Canberra Raiders headquarters is now a one-stop shop for rugby league in the ACT, with the local competition and the NRL club under the one roof.
After more than two decades based across the NSW border, the Canberra Region Junior Rugby League yesterday made the move from Queanbeyan to the Raiders' headquarters in Bruce.
Housing the CRJRL with the Raiders was one of the recommendations to come out of last season's wide-sweeping review, which was implemented after one of the worst season's in the club's 30-year history.
CRJRL executive officer Karen Ebsworth expected the amalgamation to have positive effects for grassroots football.
''It should improve the communication between our competitions and the Raiders,'' Ebsworth said. ''There's a lot of interaction between us, and any extra interaction will only be to the benefit of the local competition.''
The CRJRL is part of the Raiders Group but is run separately from the Raiders' NRL operations.
Raiders Group chief executive Simon Hawkins said having both organisations in the one building would have multiple advantages.
''It becomes a one-stop shop for rugby league,'' Hawkins said.
''People want any questions or assistance, they can just go to headquarters. Karen is aware of what is happening with the Raiders a bit more, and conversely we're aware of what's happening in local league a bit better.''
''Another fringe benefit is that over the years some clubs have perceived that the Queanbeyan Blues run the competition.
''Moving it out of the home of the Blues and into Canberra probably assists in that.''
Bringing the two organisations together has been in the pipeline for several years, but has only been possible after the Raiders expanded their offices last year.
That also coincided with first grade players not required in the NRL match-day squad to be allocated to Canberra Raiders Cup teams for the second half of last season. While that arrangement won't continue this year, it's expected fringe Toyota Cup players will turn out in the local competition.
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