No one held a gun to the Canberra Raiders' heads to sign Campese for five years, as they did in June 2009.

Campese insists there is no angst between himself and Raiders administration. However, it is understood Canberra blocked a move to Hull beginning next year, the final one of his Raiders deal, after Anthony Milford confirmed his move to Brisbane and James Tedesco's backflip.

The crux of the story is sport is unpredictable, but every club can make decisions to limit their vulnerability to Lady Luck.

When Campese fell to Canberra Stadium in agony in the 2010 finals, he was in the first year of a new five-year deal. He played just eight games in the next two seasons.

It was the Raiders who signed Campese to such a long-term deal. Now they've made their bed, they must lie in it.

They took a gamble on the long-term health of a player in superb form, a player showing strong signs he could transform them into a premiership contender.

The Raiders would argue in their defence they could not possibly foresee Campese's injury-plagued run.

But that's exactly why you don't sign anybody, no matter how well they're playing at the time, to a contract that long.

Now Campese faces the prospect of beginning next year playing reserve grade in the NSW Cup. It's a situation he's approached with predictable class, declaring ''no matter [which grade] I play next year, I'll be giving 100 per cent''.

The lack of transparency at Raiders HQ is frustrating fans.

They undertook a sweeping review of the club in 2011, which was co-headed by Michael Hagan, a former Raiders employee.

After a tumultous 2013 where Josh Dugan, Blake Ferguson and coach David Furner were all sacked, Canberra enlisted sports physician Peter Fricker to review its high-performance and medical departments.

Recently the board declined to provide the results to The Canberra Times, despite numerous requests.

After Campese's injury, the Raiders chased Matt Orford to replace him, as Campese would miss at least the first half of the next season. It ended in disaster.

They signed the former Dally M medallist, then 32, for three seasons. He lasted just one year and seven games of a three-year deal due to a groin injury.

Orford had experienced a handful of injuries at former club Bradford before moving to Canberra. Although it wasn't the groin which plagued him in Britain, it was another risk which went pear-shaped.

September 17, 2010. It's a date every Canberra Raiders fan worth their salt has reflected on with a tinge of regret more than once.

More than 26,000 people packed into Canberra Stadium to watch the streaking Raiders play Wests Tigers in the second week of the finals. Campese had established himself as the game's form playmaker with a string of brilliant performances that catapulted the Green Machine into premiership contention.

The likes of Dugan and Jarrod Croker had emerged as young superstars, and the fans could sniff a return to the glory days.

But 20 minutes from full-time, Campese does his anterior cruciate ligament for the first time. He is never the same player again. Ironically, he set up a try in suffering the injury which put Canberra back in the game at 24-18.

The Raiders had all the momentum, and most pundits agree they would have qualified for a first preliminary final since the 1994 premiership had fate not stopped Campese in his tracks.

They would have played eventual premiers St George Illawarra for a place in the grand final. This week's coverage of the ''hoodoo'' shows how confident Canberra would have been entering that match.

Before the Tigers game, ''Campo'' lined up with the fans to buy 109 tickets for family and friends. The Green Army had woken from its slumber, and Campese's form was a major reason why.

Growing up in Queanbeyan, he'd cheer himself hoarse watching the Raiders play grand finals, and eating green sausages.

He works tirelessly for local charities, and was recognised by winning the NRL's highest off-field honour, the Ken Stephens Medal, last year.

He'd be the first to admit his form hasn't been where he would like it the past couple of years. That's not through lack of trying, or a lack of burning passion for the club.

Do his performances warrant a walk-up start to first grade next year? No, they don't.

But given the class he has exuded on and off the field his entire career, he has been let down badly by his club who could have handled his exit strategy a whole lot better.

If anyone deserves a gracious and heartfelt exit from the Raiders, it's Campese.