What a waste. What a waste of a season that had so much potential. Here we are, languishing in 11th position, stranded on 22 points. We've been here for a month, when September beckoned. A top four position beckoned. And it's all come to nothing.
So many predicted the demise of the Raiders in 2005. Yet we remained resilient, laughing off the doomsayers. Spoon favourites in many eyes, those who followed the Raiders closely knew we had a good mix of old heads, fresh talent and a few gamebreakers. Heading back to September's shores was a distinct possibility.
The opening five weeks was somewhat like a dream. What an opening, what flashy football. An opening weekend thrashing of Newcastle made us all feel a bit better - 'Dad's Army' would win a few games this season. Maybe we would avoid the spoon. Souths were next, and the passion in the green was evident. I still get goosebumps thinking of Clinton Schifcofske diving over in the corner at the SFS, to score the winning try. Rising from the ground, he salutes the Raiders Army and SGB and every other Raiders fan there, right in front of him, with the big double fist pump and the most passionate display from a player you've seen.
What a moment. The crowd went berserk! This meant more than his emblem kissing exploits of last season, this one was for us. The team and the fans travelling as one on a quest no one thought we had in us. It was a tremendous day and while it was 'only Souths', we were heading in the right direction.
The Dragons - cannon fodder for our scorching attack (I can't believe I just wrote that). The arch enemies, the Roosters, made the trek down to a Bruce Stadium littered with 'Ju$t Juda$' balloons and finally, they left empty handed. The Raiders once again were top of the tree, and didn't it feel good.
A month down the track the Raiders recorded the most heroic win I have ever seen. Down 18-0 after 15 minutes at Penrith Stadium, with threadbare defence and shocking refereeing decision, it seemed like it was to be a long night. But we chipped away, chipped away. This team was made of stern stuff. Some tradesmanlike tries, a Phil classic. Suddenly the game was on, and some Marshall Chalk magic sealed us one of the great comeback wins. It was the stuff of legend and one thing I remember most from that night was the smiles on the fans faces, as well as the players. The players were ecstatic. What courage, character and commitment. It was like we didn't want to lose. Our exciting crop of youngsters were coming to the fore.
Since that night, we've won 3 out of 13 matches.
This has probably been the worst stretch I can remember. Blocks of five losses on the trot and now four in the past four weeks. Sure, the commitment has been there in some of the losses, but 'giving your best' is not always good enough. This is professional sport and you live and die by your results, and to go from 6-2 to 9-12 is unacceptable, no matter what the injury toll. The embarassment of losing to Souths at home caps the fall from grace.
Sure, the injury toll has hurt us. To be honest I have never seen an injury list like it. We've used 32 players, which I think is the 2nd most in the comp - and the 2nd tier cap is the only thing preventing us using more. Prop has been the position that has hurt us the most - since O'Hara and Weyman went down in successive weeks our record stands at 5-12 - not good reading. While Thompson and Miller have been heroic they cannot do it alone - and while Rhino is not everyone's cup of tea anymore since joining the Tigers, we've missed him so badly.
Continuity is the key to success and that is where injuries have hurt us. The backline has never had a chance to gel - Schif missed 6 weeks, Graham missed 4, Chalk missed 5, Robbo has been in and out of first grade, Mogg has been suspended...you name it. The reason Parramatta have been so successful this season compared to previous is that they've kept roughly the same team all year - it has been a rare two weeks when we have been able to name the same lineup.
I often wonder where we would be without Jason Smith. What a tremendous purchase, what an amazing player. Tough as nails. Yet he's been the best and the worst thing about us this season. We're so dependent on him, we look like a rudderless ship when he's gone. Yes his role is partly to educate our young halves but they are not ready to play the role he does with ease, not yet anyway. Without him we would be spoon candidates, no question. But we need to ween ourselves off his freakish abilities, as he will not be here much longer.
I want to touch on the Todd Carney issue. He has so much promise yet I can see why he has his detractors because many have not seen him carve up PL. I'd love for him to blow a team or two away just to show everyone what he's got. I think his lack of confidence at the first grade level is partly due to a poor introduction into the top flight, but there's not much that can be done now about that. The key for mine is that he trains all off-season in the 7 jersey, runs the team all off season, knows he will be the man come 2006, and then we go from there. Whether that happens is another story.
On top of injuries we've had the double whammy of suspensions to deal with too. While nearly everyone thinks the Woolford suspension was ridiculous, Germ has cost the team badly in 2005. For the captain to be missing for 12 weeks when his team-mates need him so badly because of injuries etc... it's not good enough. He needs to change his style, or make way. We can't accomodate Germ despite being a loyal servant of the club if he isn't going to change his ways.
I'll let you all touch on the issue of the coach, I know there are a lot of varied opinions. I support Elliott but I criticise him when I see fit, and in the case of our attack we are a basket case. We need to be re-invented, a halves coach, something. We have a lot of potential waiting to be unleashed, but I get the horrible feeling it will be at other clubs.
I don't know what hurts more - to have a sh*t season from the start, or to start the way we did and now be in our current predicament. Newcastle, the joke of the league for the first 16 weeks, can finish on the same number of wins as us. They will have a positive outlook for 2006. Can the same be said for us?
It's getting very dark now. The only light that flickers are the loyal band of Raiders supporters who will stick by the team. With our additions, it is hard to say what 2006 will hold. I hope it will be better than 2005, because I know there are a lot of shattered Raiders fans all over Australia and the world right now.
So many predicted the demise of the Raiders in 2005. Yet we remained resilient, laughing off the doomsayers. Spoon favourites in many eyes, those who followed the Raiders closely knew we had a good mix of old heads, fresh talent and a few gamebreakers. Heading back to September's shores was a distinct possibility.
The opening five weeks was somewhat like a dream. What an opening, what flashy football. An opening weekend thrashing of Newcastle made us all feel a bit better - 'Dad's Army' would win a few games this season. Maybe we would avoid the spoon. Souths were next, and the passion in the green was evident. I still get goosebumps thinking of Clinton Schifcofske diving over in the corner at the SFS, to score the winning try. Rising from the ground, he salutes the Raiders Army and SGB and every other Raiders fan there, right in front of him, with the big double fist pump and the most passionate display from a player you've seen.
What a moment. The crowd went berserk! This meant more than his emblem kissing exploits of last season, this one was for us. The team and the fans travelling as one on a quest no one thought we had in us. It was a tremendous day and while it was 'only Souths', we were heading in the right direction.
The Dragons - cannon fodder for our scorching attack (I can't believe I just wrote that). The arch enemies, the Roosters, made the trek down to a Bruce Stadium littered with 'Ju$t Juda$' balloons and finally, they left empty handed. The Raiders once again were top of the tree, and didn't it feel good.
A month down the track the Raiders recorded the most heroic win I have ever seen. Down 18-0 after 15 minutes at Penrith Stadium, with threadbare defence and shocking refereeing decision, it seemed like it was to be a long night. But we chipped away, chipped away. This team was made of stern stuff. Some tradesmanlike tries, a Phil classic. Suddenly the game was on, and some Marshall Chalk magic sealed us one of the great comeback wins. It was the stuff of legend and one thing I remember most from that night was the smiles on the fans faces, as well as the players. The players were ecstatic. What courage, character and commitment. It was like we didn't want to lose. Our exciting crop of youngsters were coming to the fore.
Since that night, we've won 3 out of 13 matches.
This has probably been the worst stretch I can remember. Blocks of five losses on the trot and now four in the past four weeks. Sure, the commitment has been there in some of the losses, but 'giving your best' is not always good enough. This is professional sport and you live and die by your results, and to go from 6-2 to 9-12 is unacceptable, no matter what the injury toll. The embarassment of losing to Souths at home caps the fall from grace.
Sure, the injury toll has hurt us. To be honest I have never seen an injury list like it. We've used 32 players, which I think is the 2nd most in the comp - and the 2nd tier cap is the only thing preventing us using more. Prop has been the position that has hurt us the most - since O'Hara and Weyman went down in successive weeks our record stands at 5-12 - not good reading. While Thompson and Miller have been heroic they cannot do it alone - and while Rhino is not everyone's cup of tea anymore since joining the Tigers, we've missed him so badly.
Continuity is the key to success and that is where injuries have hurt us. The backline has never had a chance to gel - Schif missed 6 weeks, Graham missed 4, Chalk missed 5, Robbo has been in and out of first grade, Mogg has been suspended...you name it. The reason Parramatta have been so successful this season compared to previous is that they've kept roughly the same team all year - it has been a rare two weeks when we have been able to name the same lineup.
I often wonder where we would be without Jason Smith. What a tremendous purchase, what an amazing player. Tough as nails. Yet he's been the best and the worst thing about us this season. We're so dependent on him, we look like a rudderless ship when he's gone. Yes his role is partly to educate our young halves but they are not ready to play the role he does with ease, not yet anyway. Without him we would be spoon candidates, no question. But we need to ween ourselves off his freakish abilities, as he will not be here much longer.
I want to touch on the Todd Carney issue. He has so much promise yet I can see why he has his detractors because many have not seen him carve up PL. I'd love for him to blow a team or two away just to show everyone what he's got. I think his lack of confidence at the first grade level is partly due to a poor introduction into the top flight, but there's not much that can be done now about that. The key for mine is that he trains all off-season in the 7 jersey, runs the team all off season, knows he will be the man come 2006, and then we go from there. Whether that happens is another story.
On top of injuries we've had the double whammy of suspensions to deal with too. While nearly everyone thinks the Woolford suspension was ridiculous, Germ has cost the team badly in 2005. For the captain to be missing for 12 weeks when his team-mates need him so badly because of injuries etc... it's not good enough. He needs to change his style, or make way. We can't accomodate Germ despite being a loyal servant of the club if he isn't going to change his ways.
I'll let you all touch on the issue of the coach, I know there are a lot of varied opinions. I support Elliott but I criticise him when I see fit, and in the case of our attack we are a basket case. We need to be re-invented, a halves coach, something. We have a lot of potential waiting to be unleashed, but I get the horrible feeling it will be at other clubs.
I don't know what hurts more - to have a sh*t season from the start, or to start the way we did and now be in our current predicament. Newcastle, the joke of the league for the first 16 weeks, can finish on the same number of wins as us. They will have a positive outlook for 2006. Can the same be said for us?
It's getting very dark now. The only light that flickers are the loyal band of Raiders supporters who will stick by the team. With our additions, it is hard to say what 2006 will hold. I hope it will be better than 2005, because I know there are a lot of shattered Raiders fans all over Australia and the world right now.
