It was Canberra's last match against Sydney Roosters just 10 days ago that made Raiders officials seriously question the value of the club's $3 million per year investment in junior development.
In the Roosters starting line-up at Allianz Stadium were 12 players with Test or State of Origin experience, while the odd man out, Jake Friend, was the 19th man for Queensland in the series opener.
By comparison, Canbarra had only Josh Papalii, David Shillington and Brett White who had played at that level.
In addition, 13 of the 17 Raiders players were products of the club's development programs - the biggest junior representation in any NRL team.
Even other so called developments clubs such as Newcastle, Penrith and Parramatta have been fielding teams that are more bought than bred.
For all the time and money invested in producing players, Canberra has not won a grand final since 1994 and never seriously been considered a premiership contender in the 17 year history of the NRL.
In fact, a look at the records books shows that the NRL has been dominated in recent years by teams who focus more on recruitment than development, with Melbourne having featured in five grand finals since 2006, Manly in four of the last seven and the Roosters in two of the last four - winning last year and losing to St George Illawarra in 2010.
The only other clubs to have played on grand final day since 2007 have been Parramatta in 2009, the Warriors in 2011 and Canterbury in 2012 - all of whom lost.
Roosters' success gives Canberra Raiders no incentive to develop players
June 9, 2014 - 3:08PM
Brad Walter
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/roosters-success-gives-canberra-raiders-no-incentive-to-develop-players-20140609-zs1jn.html