“I’m just so happy for the club,” Stuart added. “I don’t think the club gets the recognition, and I don’t say that disrespectfully. The people don’t know how good our club is, people don’t understand.
“They don’t see the little things that we do for the players, what the club does for its history. It’s a wonderful club, it thoroughly deserves this recognition today.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart and Joseph Tapine of the Raiders pose with the JJ Giltenan Shield after winning the minor premiership.Credit: Getty Images
“Again, we won’t get too far ahead of ourselves, it’s just really important that we keep taking it a week at a time and just do what we can. There’s no pressure on these blokes, we were never meant to be here. There’s no pressure going into the next games, the semi-finals. Whatever happens now is a bonus.”
There was little between the combatants and the difference was the boot of Jamal Fogarty. A missed tackle that led to a Tigers try was the only blemish on an otherwise stellar effort. Whether it be clearing kicks, spiralling bombs or judicious grubbers, the Tigers had no answer to Fogarty’s work with the boot.
Sunia Turuva has a safe pair of hands, but they couldn’t get anywhere near one of Fogarty’s bombs, leaving the spoils for Jed Stuart.
The hosts didn’t have it all their own way. Their journey to the top of the ladder has been on the back of a forward pack forever offloading the football. However, their first offload didn’t come until right on the stroke of half-time, a pointer towards how well the Tigers wrapped up the ball carrier.
Corey Horsburgh celebrates a try for the Raiders.Credit: Getty Images
The Tigers, meanwhile, were more than happy to promote the Steeden. The try of the day, to Jeral Skelton, was the result of the ball being spun all the way to the right, then to the left, and then back to right again.
It’s unclear whether Skelton will recall his magic moment after being on the wrong end of a booming collision. The winger put on a huge shot on Ethan Strange, but the Raider was the only one capable of bouncing back to his feet.
With just over a minute remaining, local fans performed the Viking Clap. After securing top spot, they will get two more opportunities, during the finals series no less, to put their hands together.
Storm’s shock loss left NRL scrambling to deliver trophy to Canberra
Christian Nicolussi
An NRL staffer drove the prestigious JJ Giltinan Shield to Canberra on Saturday morning after Melbourne’s shock loss to the Roosters on Friday night opened the door for the Raiders to clinch the minor premiership.
Sources with knowledge of the situation not authorised to speak publicly confirmed the NRL had initially hoped to present the silverware to the Raiders in week one of the finals.
The Raiders play the Dolphins in Brisbane next weekend in the final round of the regular season, and it made sense for the trophy presentation to take place in Canberra during the qualifying final.
Mark Nawaqanitawase’s acrobatics and the Roosters’ win in Melbourne have left the NRL scrambling.Credit: Getty Images
However, Green Machine officials wanted the celebration to take place on Saturday after the Roosters defeated the Storm.
And that meant an NRL staffer hopping in his car with the trophy on Saturday and making the three-hour drive down the Hume Highway. NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo flew straight from Melbourne, where he helped celebrate Craig Bellamy’s 600th game as coach on Friday night, to the nation’s capital to make the presentation.
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The Storm won the minor premiership last year, and asked the NRL to present the Shield in the middle of the week after a training session so it was not a distraction leading into the finals.
The minor premiership is still worth only $200,000, which is a paltry figure compared to the amount of money teams collect in some of the other major sporting competitions throughout the world. The money is split evenly between the club and players, which means players collect little more than a $3000 bonus for being the best team for six months.
The NRL premiers receive $1 million, which is again split between the club and players.
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