This week, The Future League explores one of the great rivalries in the NRL South conference: Canberra Raiders v Melbourne Storm.

Since the Melbourne Storm entered the competition in 1998, a great rivalry has developed between them and the Canberra Raiders. It’s been a classic underdog story that, while on the surface does not gain as many headlines as some of the other great rivalries in the NRL, never fails to provide a point of interest.

There are many similarities in the history of both the Raiders and the Storm. At certain times during the competition, both teams were considered far-flung outposts compared to the rest of the field. Not only that, but they are the only two teams to win the premiership that are not from New South Wales and Queensland.

There is also a negative similarity between the two sides: at certain points in their respective histories, both have been embroiled in salary cap breaches during periods of success (the Raiders were revealed to have breached the salary cap during their premiership-winning year of 1990; the Storm were stripped of their 2007 and 2009 premierships).

The Storm enjoyed almost immediate success upon the club’s formation, winning the 1999 premiership in only their second season. After several seasons of reaching the finals but not making any real impact in the first half of the 2000s, they didn’t have to wait very long to rebuild into a powerhouse. The prodigious talents of Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Greg Inglis propelled the Storm into one of the benchmark teams of the modern era.

In contrast, the Raiders were the benchmark for much of the late 1980s and early 1990s, but by the time the Storm entered the NRL they were a slowly fading force in the competition. It’s been over 20 seasons since the Raiders last won a premiership, and years of inconsistency have seen them quickly gain the underdog status in this match-up.

However, the momentum in the Raiders-Storm rivalry shifted in the early part of this decade after being very heavily stuck in the direction of Melbourne for a long time. The Storm defeated the Raiders 30-18 in the first week of the 2003 finals. At one point during the last decade, they spent seven years undefeated against Canberra, as well as 11 seasons (2000-2011) without losing a home match to them in Melbourne. But once the Raiders did break the Melbourne hoodoo in 2011, they developed a knack for it, winning what is considered to be one of the hardest road trips in the NRL a further two seasons in a row.

The rivalry’s high point was the 2016 preliminary final between the two teams. The Storm and Raiders were two of the best teams all season, with the Raiders attack being particularly potent. The Storm prevailed 14-12 in a nail-biter at home in front of a full house. Since then, the Raiders have only managed to win one of the last four NRL South Conference clashes – and they enter this season having lost three on the trot.

This rivalry enters a pivotal chapter in 2019. With the retirement of Billy Slater, have lost some of its invincible aura. The Raiders, who have for so long been considered a team devoid of consistency and a winning culture, are striving to eradicate this perception. For both teams – one a dominant figure in the NRL, the other an underdog trying to become one – victory in this rivalry helps them achieve their respective goals.