sport, raiders, canberra raiders, raiders, nrl, don furner, nrl fixture, anzac day

The Canberra Raiders want to bring Anzac Day back to the home of the Australian War Memorial for the first time in a decade. Raiders chief executive Don Furner also wants the Green Machine to start their NRL season at Canberra Stadium for the first time since 2016. The NRL is in the process of finalising the 2020 draw, with Anzac Day set to fall on a Saturday next year. Traditionally, the Melbourne Storm play the New Zealand Warriors, while the Sydney Roosters take on St George Illawarra. But the Raiders want a slice of the Anzac cookie. Given it falls on a Saturday, when the NRL normally schedule three games, the door is open for that to happen. The last time that happened was in round seven in 2010, when they hosted South Sydney on a Sunday. Furner felt given Canberra's not only the home of the war memorial, but also the home of the Royal Military College at Duntroon, they were an obvious choice. "We might get an Anzac Day. We haven't had one of those for a while," he told The Canberra Times. "We're home of the war memorial, home of the armed services and defence. "We've always said it would make sense if we could celebrate it here." Furner was also hopeful of opening their 2020 campaign at Canberra Stadium. MORE RAIDERS NEWS The past three years they've had to travel to Queensland to kick their season off - twice playing the Gold Coast, while also travelling to Townsville to face the North Queensland Cowboys. It was back in 2016 when Raiders last started at home, when they played the Penrith Panthers on their way to the preliminary final. Apart from the first round, Furner wanted something similar to last season. The Green Machine only hosted one night game in the cold months of June, July and August. Their three other home games during those months were at 1.30pm, 4.05pm and 5.30pm. The Raiders' preference is to have their night games early in the season while it's still warm. It was reflected in their crowds, with their average of 14,864 their best since 1995. "Generally we want a home game to start with. We haven't had one of those for a while," Furner said. "I think it worked for us this year not having many night games in the cold of winter and the NRL are sympathetic towards that. And it showed with our crowds. "If it has to be - 5.30pm would be more ideal than 7.30pm or even 7.50pm. It's very late to get kids home in the cold. "If we're going to get night games we'd rather them in March and April or May, than June, July, August. "That worked well for us because I think we only had one in June, July, August. "We might've had a 5.30pm, but the others were day games and that really helped."

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