Good Morning Raiders Fans

A great performance by the boys on Sunday has seen us secure 6th spot. This means we will be heading to Toyota Stadium  on Saturday.

All bookings for the buses will be through Bernard at Countrylink. To secure your seat, call him on 62089703 ASAP. Cost will be $55 each.

In regards to tickets, Raiders Members can purchase tickets today, while the general public will have access from tomorrow.

Please ensure that you purchase general admission tickets, this is our safest bet to ensure that we can sit / stand together as a large congregation. I sent a scout to Shark Park on Saturday and he informs me that our biggest rivals, the CSSC, sit in Bay 15, so it looks like we will congregate somewhere near there!!!

The plan at this stage is for all buses to depart from Kingston Railway Station at 12pm. The under 20s Raiders will also be playing at Shark Park, and we will be getting there early to support the junior raiders.

Believe.

Hi all,

Raiders Army legend Craig has informed me that he is planning a bus from Sydney to the Raiders last home game vs. the Bulldogs on round 26 (September 5-8).  If you are a Sydney-based Raiders fan this is the perfect opportunity to travel down with some fellow die-hard Raiders fans and cheer the boys at home for one last time in ‘08.  If you are interested in securing a seat for this trip or would like more info, email Craig here.

There are only 12 seats left so get in fast!

The Raiders Army will again be organising one of our famous away trips, this time to ANZ in Sydney, when the Raiders take on the Raibbitohs on Sunday 24th of August.

Win or lose, you are always guarunteed a good time.

If you are interested in taking part or would like more information, please email Kenrick here.

A big thankyou to KW for writing another excellent review, enjoy!

We said Bulldogs away was good, but Dragons Away would be epic. And we weren’t far from the truth. The Rugby League gods smiled on the Raiders on Sunday, as the green made amends for last years horrific loss at WIN Stadium.

The trip was an absolute disaster to organise to be honest. After plugging the game for the best party of a month, we had nearly 40 confirmed for the trip up. Disaster struck when Countrylink pulled our bus leaving us in the lurch big time. Apparently all the buses had been booked to go see some bloke captivate a large audience. We had booked a bus for the very same purpose. The pope may have a telephone line to god; but little does he know that it’s Alan Tongue on the other end!!

The contingency plan to crank out the mighty Lyneham High Bus was put into action, with the list of tourists drastically culled down to 21. Kudos to Ernie, Nick Tits and Matt for arrange their own convoys. Come Saturday morning, I was contacted to say we couldn’t have the old girl until 11, as opposed to 830. This simply wasn’t going to work so I rang and texted like a 14 year old schoolgirl until we decided on a new plan. Fortunately, some people were too hungover to come and happily pulled the pin. We ended up with 15 bodies in 2 tarago’s, and we were set.

A belated 930 departure from QBN Maccas saw the drivers test the Tarago’s to their limit. The passengers were more than happy with the beverages on hand, James Boags Premium, much better than our regular Tooheys New or Carlton Draught cans. Despite the fact that Marko had brought along a GPS, Eric still managed to miss the Wollongong turn off from Picton Road, and then another exit. Kathy took charge, overtaking the leader and showing the way to the Five Islands.

We arrived at the Brewery only 10 minutes late, a great effort considering how late we left. Upon arrival the now world famous Mark Weary wig was met with groans of disapproval. A hardy bunch was present, but probably only half the size we were hoping for. The crew were abuzz with nervous energy, and the Dapto Draught was flowing. Rupi and his northern Raiders made a special appearance, as did Windscreens and his crew of Tuggeranong Trouble Makers.

Michael and Soulsy debated Christianity and the Catholic Church, whilst Simon got caught up in a verbal war regarding the age old Northside-Southside argument. A few photos, a few more draughts and we were on to the hill to begin the onslaught. In what seems to be a recurring nightmare, the triangle flag was denied entry and the pole confiscated until after the match. This left us with 2 flags but no poles. Awesome. Thankfully Brendan’s modified flag and Wendy’s banners made it through.

Now, the Dragons Army has been talking themselves up all week, letting us know how superior they were in all facets. Well, didn’t they cop a schooling! The RA sang loud and proud all game and could be heard quite clearly on the telecast. The commentators made several mentions of the hardy souls in the army, and even predicted an enjoyable bus trip home. They weren’t wrong. A highlight on the hill was meeting the tut’s old man, whose miserly facial hair was no match for his sons (and the RA’s favourite) merkin.

Another special highlight on the hill was the 20 or so Yankee pilgrims who joined in the frivolity. These guys were in love with the Army, and I dare say seeing us in action would be far more memorable than listening to eggs Benedict. One of them, who had gone off early and purchased a dragon’s jersey prior to the game, entertained us all when he discarded the jersey and joined in! I’ll bet there was plenty of others in red and white whishing they could do the same thing.

As is custom, the players embraced the fans after the game, especially Campo who loves QBN and the QBN Crew to death. One fan commented on how much he had embraced us, when Aimee chimed in “well so he should, he is my fiancé”. The Duke was silently heart broken.

Back at the Brewery Ernie and his family made a guest appearance, whilst Steve, Tim and Griffo attempted to sort out how they would be getting home. The spare seat in the white tarago had already been promised to poor old Sean Ferrari aka Bay 53, whose car had been badly vandalised the night before in Cronulla. As it turned out, Tim made it home, somehow squeezing aboard, but as yet I haven’t heard from Steve or Griffo.

The bus ride home was first rate, I can only speak for the silver bullet tarago, but we were belting tunes out like there was no tomorrow. A solid effort in the DJ seat by Wendy kept us going all the way back to QBN. I can remember not remembering all the words to Bohemian Rhapsody, some cold chisel classics, Paul Kelly, the screaming jets and the theme for the trip, Mr Big’s “To Be with You”.

It was a memorable trip for young James “Zip Zip’ Watson who will now be known as Lazarus after his back from the dead performance. From the gong to Pheasants Nest, we were taking odds on when he would throw his guts. He was out cold and in a bad way. At the nest, he stumbled into the toilet block, and emerged a new man. He was back in the game in a massive way, belting out tunes and entertaining the other tourists. I must also mention that he nailed 10 from 10 in the Sunday Telegraph sports poll on the way up, we were all very impressed but James, get a missus mate, fair dinkum.

A big thankyou to Eric and Kathy who volunteered to drive. As most of you will agree, driving on RA away trips is never a popular option.

Next away trip will be to Souffs at ANZ Stadium in late August. Until then, I look forward to seeing everybody at the Lighthouse and Bay 72 over the coming weeks.

BELIEVE

KW

p.s. Photos of the Epic Trip can be view at our facebook page by following the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47824&id=612293464&page=2#/group.php?gid=31781589936

 The Dogs of Peace Tour, Saturday June 21st

Well, well, well. Bulldogs Away is always an eventful trip, but this one surely takes the cake. We had a famous Raiders victory, an Army performance un-matched for years, a plethora of A-list celebrity sightings, as well as a bloody fantastic time.

The trip started off slowly, with KW unable to locate Azz’s house in Calwell. A quick trip up the parkway (and past quite a nasty single vehicle accident) saw us at Kaleen to collect Don Juan de Marko. After nearly running the poor lad over, and copping the evil eye off old man Milinkovic (whose resemblance to Croation football coach Bilic didn’t go unnoticed) the lads were off up the Hume to create history.

Being the nice guy that he is, Marko knocked off a Sat Nav unit from his neighbours car the night before. This was used to great effect and saw us arrive in Kings Park just after midday. The person responsible for naming suburbs in Sydney must have a great sense of humour, as the only regal thing about that patch is the abandoned Donut King store. After a quick inspection of Nicks pad, and a few Brett Grogans, we were off.

After being asked by a local at the train station whether we were part of the Army reserves, the party of five were off to Homebush. It was at the Homebush Brewery that we had our first brush with celebrity. Whilst enjoying a few beverages, Canberra Identity / Raiders Board Member / all round good guy Jim Murphy dropped in for a chat. Though disappointed he didn’t have any free magnums of Passion Pop, the Army gave Jim the warm welcome he deserved. Little did we know, but in a few hours time the RA would be celebrities in their own right, being approached by punters for photo and autograph opportunities.

As shear luck would have it, a convention called “supernova” was being held in the Olympic Park precinct. We witnessed many a comic book nerd dressed to the nines run the gauntlet past the pub and its many critics. It was great to see long suffering Raiders fan Steve French aka Greeneyed in his best costume. He was dressed as some sort of gimp / clown / handy man, with his vaccum cleaner / whipper snipper in tow. He wouldn’t have looked out of place in the band Slipknot.

Our numbers grew thick and fast at the pub, with many Army regulars fronting up for battle. The QBN Crew arrived 90 minutes late, and missed happy hour when the ‘cheaps were drink’. After approximately 3 hours at the Brewery, the lads had sufficiently lubricated the throats and we were off. A few of us headed to the fictional gate D to collect some pre-bought tickets, and were rapped to see that Schapelle Corby was back in Oz and earning a decent living. Well in Schapers.

Preparing for kick-off I introduced myself to Finite and Buc Nasty, who I thought was someone’s alter ego but apparently not. I implored all the pundits who were spread out between the 2 supporter bays to congregate closer together, which 95% of them did and it made for a great gathering and looked very good on the telly. One keen observer noticed that Laurie Fischer was sitting in the bay next to us, on his Pat Malone (bar his wife).

The Bulldogs Harold Matthews and Jersey Flegg sides did a lap of honour for some reason, and provided a great oppurtuntiy for the lads to get the vocal chords in sync. A few minutes before kick off stadium security converged, but they were loving us. Obviously not Bulldogs fans, they were very happy with our numbers and noise, and seemed as though they wanted to join in. One of them in particular would have been a great addition to the Army, as he has a top voice. John Buttler’s band members must have dumped him, cause he was deadest working security at the stadium. Better than busking again I guess. We love you to John .

I won’t mention the game at all as we all know what happened there, but I must say the non-stop singing from the Army was something I had not seen or heard before. The show the players were putting on was more than matched in the stands. Kudos to all of you who were there, I think you will agree that an outstanding time was had by all.

Toward the end of the game, two Bulldogs supporters, obviously unhappy with the fact they spent there last lobster on tickets to the game, decided to have a red hot go at the Army. To our credit, we didn’t get involved and Stadium security ejected the pair before anything untoward occurred. Obviously not the brightest pair attempting to take on a 150 strong Army!

As we have become accustomed to, the players embraced the fans after the game, coming all the way to the fence to share the spoils of victory.

Upon exiting the ground, Sully thought it would be a top idea to head to the players sheds and cheer them on to the team bus. Obviously unaware that access to the sheds can only be gained by going under ground, he led us on a safari around the perimeter of the stadium. After being heavily shadowed by the fuzz, we took the opportunity to have a group shot with the boys in blue behind us. Some of them were not impressed.

As we made our way back to the Brewery, we once again saw ex-Brumbies coach Laurie Fischer, whose stalking of the Raiders / Army is becoming quite disturbing. If you want in Laurie, just come sit with us buddy! Not sure if he was ecstatic when someone mentioned in passing how great it was to see a team from Canberra finally win.

Upon arriving back at the pub, we were cordially advised to pipe down, as our singing was drowning out the live band. After a few at the Brewery, and listening to The Gambler on repeat, we posed for photos with starry eyed punters, and then said our good byes. Back at Nicks place, he entertained us with stories, such as his and Katie’s first date, where he took her out to the local servo and bought her a meat pie. Who said romance is dead?

Trying to get a pizza at half midnight proved to be a struggle, as did getting Azz to share his BBQ meat lovers. After Peter Garrett and his mob had done a runner, Marko was the first to crash. Why he decided to squash himself into the spare room around an unused desk I will never know.

Just when we thought the night was over, Tom received a call from Rupi, a Sydney based RA member who was looking for a party. Ten minutes later he arrived to find everyone asleep bar Tom and KW. By this stage, my brain wasn’t functioning too well, but I do recall him talking about a nightclub near Wynyard where you need to wear a suit to get in, as well as the fact he had a soccer game on at 9am.

Next official Raiders Army trip is via bus to Wollongong, where we meet the Dragons. Any and all interested in attending this game should drop me an email or keep your eye on the GreenHouse forum.

BELIEVE

KW

* On another note we are currently have some trouble uploading photos to this site. We do however have a facebook group where we try to upload photos on a regualar basis. To view these photos simply join our facebook group by visiting the Link Below.

Raiders Army Facebook Group