Sport
1 August, 2025
Reef Raiders are confident as they head towards ‘25 podium finish
REEF Raiders Rugby Union Club has turned its season around.
The Raiders, after a horror season, have turned things around after some recent hot form and now see themselves in fourth place on the FNQ rugby union A grade ladder with only one game to go in the home and away season.
The Raiders have had two crushing finishes in seasons 2023 and 2024, losing in the finals in heartbreaking fashion and looked to turn that around in season 2025 and return to the premiership glory they had celebrated in season past.
Season 2025 started off fine for the A grade men’s team with a 2-2 start.
Unfortunately, they slumped from there-on, going on a seven-game losing streak and looking like season 2025 was all but over.
The Raiders weren’t willing to see their season off that easily though and were committed to work hard until they were mathematically eliminated from playing finals football.
The Raiders then went on a three-game winning streak, starting with a 29-19 win over Southside Crusaders.
This from carried over the next two rounds as the Raiders then also found wins against Barron Trinity Bulls 15-10 and Cairns Wanderers 24-12.
The A grade team now have one game left of the season against the four-time defending premiers – JCU Mariners.
The Raiders hope to win this game to secure a finals berth, but even with a loss, can still make finals with other results going their way.
The B grade men’s team also look to make a finals berth in their inaugural season as they currently sit in fourth place with one game left in the season.
The B grade men’s team started off great, leading the ladder for the first half of the season, before hitting a bit of a rough patch with form, but have been able to maintain their spot on the ladder.
They now sit four points clear of fifth place with one game left securing that finals berth, but they still want to beat the second place JCU Mariners to give them some momentum and form going into finals.
Both teams will have to win the premiership the hard way with no home games or second chances and will need to win three straight games.
Both teams are happy to take it one game at a time and purely plan for their next match-up.
