A big thanks to the 3 girls, who this week came up with the last RA review of the year documenting their mammoth trip to Brisbane.

The very last Raiders Army away trip of the year started at the thriving metropolis of Murrumbateman. Kaitlyn did a great job taking the first driving shift and of course got to Sutton Forest Macca’s in time for Breakfast, easy to see she takes after her Mum in the driving stakes.

From here the trip to Ness’ house was pretty uneventful, but noted that the only time we’re quiet is when we’re eating, so we drove along to the many CD’s in the car. Mostly Top 40, techno, rap and R&B. Upon arrival in Western Sydney Ness was ready and eager to hit the road so after a quick change of vehicles and squashing the bags and the banner in the boot, the now massive Army of 3 were on their way. We had a great run on the M7 and before we knew it, we were at the next scheduled pick up point, collecting Paul at the end of the freeway outside Newy.

Not far into this leg of the trip, we became aware that Ness’s car obviously had a duel fuel function, It seemed to be running on Gas at various points. Not quite sure if it was the Gas or just mischievousness, but it was decided we’d have a bit of fun with the RA banner and it graced the “Big Banana” and the “Giant Prawn”.

With a quick change of drivers, Vicky was now at the wheel… we’d already made great time, thanks to Ness’s excellent ability to make up huge amounts of time between speed cameras. It was on this leg of the journey that Kaitlyn declared how the tunnels we were driving through looked like nostrils and questioned why the car then proceeded to dance in time to the music on the way out?? The answer was “Dunno – must have got a bit of boogie in it?” Yes there were several tunnels and the little blue booger Yaris danced into the night.

Windows came down on the way past the Sugar Cane Factory AKA “Cloud Factory” according to Vicky and the overpowering sweet smell of sugar was breathed in.

The last leg of the journey from the Gold Coast to our resting place for 2 nights of Mt Tamborine was hilarious. With Paul now at the wheel the trip up this never ending road going up and up and up the mountain was sung to the tune of “She’ll be coming round the mountain”… getting directions all the way from Vicky’s mate Sue who was describing cars coming in the opposite direction and everyone eagerly awaited the sight of a “Yellow F@*KED if I Know”.

Our accommodation was shared with 8 border collie puppies, they were absolutely gorgeous and everyone quickly had a favourite and we were all ready to bring one home each, well except maybe Paul. For some reason the Pups had taken a liking to his bed and seemed to use it as their toilet.

The next day was spent relaxing in the morning at Surfers, taking in the sights and seeing some ace tail, eating fish and chips and downing a cold beer at the Irish Pub overlooking the beach. The afternoon was a bit of a change of pace when we decided to go to Dreamworld.

It was just one of those days where your face and stomach ache from laughing. The day was finished off beautifully with an excellent feed at the “Titanium Bar” home of the Titans. It was noted that Vicky was proudly wearing a Raiders jacket and managed to get a few smiles and gestures from the locals. Ness enjoyed her “Zillman Sunset” cockatil and bravely cheered for the opposition against the Titans that night. Very cheeky.

Finally Sunday morning came, we said our goodbyes to the puppies and we are on our way to Brisbane. Upon arrival we quickly located our accommodation and wandered off around the streets and enjoyed more beer at a local watering hole.

Before too long it was time to head to the stadium, we made ourselves all green and Kaitlyn and Ness decided they would be the Raiders extra players wearing their footy shorts. But first we stopped off at the local Caxton Hotel for a few more drinks and to meet some more Raiders faithful. The RA Banner was proudly draped out the windows for a few photos.

Upon arrival at Suncorp we settled into our seats in the away fans section and noticed that the area had quite a few seats taken up by Bronco’s supporters. This was soon forgotten by Kaitlyn’s excitement that they sold Red Rooster at the stadium! So after grabbing some food and more beverages, we noticed that we now had started to build up on what ended up an excellent turn out of Raiders supporters at the game.

The whistle for Toyota Cup time on was blown and 3 very vocal females burst into the “My garden shed” chant just for good measure. This little RA was in fine voice the entire night throughout both games and often had the crowd around us in stitches. One Broncos supporter kept telling us to be quiet and complained about our Raiders chants but quickly sat down after being pointed at and copping the “Sit down – shut up” chant and realised that she was in fact sitting in a sea of green, in the Away supporters area. I think this too, may have been the one and only time you will see the Raiders Army dancing – excellent version of the sprinkler much to the joy of other supporters who were clapping and cheering for more.

Sadly we did not end our season with a win in either Toyota Cup or First Grade but our boys went out in style. Hey, at least we scored points and didn’t get flogged 56 to nil. So we held the Banner high and proudly cheered until the end and as the team made its way over to thank us for attending, we all clapped our boys in green. It was at this stage that several groups of people, both supporters and non-supporters, came and congratulated us on our sportsmanship and expressed what a great job the little army did that night. Actually one of these guys proudly said he was from Queanbeyan and we wondered if he was KW’s cousin?? It was rewarding to know that we did good.

And so began the arduous journey of trying to find a cab amongst the bad mouthing Broncos supporters who proceeded to taunt us as we walked along we however followed their taunts with shouts of “56 to nil”…. luckily for Vicky’s whistling ability and the fact that Ness and Kaitlyn were wearing skimpy footy shorts, a cab driver did a U turn ignoring the Bronco hoards to come give us a ride back to the motel, we left the complaining Broncos supporters with the “NaNa Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye” Chant as we drove off..

We arrived back at our Motel and continued to party on into the night with Management having to tell us to tone it down only once…

The trip home began about 10am the next day. Sadly the further south we travelled the colder and wetter it got, but Ness’s little blue booger Yaris was still running on Gas firing from all cylinders and we made excellent time…. There was a sweet smell of Dolce & Gabbana (We wish).

There was a lot of chatting and questioning and healthy discussion on the trip home and through Taree we spotted a sign outside a church saying “The Answer is Jesus” so from then on everything we asked got answered with “JESUS” ie: Who played Hooker yesterday? … JESUS!! That one sign was better then all 10 of the “Making Love, Do it Longer” signs that we saw on the way up.

In closing, the Raiders future is very bright, we have a young side that have gained so much experience this season and next year will be something to look forward to…. We can’t wait. And we can’t wait for the first away trip next year, perhaps it could be for one of the trial games.

As a final note I think as supporters we need to keep faith, even though we may be losing players we highly consider, we still have excellent and special talent at the Raiders in both grades and under Andrew McFadden and Dave Furner who bleed green we can only excel.

So everyone Take care and enjoy the break over the off-season. Stay safe and “BELIEVE”

xoxox

Vicky, Kaitlyn & Ness

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