Raiders Vs Eels

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Season 2006' first true Raiders Army Match Review. As the Ultra was not able to be present, Boing will be taking up the reigns this week.

Myself and Azz headed up from Canberra at about 3:30 pm on Friday, determined to make a weekend of it, so if the Raiders embarrassed themselves again, we could say we at least did a few other things. The Army once again patronised the might Victoria Park Inn. I'll tell you right now, we went through FOUR bloody rooms. Yep, four.

Our originally booked room had a broken lock, so the maintenance supervisor (Some Sri Lankan guy who looked like he had been wearing the same clothes for three years) decided he would latch the door from the inside with the "Ball and bar" sliding security lock, that I'm sure many of you are aware of. Showing excellent workmanship and a keen attention to detail, the little man proceeded to take about four running jumps at the door, after which, he suggested to the horrified receptionist standing nearby, that we be assigned a new room. Our first room was on the ground floor, which was great because it meant we wouldn't need to stagger up any stairs at 7:00 the next morning when we got in. The new room was on the top floor... and this building has no elevators except one that is made for hoisting food which must have dated back to colonisation. After the 40 minute trip up the stairs, Azz and myself burst into the room to find no windows, no fan and an ash tray full of ash. Disgusted, I had a shower, made myself a cup of tea, left my towel, soaked, on the floor and we headed back downstairs to ask for our third room. Back down to room 104!

We managed to stay in this room overnight, but only just. Azz got up before me to lay some cable, but then he woke me up. I thought it was some sort of sick joke, so I ignored him for 10 minutes. When he eventually got me to have a look at the bathroom, he had somehow managed to dislodge the toilet bowl from the wall… and the floor. We I helped him push it back until we thought it was fixed. At this point, I pointed out that he should dispose of his grogan, so he did. Next, the toilet exploded, with a river of rotten toilet water spurting out everywhere and eventually making boats out of our beds. Displeased, we went out to reception to retrieve the maintenance man from the closet at which point he advised that we shouldn't sit on the toilet so hard.

At this point, it was only 9:30 am on Saturday, but more fun was to come.
We met up with Sully at Coogee for a bit of lunch and a few charges, which was followed by the 2 hour journey to Parramatta, starting with finding a cab to get to Central, which took around 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Once there, we met up with a few others: Souls, Matty No-Beers, Stupid Jed and Syd to sink a bit more piss before we made the trek across to Parramatta Stadium.

At this point, I'd like to take a shot at the owners of Parra Stadium. Shame. You have destroyed what was once a nice stadium to be and I will have to think hard before visiting again.

For everyone else's info, they have erected massive advertising billboards behind the seating where the hill used to be, at both ends. I'll go so far as to say that in a full house, about ¼ of the fans will be unable to see the big screen from their seats. What a sad day for a once nice suburban ground.

The small Raiders Army contingent soon morphed into a large group of rabid Raiders fans, who were magnetically attracted to the small group of us having a sing and a few beers and generally having a good time. All the old classics came out and I can say that despite low numbers, it was the Army's first true hit-out of the year. For the first time since I don't know when the "We're proud of you" chant was sung and I'm sure I was not alone in having goose bumps the moment that Schifcoske turned to us, rolled up his sleeve and gave us his most mighty fist pump. They were back.

It must be awful to be a Parramatta fan right now, really frustrating. Tensions were boiling and not just with Hindy. Now a RA favourite, Parra Jebus made his debut. This slickly robed deity and his mate, with their powers combined, must have been parra's army. I didn't watch him all night, but at one point I saw him standing on the seats, bearing down on some poor Raiders fan and his family. I don't think Jebus had it in him to throw any punches, as the security guards were not bothered at all. This niff naff must be a regular, like Bruce Stadium's "Schifcoske", and I don't mean the player. I wonder how

There is a video of the army boys strutting out of Parra Stadium singing our "Everywhere we go" chant, which should be up on the website soon. It was really amazing to see some many random fans come up and give us a pat on the back for following the team, from both teams and I must say I had a great time at Parra, despite Parramatta's messiah making an appearance. I hope for Parramatta's sake, he goes for a walk somewhere for 40 days.

The night wasn't over there, as all the boys headed out for a few celebratory ales. The night was finished off at "The Landsdowne". I am told this is a gay bar, but I couldn't see any evidence of this and I'm told that's because I fitted in so well!

The next morning, we hit the harbour for a bit of breakfast, before beginning the trip home. All in all, I had a great time and it makes me look forward to this weekend so much more. Nothing is better to me than gathering with good mates on a Sunday afternoon for a few beers, good company and good conversation, all of which go hand in hand with watching our favourite team, the might Canberra Raiders.

Love it.

This is Boing, signing out. Come and say hi on Sunday afternoon. We should be there for Premier League, to watch our up and coming stars go around. Come over to Bay 72 and introduce yourself. What ever your perception is, I think you'll find you have a lot to like. We are back.

We are the Raiders Army