A pre-season boot camp set the Raiders on the path to the NRL minor premiership. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

By Jasper Bruce

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.

“They weren’t joyful memories, that’s for sure,” he told AAP.

“Tha

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