To everyone who is about to read this review this is my first time doing this so be gentle

My day began roughly about 11am when I landed in Mexico(Melbourne) after a nice beverage or two I was feeling pretty good. After arriving at my hotel I gave two of the army’s best a call (Nick & Katie) who were in Melbourne at the time.
I met them a pub called “Young & Jackson” if I had known the prices of the drinks down there I would of taken out a loan. The average price for a pint was $9 so going shout for shout was getting expensive but I didn’t care at the time, I was just happy I was on the ground.(I’m not a big fan of flying)

A short time later young Rick James came from work to join us, all four of us were discussing many things from the raiders chances of winning to how Nick is more of a girl cause he did more clothes shopping then Katie. Eventually Nick and Kate had to leave to catch there flight back to their homes in Sydney and young Rick James had to go back to work, as for me I just went around the town sightseeing and bar hoping. Many people were looking at me weird as if they were looking like they have never seen a green jersey in their life. One random local even stopped me in the street to ask me what team it was. [Great to see Rugby League making great inroads down there, it's only been 11 year] After a few hours and a $9 pint or two it was time to rendezvous with Rick James. At about 6:15pm we caught the tram down to the game, it was an interesting moment to say the least when we saw a Richmond fan celebrating when his attempt to throw a water bottle into a bin from a distance missed by only 2 metres, I think that showed just how deeply entrenched the AFL culture is down here..

We arrived there just in time to see the Raiders along with that club s**t Brett Finch run over the athletics track and on to the ground. . As for the stadium it self it looks like a glorified version of Shark Park, it was at this moment I wished KW and the QBN crew were here as this joint had a resemblance to a 1968 version of Seiffert Oval. The match was underway as the ball was taken just inside the 4 metre in goal area. For the first 10 minutes we looked good the when big red scored in the corner there was just me and Rick James cheering and believing that this might be our night, could we finally snap this 13 game losing streak??. But unfortunately that was the last of our celebrations for the night as not long after Billy Slater scored off a Cameron Smith kick and then when big Lima ran straight through the middle of our defence we knew it was going to be a tough night. Half time came about and we weren’t out of the game, but really had to score first if we were any hope of beating these purple wearing News Limited Storm, the fact we were also up against a vocal home crowd would only make our task harder. The second half came along and me and Rick James were still staying through and believing that the Raiders can come back. But when Slater scored his second try of a Alan Tongue grubber deep down we knew it was over. However we refused to give up hope. The Storm then went on a scoring spree and being only two people wearing green in a sea of purple we were starting to cop a bit of stick. To the storm supporters credit most of them were really nice and friendly to us, one of the storm fans shouted out to Hinchcliffe “hey Hinchcliffe you’re playing for a real team now!” even I found the funny side of it.

Full time finally came and me and Rick James made our way to the trams. After getting on I was reminded of how sardines must feel. I finally got off near the pub the Young & Jackson and stopped in for a disappointing pint then made my way back to the hotel for the night.

I hope you enjoyed this read and it was what you expecting to read just remember everyone to still believe and don’t give up hope.

Our next home match is on this Sunday against the Warriors, I encourage everyone who can get to the ground to make the effort and support the boys. Remember people form is temporary and one win can be the trigger that starts something special, you only need to look back at 2008 to see evidence of this.

Cheers,

Frank the Tank

Share on Facebook

Next Monday night the Canberra Raiders tackle the Melbourne Storm down at Olympic park. While we have not had the best start to the season heading into our first Bye, I think it is important to remember that we are not a club in crisis. While the ladder may say 2-6, we have been in every match and would have arguably won some of these if not for a few very contentious refereeing decisions.

The law of averages suggests that these decisions balance out by the end of the year, so surely we are bound to see some 50/50 decisions go our way, with a bit more luck we might even get some correct decisions awarded to the boys in green.

The effort is definitely there, this may sound clichéd, but it is true. When things start to click just watch how our side goes. We have blooded a lot of Rookies this year, who have all shown they have what it takes to match it in the NRL, these players are gaining valuable experience and the rewards will be shown in the future. Our new buys have also shown some quality form. All the ingredients are there for us to be successful.

The Raiders Army just want to remind all Raiders fans to get behind the side when they need you the most. It is very easy to get on board and show support when the side has won five in a row, but it is times like this when the support in the crowd can really help lift the side on the field.

Our next home game is against the Warriors on Sunday May 24, we would like to see a big turn out at Canberra Stadium to support the boys.

If you live in Sydney and are interesting in getting on A Raiders Army Bus to the game please contact Jed on jangus76@hotmail.com for further details.

Our next home game is against the Warriors on Sunday May 24, we would like to see a big turn out at Canberra Stadium to support the boys.

If you live in Sydney and are interesting in getting on A Raiders Army bus to the game please contact Jed on jangus76@hotmail.com for further details.

We encourage you all to leave some messages of support below, we think it is important for them to know that their Supporter group is still 100% behind David Furner and the team.

BELIEVE

- Raiders Army

Share on Facebook