IT has been a long time between drinks.

But with Canberra Milk returning to the front of Raiders’ jerseys, there was more reason to celebrate with downing a carton.

The return of the club’s foundation sponsor that was later synonymous with ACT Brumbies coincided with Canberra announcing it will affiliate a reserve grade team this year.

It will be the first time the Green Machine will run out in the NSW Cup for 14 years.

The move was motivated somewhat by limited movements that the coronavirus pandemic impacted on the club’s fringe NRL players.

But the club has also decided to sacrifice its Jersey Flegg Cup under-21 team, effectively switching between competitions.

The Raiders reserves had been forced to play with Mt Pritchard Mounties from 2012 until 2019.

Raiders NRL coach Ricky Stuart was instrumental behind the move.

“We’re really excited to be back in the NSW Cup, with the competition allowing us to get some valuable field time for our NRL squad members,” Stuart told the club website.

“The NSW Cup allows our squad to best prepare for NRL football and will allow the coaching staff to see who is performing well enough to come into the first-grade team if required.

“We saw in our last competition game against the Sharks last season the wonderful depth we have in the squad and it will be fantastic to see them get more match time at a high level in 2021.”