was absolutely over the moon when they changed their mind. They stuck by us through some really tough times so I'm absolutely ecstatic that they're going to be here through some good times.
"They never wavered and I really want to pay them a tribute for that."
The Raiders were eighth on the ladder when Huawei changed its mind and said it wanted to buy into Stuart's vision after he signed an extension to his coaching contract.
"It's a credit to Ricky, he said to us at the start of the year that he's got a fantastic team here and that it was going to be a good three years," said Huawei's head of corporate affairs, Jeremy Mitchell
"We took that on board and signed on for three years. By the end of that season we will be the longest serving major sponsor of the Raiders. That's historic and we feel privileged by that."
Stuart said: "When I first got the job I wanted to turn the club into being competitive again, and now we are.
"We haven't done anything yet. I've got a very young playing group and we'll go into the semi-finals without experience and that will be tough. But the experience we get will be outstanding."
