Raiders Vs Dogs

Review 19/6/2005

It all started with a Raiders Army member’s 21^st birthday on Saturday night.  While the bar tab was getting hammered, so were the usual suspects from the Army.  As more drinks were consumed some members tried to talk others into making the trek to the showground on the Sunday to watch the Raiders.  As per usual, the Nightmare was talked into making the trip.  He knew it was a long way to go to prove a point but decided to jog on anyway.

Sunday Morning arrived with miserable weather and a stomach that felt like I had just consumed 12 VB’s and watched the Socceroos’s get demolished by the Argies, surely this day would improve?  A quick stop at Evo’s house revealed that he not home yet and then a stop at Ben’s house produced nothing but annoyance for his family who were woken by a doorbell and two 6 foot gorilla’s at 8:45 on a Sunday Morning.  A few quick calls to fill the seats was on the cards.  One Army member woke up to take my call however he was unsure whose house he was at or what suburb he was located in.  The birthday boy was nowhere to be seen and a few others handed in a sick note.  It was going to be a paltry 3 members making the trek however we were still keen to ‘ave a go’. A quick stop for the traditional Macca’s and we were on the road.

Frightening and Scary, these 2 words sum up the driving skills of one member as he mistook the Hume Highway for a Salt Lake and tried to break a landspeed record.  As we franticly tried to keep up in the car behind, we were on the M5 before we knew it.  A quick stop off at Maroubra and then we made tracks down Anzac Parade towards the Harbour Bridge.  Unfortunately we all forgot that South’s vs St George was on at the cricket ground and we were caught in thick traffic trying to get to that game.  There were a few puzzled looks from fellow motorists as they looked across to our car only to see the lime green Raiders Army shirts.  As we slowly made our way to the Showground, the news came through on the radio that Jermaine Ale was in the starting line up to make his debut.  The cheering in the car was certainly the loudest of the day and our hopes received a massive boost, could the Raiders produce an upset?

We parked close to the ground and then discussed something that we probably should have spoken about in the car “Are we wearing the Army T-Shirt’s today?”  A few blanks looks and then a joint reply of “Stuff it!  We have built this thing into something special, let’s at least show our colours and represent our team”.  As we walked along to buy a ticket, I could certainly feel every set of eyes that were focussed on us.  There was a lot of passing comments and to say there wasn’t a degree of intimidation would be lying.  A group of Dogs fans walked past and one guy made the comment “Some Army - 3 guys, where are the rest of your guys hiding?”  Simon’s reply that the rest of our guys may have been hiding in his nose was promptly met with a now common Army quote “Please don’t start Bill”.

The showground is a disgrace of a ground to watch Rugby League at.  The set up with tickets is appalling as you have to walk past the gate to get in, half way around the ground to buy a ticket, only to have to come back to the gate you originally walked past. Needless to say, security was getting complaints from quite a few fans.  In the general admission section of the ground there was a sign that said ‘OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS BAY’; this was the bay we thought would be best.  As I climbed the stairs that were no more than scaffolding it became apparent that there were in fact more Dogs fans in this bay than Raiders.  We decided that the view from there was as good as any other in general admission so it was just a case of grinning and bearing it.  The makeshift stand would be described as flimsy at best and as I looked around it was simply rows of chairs screwed onto planks of wood held up by scaffolding. Upon further inspection I and a few others were horrified to see that the scaffolding was sitting on blocks of concrete that were barely bigger than cinderblocks.  It was at this point that I accepted that for next 2 hours my safety was in the hands of the gods, and I would have been safer in a Hyundai Excel.  Anyway, the view from the ‘Bagdad stand’ was in line with the safety standards it was upholding and prompted Simon to comment that he should have bought his telescope.  We must have been at least 80 metres from the nearest sideline and we realised that 5 people singing from that distance would be pointless so today was going to be non event from the vocal side of things.

The first half started like a nightmare.  First Adamson was helped off the field, shortly followed by Thommo, however the boys showed character and defended quite well.  It was an arm wrestle and a forwards battle however the Green ants were keeping the Dogs honest.  A few big hits later and the Blue ants attacked our right hand side.  Despite the efforts of Chalky who raced infield and buried the much bigger Grimaldi, the Dogs went over.  Shortly after, the Raiders received a couple penalties in Dogs territory and slotted a few goals to even things up.  Then out of nothing Withers sliced straight through the ruck and showed good pace to round ‘The General Store’, the Raiders had lifted a notch along with my hopes.  We ended the half fairly well to go in at the break 10 all.

Half time was the worst thing to happen to the Raiders.  We started the second half poorly and were always on the back foot.  Poor organisation seemed to be the first sign as we resembled a flock of sheep standing behind the tackled player, it was only Josh Miller showing signs of running on to the footy and taking it to the much bigger Dogs pack A couple of easy tries to the Dogs and we were gone.  The only real highlight of the second half was the sheer courage of Miller who tirelessly worked his rump off.  He lined up O’Meley and charged out of the line to meet him, only to get his head in the wrong position and he woke up with a face full of dirt.  Like the leader that Miller is becoming, he struggled to his feet and tried to get back in the defensive line.  The only problem was he had absolutely no idea where he was and was doing the ‘funky chicken’ across the field.  This brought a massive roar from the crowd for O’Meley however as soon as that died down the Bulldogs fans wanted to know who our No.8 was who had stood toe to toe with the likes of Shrek, Asotasi and Tonga so admirably.  In 60 minutes of football he had earnt the respect of all supporters at the ground.  In the minute or so that it took the trainers to look after Miller, I reflected on just how far he has come as a footballer in the past year and in a split second he had just reaffirmed why I love the Raiders.  He showed courage, guts, heart and passion, putting his body on the line in an attempt to turn the game in our favour.  From a supporter’s point of view, I can’t ask for any more than that and he single-handedly allowed me to walk out of that ground with my head held high.  The remainder of the game was simply both sides going through the motions to play out the time.

Once again we hit the highway and made the extra long trip home after a loss.  We listened to the radio waiting to see what Elliott had to say and searched the furthest points of our football brains for answers.  Unfortunately, like the coach we didn’t have any so we all have to wait for Saturday Night against the Cowboys to see if we can turn it around.  After 5 straight losses we can simply all throw the towel in and get frustrated or stand solid and support our team with pride like we have for the first 15 rounds.  As members of the Raiders Army the majority of us bought T-Shirts at the start of the year that had the slogan ‘BELIEVE’ on the back.  It is times like these that we must all BELIEVE and show our support more than ever.  To wear our shirt shows that we can’t give up hope or belief and that it will all turn around and come 5:30 pm on Saturday Night.  I hope to see as many Army members in Bay 72 as possible to show our stance.

Finally, thanks to the members of the Raiders Army who braved the trip to the showground.  Some members were busy on Sunday, some members rightfully stated that the game was too dangerous to attend and stayed home to watch it on the tele and I have no problem with that at all.  Just wanted to give my applause and respect for the guys who made the trip, braved the crowd proudly sporting the Army shirt and stood firm in the stands supporting our guys.  I would also like to thank the anonymous construction worker that somehow glued a stand together so well and the tyres on Craig’s car.

Until Saturday

WE ARE THE……….BELIEVERS!