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.