A case of the Blues: Queanbeyan need exemption to play Canberra Raiders Cup

The Queanbeyan Blues are fighting to secure their future in the Canberra Raiders Cup after the competition powerhouse needed an exemption to field a first grade side this season.

Simon Woolford's Blues will open their season against the Tuggeranong Bushrangers at Greenway Oval on Saturday - but they won't have a reserve grade team suiting up before them following a mass exodus in the playing ranks.

Now the Blues are working on a strategic plan with the CRRL and evaluating recruitment and retention policies to ensure they can field teams in both grades next year, which is a major condition in the exemption.

CRRL general manager Mark Vergano says the Blues are, to an extent, "victims of circumstance" following the departure of Terry Campese after a host of other senior players followed him out the Seiffert Oval gates.

Now Woolford, who returns to coach the club he led to premierships in 2014 and 2015, could call on a host of last year's premiership-winning under 19s for a taste of first grade football.

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"There are conditions around the exemption on planning, recruitment and so on that have been put to them," Vergano said.

"To an extent, they're victims of circumstance. You get a big change that happens at the club, with someone like Terry moving on, and often that creates a realignment. It created a realignment and they just got caught on the realignment with their recruiting. They definitely will have reserve grade next season.

"Under 19s, league tag and the women's tackle are less well-established and float a bit more. We understand that. In the 19s and women's tackle, we don't always fill every team with every club. With the reserves, this one is a little unusual.

"They've got a pipeline, it's about ensuring that pipeline is strong. The club has to look at its strategic plan, look at its relationships, look at its recruitment and retention policies, and work towards strengthening those base areas.

"Coming out of the pandemic, there was a heavy realisation that we had to get back to ensuring clubs are sustainable financially as well as with participation, recruitment and so on.

"We've seen so many clubs elsewhere, in other groups, fall over and struggle. Ours have been really solid citizens, and it's showing because everybody walks into this season with a chance of certainly making top four, and then being potential premiership winners."

Football Australia chief executive James Johnson calls the Matildas the fastest-developing national team brand in the country "by any measurement - whether that's broadcast numbers, or attendance figures, or mainstream media, or general commercial interest".

They boast some of the best players in the world, playing at the biggest clubs in the world. Sam Kerr is on the cover of FIFA 23. The Matildas just blew England's 30-game unbeaten streak up in green and gold smoke.

Now dreams of a World Cup win on home soil sit within the realms of possibility, and Johnson is daring to dream of the legacy the tournament could leave in Australia.

"The Women's World Cup will be the biggest sporting event on our shores since Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, I am confident about that," Johnson said.

"Our goal is to hit two billion people watching the competition around the world, and to hit 1.5 million attendees of stadiums across Australia and New Zealand, we think that's very achievable.

"You only need to look at how the country came together when the Socceroos went on their successful campaign in Qatar. We had the public, we had children, we had adults getting up at odd hours of the morning all coming together in every major city across the country.

"If the Australian football community can do that when the World Cup was played in Qatar, we can only imagine what it's going to be like when the Women's World Cup is played on our shores."

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And just like that, the dream to see Jarrod Croker's 300^th NRL game has been revived. The countdown is back on and Canberra fans are willing the Raiders great to join elite company.

If the Canberra centre plays every game from now on, his 300^th appearance will come on Friday, June 9, in a round 15 date with the New Zealand Warriors at Canberra Stadium.

Surely the Raiders dish out some Croker masks or cardboard headgear for fans to wear that night? They did red wigs for Alan Tongue's 200^th game back in 2010, while the ACT Brumbies handed out masks to farewell club legends Stirling Mortlock and George Smith that same year.

The Friday 6pm timeslot can often be a tough sell, but the fact the occasion could see Croker become the second Raider - behind Jason Croker - to reach 300 games means plenty should be streaming through the gates early to witness rugby league history.

To paraphrase former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke, any boss who sacks anyone for leaving work early to watch the Raiders that night is a bum.

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