While they start at home against the Cronulla Sharks on Friday, March 11, at 6pm - the third season in a row they've begun their season at Canberra Stadium - they then travel to Townsville to face the North Queensland Cowboys in round two.

They also have trips to Mudgee and Dubbo on top of their home game at Wagga Wagga - against the Melbourne Storm in round five - while also travelling to Redcliffe, Wollongong, the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Newcastle and Lang Park twice.

The first of those Lang Park games is their round 10 Magic Round clash against the Sharks on May 15.

To help counteract that, the Green Machine have only one five-day turnaround between games - after their trip to Wagga Wagga they host the Cowboys at Canberra Stadium on Thursday, April 14.

Raiders chief operating officer Jason Mathie said the draw further franked the Green Machine as the regional team of the NRL.

"[Just] one five-day turnaround. I think the other thing we're really happy about, we constantly talk about ourselves as the NRL's most regionally focussed team," he said.

"We've actually got a lot of regional fixtures. We play at Mudgee, Dubbo, we go to Wagga naturally and even regional Queensland - we've got a game against the Warriors [at Redcliffe] and [Wollongong].

"It's nice a lot of Sydney-based clubs choose to take us to the smaller, boutique regional areas, but we love that because we are really pro-active in regional areas."

MORE RAIDERS NEWS

In a break with recent history, their home game in Wagga Wagga will avoid the Wagga Gold Cup - held on the first Friday in May - giving the Riverina city two drawcard weekends.

"Effectively it's the battle of the Riverina," Mathie said.

"We're kind of the teams that are active this side and that side, and I know they've had some associations with the Riverina area in the past.

"It's away from the race meeting itself - it's the week before Easter. We're really excited about going there in early April."

While they might have a lot of travel, the Raiders are really happy with the family friendly nature of their 2022 NRL draw, which will see them avoid night home games during the freezing cold winter.

Seven of their 12 home games have afternoon time slots and they avoid playing at Canberra Stadium at night from the end of May right through until the end of the regular season.

They've also received an increase in free-to-air games, boosting their exposure on the national stage.

Raiders chief executive Don Furner asked for some blockbusters for Canberra fans after they've been starved of NRL action over the past two seasons.

Last year they were forced to play home games at Campbelltown - some of which were in front of empty grandstands - while this year they relocated to the Gold Coast for the final eight rounds of the season.

Furner's largely been granted that wish as well, with home clashes against reigning premiers Penrith, the Sydney Roosters, Parramatta, Manly and St George Illawarra, while Wagga gets NRL benchmark Melbourne.

They only miss out on hosting grand finalists South Sydney and Brisbane.

Their travels are a bonus for the Raiders' large contingent of Queensland-based fans, with four games in the south east of the state.

"We've got a very high proportion of Raiders fans in South-East Queensland," Mathie said.

"Canberra's No.1, Sydney No.2, Riverina No.3 and then our fourth largest catchment comes out of Queensland.

"They get [Lang Park] for the Broncs and for the Sharks, but they also have the [Gold Coast and Redcliffe] games."

More to come.

RAIDERS 2022 DRAW

ROUND 1: Raiders v Sharks at Canberra Stadium, Friday, March 11, 6pm

ROUND 2: Cowboys v Raiders at Townsville, Saturday, March 19, 7.35pm

ROUND 3: Raiders v Titans at Canberra Stadium, Saturday, March 26, 7.35pm

ROUND 4: Sea Eagles v Raiders at Mudgee, Saturday, April 2, 5.30pm

ROUND 5: Raiders v Storm at Wagga Wagga, Saturday, April 9, 3pm

ROUND 6: Raiders v Cowboys at Canberra Stadium, Thursday, April 14, 7.50pm

ROUND 7: Panthers v Raiders at Penrith Stadium, Sunday, April 24, 4.05pm

ROUND 8: Warriors v Raiders at Redcliffe, Saturday, April 30, 3pm

ROUND 9: Raiders v Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium, Friday, May 6, 6pm

ROUND 10: Sharks v Raiders at Lang Park, Sunday, May 15, 1.50pm (Magic Round)

ROUND 11: Rabbitohs v Raiders at Dubbo, Sunday, May 22, 2pm

ROUND 12: Raiders v Eels at Canberra Stadium, Sunday, May 29, 4.05pm

ROUND 13: Raiders v Roosters at Canberra Stadium, Sunday, June 5, 4.05pm

ROUND 14: Broncos v Raiders at Lang Park, Saturday, June 11, 7.35pm

ROUND 15: Raiders v Knights at Canberra Stadium, Sunday, June 19, 2pm

ROUND 16: Dragons v Raiders at Wollongong, Sunday, July 3, 4.05pm

ROUND 17: BYE

ROUND 18: Storm v Raiders at Melbourne, Sunday, July 17, 4.05pm

ROUND 19: Raiders v Warriors at Canberra Stadium, Saturday, July 23, 3pm

ROUND 20: Titans v Raiders at Gold Coast, Saturday, July 30, 3pm

ROUND 21: Raiders v Panthers at Canberra Stadium, Saturday, August 6, 5.30pm

ROUND 22: Raiders v Dragons at Canberra Stadium, Sunday, August 14, 2pm

ROUND 23: Knights v Raiders at Newcastle, Sunday, August 21, 4.05pm

ROUND 24: Raiders v Sea Eagles at Canberra Stadium, Saturday, August 27, 3pm

ROUND 25: Tigers v Raiders at Leichhardt, Sunday, September 4, 4pm.

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