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Silver Ferns LIVE from 7.30pmResilient Raiders reap rewards of pre-season boot camp
Jasper Bruce, AAP • September 3rd, 2025 5:01 pm
A pre-season boot camp set the Raiders on the path to the NRL minor premiership | Photo: Mick Tsikas/AAP
They were the hardest few days of Ethan Strange's life, but Canberra are now counting their winnings from the army boot camp that kickstarted a blistering NRL season.
Ahead of the 2025 campaign, the Raiders camped out for three days and two nights in bushland not far from Canberra, sticking to an army-style regimen.
Players trekked for hours on end each day and went with limited sleep and food, all in a bid to test their endurance and strengthen bonds.
In the midst of a breakout season, five-eighth Strange can now look back on the gruelling camp and smile, but things weren't so rosy at the time.
Five-eighth Ethan Strange has had a breakout season for the Raiders | Photo: Mick Tsikas/AAP
"They weren't joyful memories, that's for sure," he told AAP.
"That was definitely the hardest couple of days I've had in my life, but it brought us all together and definitely grew the resilience of the group."
Army camps aren't a new concept, with four-time reigning premiers Penrith, Cronulla and North Queensland among other clubs to have embarked on similar trips in recent pre-seasons.
But it had been a while since the Raiders tried their hand at an army camp, with prop Josh Papalii turning up to the 2018 edition a little worse for wear.
"My last army camp was a day after my wedding back in 2018 and I was still hungover from my wedding, and a few of the boys were still hungover as well," he told AAP.
"I was like, 'Mate, what am I doing here? I should be on my honeymoon somewhere'."
This time around, the lack of showers was the toughest thing for Papalii to handle.
Canberra veteran Josh Papalii (centre) is certainly a big fan of shower power | Photo: Mick Tsikas/AAP
"We were sleeping next to each other," he said.
"I can smell myself and I've got to smell the other boys next to me.
"I'm just glad I slept next to Kaeo (Weekes, fullback), he's a smaller dude so he had a lot of snacks left over. I was reaching into his man pack (stealing his food). It was good."
Some months later and the Raiders have locked up only their second minor premiership and are daring to dream of a first premiership since 1994.
Papalii felt the army camp began the Raiders' season on the right note, with the club also making a grand final in the season after that 2018 boot camp.
"There might be a thing to army camps and how the boys go (after them)," Papalii said.
"I felt like towards the end of last year we were playing some good footy. I felt like we built off the back of that, into an army camp.
"(It) was tough, but it brought the boys together."
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