A Quick reminder to all our readers that the Raiders Army return  home to the Lighthouse for the first time in 3 weeks this Sunday. Join us for a few drinks and some free food that the Lighthouse will be generously providing us.  A Raiders Army Bus is heading down from Sydney this week so it is certain to be a great turn out.

So if you haven’t already, now is the chance to meet both the Canberra and Sydney Raiders Army Boys and Girls in the relaxed surrounding of our favourite bar.

Believe.

- Marko.

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A special thanks to Ben Ross, who this week stepped up and the now (almost) weekly review. 

After two successive victories , the mighty Canberra Raiders travelled to the Gold Coast in round 6 to take on the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park. As an avid Raiders supporter , I took it upon myself to travel up to see the Raiders do battle with the competition leaders. This would be my first time traveling to Q.L.D. , and the longest distance traveled to a Raiders game , surpassing the 2008 effort to Melbourne.

So I was on the 1:10 Virgin airlines flight on the Friday afternoon bound for Coolongatta airport. It was at this that I felt immensely proud to be a Raiders supporter. Every weekend , we as the R.A passionately let it be known that we are mental and mad, and this was never more true. This was no train travel , car ride or a bus trip. This was an interstate flight traveling thousands of metres above sea level to watch the Canberra Raiders play for 80 mins. Thats how I was looking at it.

About an hour or so had passed and I had arrived at Coolongatta airport at 2:10. Having only flown once before , I was suffering severely from the turbulence. However , I was in Titan territory , pumped for kickoff and eager to get to the ground. I jumped on a bus taking in the area , heading for the hotel in Burleigh Heads.

After checking into the hotel , I got ready for the game and made my way for the bus stop opposite that would take me to Robina , i.e Skilled Park. It was here that I came in contact with the local people for the first time. It was only about 3:30pm but that must not be too early for some to get on the drink up there. This man at the bus stop was lying face down on the pavement with an empty bottle of Jim Beam in his hand. This I thought was not what I had traveled for but it sure was interesting to say the least. Luckily the bus came on time and I left the poor bastard there.

The bus however was naturally full of Titans fans and when I say full , I mean packed. Picture that with me standing up the front of the bus dressed in my Raiders Army tee and Raiders gear. I was public enemy no. 1 right now. If I was to take a positive out of it , which I did , it was that it wasn’t going to be hard to find the ground as I’d just follow these blue and yellow fickle folk. Arriving at Skilled Park was filled with much relief though as I spotted a few Raiders fans walking in.

With a ticket for the away supporters bay , I headed for the gates of section 14. There was a good group of Raiders fans waiting to get in when I got there. A Kiwi family dressed in green clothing from head to toe . Great to see , although I thought I was bad with my green jeans. I was thinking of asking them if they would like a photo taken considering there enthusiasm , but after looking at the father , I thought that may be a bad idea.

I did , however , strike up a conversation with a guy in front of me. I started it off with ‘Supporting the Raiders tonight?’ He said he was as he mentioned that he was Stuart Flanagan’s cousin. I didn’t know whether to believe this random or not. He did go onto say that he had just spoken to David Furner and was not happy at being told that Flanagan had been dropped.

A few minutes later , bags were checked , tickets were scanned and I was inside the ground. After not eating anything since breakfast , I set sail for the bar. I would say the food is on par with the Sydney Football Stadiums variety. Chicken strips , Pies and Sausage rolls. With the food I needed an alcoholic beverage , and not being a spirits drinker I checked out the beer prices. It was then much to my astonishment , that I was left with a Hahn premium light for $6 (not a fan of XXXX). I thought $6 for a light beer was a bit steep considering they had already charged me $29 to get into the joint. I reluctantly accepted the $6 beer price and headed inside.

The customer service lady greeted me with an interesting look once she saw that I was from the Raiders Army. I was a one man army , not like I could cause much trouble. Many more Raiders fans were gathering which was good to see. Regulars to Sydney and Canberra fixtures , Paul ‘Newy_raider’ , raiderette_ness’ ‘Philgrahamgirl’ turned up. It was good seeing a few regular faces.

The U/20’s had kicked off and the stadium was certainly ‘like a library’. All you could hear was the ball being kicked and peoples phones going off. A tight first half , Gold Coast’s young side spilling the ball a number of times just before the line. Halftime came , 4-0 to the Titans. At halftime , I threw my set seat out the window , not literally , but I moved , eager to get closer to the field. As we all know the second half ended in a score line of 40-10. I was hoping it wasn’t going to resemble the first grade match. One thing is for sure is that we all knew by then that Travis Waddell was playing in first grade , much to the delight of just about everyone (except of course Stuart Flanagan’s brother) .

It was 30 minutes till kick off , newy_raider and myself moved up higher in the stands to get a better view and to spread out a bit. The Gold Coast officials certainly put on a show in regards to the match day entertainment . With a competition to win a Jet Star flight to a Titans away game on offer (much like the local liquor ad) , and also $500 to win if you won a race inside a blow up ball.

After all that madness too place , kick-off was upon us and out came the Raiders. I threw up the 4 papers of confetti while others waved there flags. Section 14 was sprinkled with Raiders ready to voice there support. That other side , the Titans were out and and supported loudly by many. Some good defence from the men green in the opening minutes set up an encouraging first half half. A raiders try to new kid on the block Jarrod Croker in the opening 3 minutes sent all of us into hysterics. It was what we had been hoping for , and was a great way to start off the first set.

Canberra continued there tight defence , hanging on at stages and having luck at times when the Titans spilled the ball. 6-4 to the Raiders at the break and all of us felt pretty satisfied with how things had gone. A few more tries would obviously had been nice , but to be 6-4 up in an away match against the second placed side was a very good effort. The Raiders were would be running towards us in the second half so we could give them all the support they needed. The first 20 minutes was much the same as the first. Tight defence , a few mistakes . The Titans however , were the first to score in this half with a controversial try to former Raider William Zillman. It went up to the man upstairs , but to the disappointment of many it was awarded and Scott Prince converted.

We were all desperate for the Raiders to hit back with a try and with about 15 minutes to go they did. From a bit of creativeness and intuition , it came from Adrian Purtell in the corner. Up in the stands , we went off with a feeling that we would be heading back home with a sweet victory. Campo missed the conversion so it was 10-10 with about 10 minutes to go. We were all on the edge of our seats hoping for someone to break the line , a chip over the top. Personally I thought a field goal wouldn’t be enough to win. Campo had an attempt and it was a swing and a miss from . The thought of extra time came to mind. However , with two minutes to go Matt Rogers darted past a few defenders and that was game set and match.

It was a feeling of ‘damnit’ once the siren sounded but then I thought it was better than what I expected. To travel that distance and get a competitive match like that is not too bad at all. They tried hard , put in and thats all you can ask for.
So it was off back to the hotel , copping some smart **** comments from a few Titans fans as I made my way to the bus. Not knowing the area all that well I ended up getting off too early and had to walk another 10 minutes to the hotel. With the alarm set for 7am for a 10am flight , it was time to turn in for the evening.

The day after the match and I made my way to the airport for the flight back home. A young Raiders fan was in the same line to get his flight ticket. I mentioned the loss to him but I think I scared him unintentionally. I also spotted a Bulldogs fan and told him to be ready for Sunday. I thought I had seen the last Titans fan the evening before but there was one at the airport with his flag ready to fly home as well.

About to board my flight , I noticed the Referee’s leaving also on there cheap Jet Star flight. I didn’t say anything to them , could have , but wanted to get home safely without causing a ruckus. On the plane and satisfied with the trip up , a win would of been the icing on the cake , a great B’day present. In the end , I satisfied with the competitive match and if the Raiders keep up that sort of play they will cause trouble for many sides.

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I make my return to the writer’s seat this week for the review, hope you all enjoy it!

  Away wins haven’t come as often as we would have liked over the past few years, but this one was definitely one that will never be forgotten.

The day started with the crew all meeting up with what has (unfortunately) become a regular departure point in QBN McDonalds.. A couple of us grabbed a quick feed and then congregated in the car park to wait for our chariot to arrive.

After expecting the Old Lyneham High bus to rock up, the regular RA members were given a nice surprise when we were informed that not only was our mini bus NOT the LHS one, but it was a model that was built post 1971.
At 12:45, 15 minutes letter then the scheduled leave time (which is actually a very good effort for an RA trip). I had burned one of my Ipod play lists to CD but this was nullified when we notice the bus didn’t have a CD player.. Unfortunately some of us would later forget this minor detail..

After some of the girls reluctantly squashed into the back seats we were off.. Since we were in for a long trip, we decided it was best to lay off the beers for a while- or until we at least crossed the NSW border… It was a shame Henson couldn’t make the trip as we had stocked up well on his favourite Carlton Fusion Beers. We also had a couple pure blondes, some ‘leg opener’ for Loz as well as some **vomits** woodstock bourbon.

As we hit the highway discussion about a wide range of topics were brought out. Although I think myself and much of the bus were a tad surprised when 3 un named RA members (2 from QBN) claimed they would change their lifestyle choice for a night if it meant the Raiders winning a premiership.. I know it has been a while since our last win, but I can only imagine what these boys would be willing to do if they were sharks fans.. By this time we had decided NOT to stop at Collector for a warm beer. We did however remind people that the Pumpkin Festival is on May 5-7 and that seats on the RA bus to the event are strictly limited.

The subject of fantasy teams then came up, AFL, NRL and EPL. The award for signing of the century has to go to one of the Q-Town locals who managed to Sign Bolton’s Gary Cahill instead of his Australian and Everton Midfielder Brother in Tim, some brilliant management there.
To make the trip go faster, me and Vandal competed in a game of Scrabble on Shawsy’s mobile. After shooting out to a big lead, I was pipped at the finish thanks to words like “Plew” which were scored on triple word score. WTF is a plew [even Microsoft word is underlining this in red], I was even more dumbfounded when scrabble rejected my word in “Domoose’ which would have won me the game. By now we had successfully managed to waste a good 90 minutes. A quick pit stop at pheasants nest and we were on our way.

After our brief stop me and Nick entered round 2 of scrabble (which has become popular game on away trips). This time however Shawsy and Aimee had a little wager on the outcome. Aimee (bravely) backed me to win by 1-12. Shawsy on the other hand went the opposite and had the Dutchman at 1-12. The game again was a see sawing contest, in the end my opponent piggy backed of my word PLOW to take out victory- by what appeared to be 12 points. Unfortunately though I had 1 letter remaining which resulted in a 1 point penalty and the Vandal 1-12 option which was paying $3.90 was mad null and void.

We ended up a bit lost when trying to find Toyota Stadium, The detour saw us pass ANSTA (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology. Organisation- or Office as one person suggested). This was the point where we decided it was best to ask for directions as myself and a few other people were getting flashbacks of the Knights trip in 08 where we ended up at a Soil Farm.

All these unexpected delays meant some bladders became very unstable and an emergency pit stop had to be made at a random service station. Unfortunately this service station only had 1 toilet facility and the line ended up going 9 deep, which ensured that the pit stop was anything but a quick one. In fact I’m guessing some people could have walked to the ground by the time we all boarded the bus before taking a scenic route to Toyota Stadium, you know you have gone too far when you almost end up driving into the golden sand of Cronulla Beach. It was also very interesting to notice how many people in the area have Southern Cross tattoos.. I guess this isn’t really a surprise though.

Eventually we made it to the Sharks Leagues club, but the unexpected delay meant there was only time for a few drinks out of plastic schooners before it was time to head down to Toyota “Stadium”.

For those who have read past reviews, you probably be more than aware of our thoughts of Toyota “stadium”. For the purpose of keeping the review, I will simply describe the ground as Seiffert Oval with a paint job. Although saying that is actually a bit disrespectful to Seiffert as they don’t actually try pass off their oval as a “Stadium”.

After greeting all the Sydney folk, I only had time to share 1 champagne- (yes Champagne) with Nick before the match was about to get underway.

As we all know these reviews are not about the match, all I will say is that Away wins are great no matter how they come. The Sharks are a tough side to beat at home, and the boys all dug in. The scenes when Terry Campese ran away 75 metres for the match sealer were something special. All the Raiders fan went up as one, we’ve had a tough time on the road lately and the feeling of knowing you are taking the points at an away match is a great one.. The Raiders Army was in fine voice all match and old favourites like “My Garden Shed” was belted out many times with both Raiders fans and and even some locals seeing the funny side to it. There were plenty of other chants on the night including the famous “Stand Up If You’ve won the League” and the younger sharks supporters seem to clean up all our confetti, I guess they don’t see too much of that on Family (radiation) hill.

The scenes after full time were really a special and unique one. As has become tradition, the players came to the sideline to thank the fans. However there was more to come, to the credit of the match day officials, they decided to let all the fans onto the playing surface, this allowed us to individually thank some players and then start up a “CAMPO” chant for our local hero. However it was decided that a chant was not enough, so a group of fans lifted up Campo and lifted him onto our shoulders. I think Campo was a bit shocked to be shown this sort of love by the fans, I guess opposition fans may have seen this as a bit over the top, if Campo plays like that I would gladly help lift him up every week.

I would give out my 3-2-1’s for the match, but I think there were too many people out there that deserved points. Campo’s on field performance was amazing though, so I guess he gets the 3 for the player of the year

Walking out of the ground after an away win is always good fun, it is amazing how many Cronulla fans will try yell something at you despite the fact their side has just been beaten.. The usual “Go Back to Canberra” was thrown out.. We were definitely glad to be heading back to the Nation’s capital.. Some other fans decided to comment on how far away Canberra is, while Canberra is a fair distance away it was nowhere near as long as Cronulla’s premiership drought.

While waiting for the others to return a few of us decided to use the facilities at the Servo, again there was only 1 in place which meant another line. To kill some time I helped some of the girls choose a C.D to play for our trip home, in the end we bypassed Connie Francis and went with some Megamix album at the very reasonable price of $30. It was only upon returning to the bus that he remembered that our vehicle did not have a C.D player on board, clearly there is no shortage of smarts in the Raiders Army… But who needed a CD player when we had Shawze and Loz singing that Stan Bush Classic – ‘You’ve got the touch’!

After about 10 minutes on the road we decided to stop at a local shop to pick up some beverages. For reasons only know to himself, RA’s resident Irons fan decided it was a good idea to climb onto a random roof of some building. After managing to get down safely, the big lad decided to sprint back onto the bus, unfortunately he misjudged how highthe roof was and smashed his head straight into making a very large “THUD” as he did so, I think the bus rocked for a few seconds from the impact of it all. Now some people stopped a few seconds to wonder whether they should be laughing or be concerned for our Friend’s health.. Aimee and I by passed the whole thought process and just burst out laughing and were almost on the floor, I think it became painful to breathe at one stage. For the record he was fine, but apparently now has some scars to show for his massive collision. We are still unsure on the exact damage to the bus.

After dropping Craig off, we decided that we needed to stop for some dinner. So we pulled into a local McDonalds (the Unofficial ‘restaurant’ for Raiders Army away game travels) and sat down to enjoy a nice feed, it had been a while since our last away win so it was definitely a nice change to be able to talk about Victory over dinner.

After a quick refuel of petrol we were off again, because there was no CD player we had to make up and sing our own songs. With a creative mind you can sing about pretty much anything, I just wish I could remember more of the songs that were brought out that night on that trip home..

Fortunately we were able to negotiate a drop of point at the Dickson Tradies, this turned out to be a logical choice as only about 3 people were actually returning to QBN.. Why on earth that was going to be an original drop off point I will never know.

Next week the Raiders Tackle the Titans up in the Gold Coast, our friends in Queensland will be there and we encourage everyone to join them in the away team section of the ground. The team really appreciates the support away from home and will definitely lift if they see a nice section full of Green.

BELIEVE

- Marko.

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