When the draw comes out each year, there’s always heaps of analysis in the media — who has the softest draw, who has to travel the most, who gets the prime-time slots, and so on. Well, this is my take on the Raiders draw from a Melbourne fan’s perspective.
1) We play in Melbourne again
Last year, the Storm played their home game against us at Magic Round in Brisbane. This meant the Raiders didn’t play in Melbourne at all in 2025.
This year though, we play the Storm at AAMI Park on Sunday 21st June. We’ll organise tickets for the group in the away supporters section closer to the date. TheGH.com usually organises some sort of meet-up at the Richmond Club Hotel before games as well. We’ll reach out to them and confirm if this is happening again.
2) Holiday games
If you have family or friends in Canberra, you might look for opportunities to line up a trip with a game. Long weekends usually provide a good chance to do this. In 2026, these are the holidays and long weekends that fall during the season:
Monday 9 March (Labour Day – Melbourne)
This is our round 1 game and we play Manly at 4 Pines Park in Brookvale on Saturday night. Not great for a Canberra trip, but a good excuse to visit friends in Sydney.
Easter (Friday 3 to Monday 6 April)
Annoyingly, we’re playing the Knights in Newcastle on Sunday the 5th of April.
Monday 8 June (King’s Birthday)
We play the Roosters at home on Friday night (5 June). This could work, but only if you can get there in time.
So, unfortunately, no real holiday opportunities this year.
3) RMC road trip options
Our RMC road trips tend to be later in the year. We look for Saturday home games that ideally line up with an NRLW game. This year there are two games that meet that criteria:
- 18 July vs the Bunnies, with the women playing the Roosters beforehand
- 25 July vs the Wests Tigers, with the women playing the Sharks beforehand
If we’re willing to fly, there’s also a 2pm game on Sunday 9 August vs the Knights, with the women playing the Broncos beforehand.
We can discuss which option works best for us in the chat.
4) State of Origin
There’s also a State of Origin game at the MCG this year with Game II being played on Wednesday 17 June. I think most RMC members already have tickets but it’s not too late to grab some if you don’t.
Origin Game Two at the MCG is just four days before Storm vs Raiders at AAMI Park, meaning many of us will be heading to two games in one week after having none here at all last year.
5) Magic Round
If Melbourne based fans are going to travel for one regular-season game, Magic Round is about as good as it gets. Just not for the Raiders in 2026. Someone has to wear the bye, and it looks like it’s our turn this year. Don Furner summed it up perfectly:
“I can’t wait to see when the Broncos have their turn (to miss Magic Round).”
Instead, the Broncos get to play their “away” game against the Warriors at Suncorp, effectively handing them an extra home game. Cool. Very cool. F*#k I hope the Warriors smash them.
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