History
The team joined the American National Rugby League in 2002 as the Wilmington Vikings, based in Wilmington, Delaware. The AMNRL's first real expansion team, they brought the number of member franchises up to six. Like the other AMNRL teams, they started a team partnership with a club in Australia's National Rugby League (NRL), in this case the Canberra Raiders. They played in Wilmington for one season before relocating to Gloucester County, New Jersey in December 2002, changing their name to the New Jersey Vikings. They hoped the move would help them draw talent from Gloucester County College to overcome the recruitment problems they had faced in Delaware. Physician Merrick Wetzler took over as owner.
The move did not end the team's recruitment troubles, and following the 2003 season they relocated once more to upstate New York. In keeping with their partnership with the Canberra Raiders, they changed their name to the Northern Raiders. For the 2006 season they attempted to turn their losing record around, taking on Australian player-coach Ben Kelly; however, they just failed to qualify for the AMNRL playoff series. For a period they were based in Wallkill in Ulster County, New York, and play their home games at the Wallkill Airport Rugby Fields. In 2011 they relocated to Congers, New York and play in Rockland Lake State Park.
Read more about this topic: New York Raiders
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