It was a sea of blue, green and white, as the Canberra Raiders played in front of their biggest regular season crowd in 30 years.

23,827 fans filled GIO Stadium Canberra in the Raiders’ top of the table clash against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Saturday 10 May.

It’s the second record for the Raiders at home in the 2025 season.

A record-breaking 18,884 people attended their match against the Brisbane Broncos on Saturday 15 March, the biggest first home game crowd since 1999.

Canberra mates Mark Suhr and Tammie Ashlin were at the match but were supporting opposing teams.

“It’s quite funny, I’m a Queenslander as you can tell,” Mark said, pointing to his shirt. “But I support the (St George Illawarra) Dragons, and I’ve got a Raiders membership,” Mark said.

He decided to become a Raiders member because he lives in Canberra.

“I’m here for every home game for the Raiders,” Mark said.

For Tammie, she predicted the Bulldogs would win by eight — and she was close because they won by 12 — beating the Raiders 32-20.

For couple Regan Armstrong and Leo Malone, both from Canberra, it was also a split between teams.

Regan, a Bulldogs supporter, said it was exciting to see the teams up against each other in Canberra.

Ahead of the match, he said with good competition, he hoped the Bulldogs would win.

“But I think if we lose today, I’m not going to be very upset,” he said.

“As much as I want to stay on top (of the ladder).”

For the remainder of the season, Leo said he hoped the Raiders would stay on top.

“But regardless, I’m still here for them,” Leo said.

Driving into the GIO stadium car park, the long lines of cars moved at a snail’s pace to enter the venue.

Earlier in the week, the club reminisced on their 36-12 win over the Bulldogs in the 1994 NRL Grand Final.

Coming back to the modern-day match and at half time, the Bulldogs remained scoreless, with Canberra leading 20-0.

The game was crazy and a seemingly rare one where only the Raiders scored in the first half, and then in the second, it was the Bulldogs’ turn.

The second half really was some edge-of-the-seat stuff, with the intensity of the match picking up.

A punter ran onto the field following the Bulldogs’ first try by captain Stephen Crichton.

The pitch invader was handed over to the police while Crichton converted his own try.

The Bulldogs came into the lead as the match ticked over to an hour.

Sorry Raiders fans, but what a turnaround for the Bulldogs in that second half!?

In the post-match conference, Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said there was a great atmosphere at the match.

“… I thought the Raiders put on a great day,” he told the media.

“To see a sold-out crowd was awesome for both clubs.”

In the post-match conference for the Raiders, when asked about the sold out home crowd, captain Joseph Tapine said: “it was huge”.

“I talk about it every time we play at home, that’s our goal to bring the fans out and, this is our fortress obviously,” he said.

“We didn’t get the result today, but we’re playing for our fans.”

When asked by CD about getting the fans to sell out every home game this season, no matter who they’re playing, Tapine said “definitely come out”.

“It’s huge for us, especially when the momentum swings and we need the crowd to get behind us,” he said.

“It’s good for the community as well.  When we’re playing good, the crowd comes out.”

The Raiders will continue at home with their next match at GIO Stadium this weekend, Sunday 18 May, against the Gold Coast Titans at 4:05pm.

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