The Canberra Raiders have been given a massive finals boost. Now they just need to take advantage of it.
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If they qualify for a home preliminary final, the third-placed Raiders will play at Canberra Stadium until at least the end of the 2022 season.
Then the NRL will reassess the change that will come into effect for the current campaign.
Raiders chief executive Don Furner said he will push to have it made permanent.
The NRL have made the decision due to the renovations to Allianz and ANZ stadiums over the next few years.
In the past, the Raiders would've had to play any grand final qualifiers in Sydney, while other non-Sydney teams like North Queensland and Melbourne were able to host them at their home grounds.
Furner said they'd been pushing for the change since 2016 when the Raiders finished the home-and-away season in second.
"We've been pushing for this. It's something we tried for in 2016," he said.
"When you look at the Brumbies they can play all finals and grand finals here. It's a big advantage.
"We're not going to get a grand final here, but to get to the third week has been a couple of years of lobbying."
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Furner said it was a big advantage to host finals. Especially now with the advent of the Viking clap.
The Raiders have won 65 per cent of their games at Canberra Stadium and five of their eight finals there as well.
"Back in the days when we won everything we had to win everything in Sydney," Furner said.
"Home ground would be a massive advantage, particularly in September - it's still cold in winter. We are harder to beat here so it's good to know that we will have that.
"It's a step in the right direction. It's been a long time coming."
NRL ROUND NINE
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Suncorp Stadium, 2pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Michael Oldfield, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Sam Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Ryan Sutton. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Bailey Simonsson, 16. Sia Soliola, 17. Corey Horsburgh. Reserves: 18. Aidan Sezer, 19. Emre Guler, 20. Royce Hunt, 21. Jack Murchie.
Roosters squad: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Latrell Mitchell, 4. Joseph Manu, 5. Matt Ikuvalu, 6. Luke Keary, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Victor Radley, 10. Siosiua Taukeiaho, 11. Boyd Cordner (c), 12. Angus Crichton, 13. Isaac Liu. Interchange: 14. Nat Butcher, 15. Zane Tetevano, 16. Sitili Tupouniua, 17. Mitchell Aubusson. Reserves: 18. Lindsay Collins, 19. Josh Curran, 20. Lachlan Lam, 21. Sam Verrills.