Raiders Army @ Canberra Stadium V Storm

After winning four games on the trot, the past two weeks have been a disaster for the Raiders. For the second week in a row the boys copped a whipping off a team that was superior in almost all departments. Whilst the Army were in good voice on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Canberra, it did not stop the Storm from inflicting the Raiders worst ever defeat on home soil.

After a solid session at the Jamison Inn, the majority of the Army arrived at the ground at about 1.30. Whilst the turn out was down from the Roosters match, the Army had a good group of regulars, and casuals ready to sing the boys on to victory (Or so we thought...). This week saw the introduction of docket rolls and some new flags to the Army. Hopefully this trend continues, as we look to add a better visual appearance to matches.

As the match got underway the Army was in full voice, with in my opinion, our best half of singing so far this season. Not only was the Army singing, but a lot of people sitting near us joined in, and we even had quite a few people stand up when "Stand up if you're Canberra" was sung. Despite this, the Storm opened up a 12-0 lead, and went into half time leading 16-10, after the Raiders made a bit of a comeback. It was blatantly obvious to everyone that the absence of Jason Smith was a massive factor, as we had set after set on their line, all to no avail.

Unfortunately for us, the boys forgot to turn up for the second half, which Melbourne capitalised on. The Storm put on 30 unanswered points in the second half, in what can only be described as an absolutely scandalous defensive effort. Time after time they ruthlessly punished our fringe defence, which was as brittle as an 80 year olds bones with osteoporosis.

Despite this, the Army still kept singing, albeit without as much enthusiasm as the first half. Matt Elliott even acknowledged our effort in the second half, saying in his speech at the post match function "It's easy to enjoy the good times, but you lads and lasses over the other side supported us when the going gets tough, when it really matters", or something similar to that. It's great to get this recognition of the players and coaching staff, especially after the comments of one member of the Raiders administration.

I must make mention of the Storm fans that travelled to Bruce for this game, they were probably the best fans we've had at Bruce for a while. They were a credit to their club, and despite the fact the Storm has a small supporter base, the fans they do have are amongst the most passionate in the NRL. I know a few boys had a chat to them after the game, and hopefully we can reciprocate the effort when we play down in Melbourne in a few months.

After the game, myself and a few other Army members 'Jogged on' to Civic, to paint the town red. We saw a few of the boys in town and had a chat about the days proceedings. Needless to say, the players were all surrounded by the usual band of groupies (Gropies?), who were all decked out in their FMBs (Feck me boots) and aeroplane skirts (tiny skirts that give ample view of their, erm, cockpit). We still had a good laugh, witnessing one argument between Croker and a group of our Mediterranean brothers, saying that Lolesi shouldn't have been released because he was a 'Mad Wog'. Big Simon even managed to flog a few Army shirts to the completely sh*t faced players.

As time flew we endeavoured on to Mooseheads, where we saw a couple of players, who despite having a recovery session in 3 hours, were still out on the 'bitch piss'. It was then we thought, instead of going home, why not head straight to the dawn service at the War Memorial? We hopped on a bus out there with a few of the Raiders players, who were a little worse for wear. The service was my first, and was very moving, especially with the ode and last post reminding us that football is indeed just a game, and that there are far more important things in the world. That brought to an end a quite epic day, which had begun 18 hours previously at the Jamison Inn!

Next week, the Army make the long trip to the Centrelink Central, Newcastle. Despite the fact Newcastle haven't won a game yet, they will be well up for this, especially after coming so close to beating the Dogs last week. It will be a very tough game for us, especially considering we have the majority of our first grade team injured. Whatever happens, the Army will be present cheering on the boys to hopefully a better result than what we have got in the last 2 weeks. I'll see you there - Ultra