I RECEIVED a call from an elderly Raiders’ supporter in the wake of the team’s impressive victory over South Sydney in Cairns.

She told me that she used to go to games but was now confined to a nursing home and had to rely on the radio to keep her informed of her favourite team.

Her call was mainly to tell me that it was the first time she had seen the likes of Blake Austin and Sisa Waqa in action and how impressed she was with their performances.

Halfway through the penny dropped: it was the first time she had seen them in action because the Raiders hadn’t been on free-to-air television this season before the round-eight game against South Sydney.

For the first seven rounds anyone who didn’t have pay television or the ability to go to the games or the local hotel wouldn’t have seen the Raiders play.

It’s an absolute disgrace that the NRL and Channel 9 are able to do this.

I remember having this conversation years ago with the NRL which said the Raiders would be on free-to-air television when they became competitive. Two seasons later they were leading the competition, but still failed to get games on free-to-air.

The NRL now says the responsibility for the scheduling of free-to-air games is controlled by Channel 9, but the network appears to be focused on the two million potential viewers in the western suburbs of Sydney.

How are the Canberra Raiders supposed to grow as a club if they don’t get as much coverage as, say, the Wests-Tigers, the Bulldogs or St George-Illawarra?

It has a domino effect: if the team isn’t on free-to-air, players believe they are missing out; they believe their chances of getting exposure for representative selection is limited and, therefore, it becomes harder to attract the better players to the club. It can also affect crowds, believe it or not, if the fans become disengaged because they don’t see them play on television.

The difference in the ratings for pay compared to free-to-air are telling. Free-to-air often has around four times the audience if not more.

Another aspect is sponsorship. If you are on free-to-air’s bigger audience, it’s far easier to attract and satisfy sponsors.

With the NRL about to enter negotiations for a new television deal, it should be mandatory in the contract that every team is shown at least once in the first month on free-to-air.

It is manageable with 16 teams and eight games through a weekend with three games televised on free-to-air from Friday to Sunday.

It’s the only way to go if the NRL is serious about promoting the code in an area such as Canberra.