Warning: The following post contains actual facts and a lame attempt at humour. Read at your own discretion.
Raiders season ends in disappointment... again
By IBG
The Canberra Raiders Premier League team has produced its worst performance of the season, thrashed 50-12 by a red-hot St. George-Illawarra Dragons outfit at Aussie Stadium tonight infront of 30,900 odd fans - three of whom were Raiders supporters.
Before the visitors from the National Capital took the field, there was one change to the official program, with Nathan Smith not taking any part of the contest. This caused a reshuffle, with Jack Pearson moving into the centres to fill Smith's vacated role, as Joe 'The Nose' Picker - or as some like to call him, the Boogeyman - came into the starting side in the second row. There is no official word as to why Smith was out, but according to one of my sources, he's still pissed off his nut from Mad Monday and is lying in a gutter near Mooseheads.
Signs were not looking good for the men in green right from the start, as on the opening set of six the Dragons put in a tremendous kick into the in-goal area, forcing custodian Bronx Goodwin to catch it one-handed, however he knocked it on and it flew right into the Dragons' winger's hands who scored an opportune try.
However, the Raiders hit back after a smart chip kick from Terry Campese wielded the Raiders a penalty as Campese was taken out whilst contesting the kick. This left the Raiders in good field position, and they took their opportunity after a nice backline movement sent winger David Milne over in the corner. Bronx Goodwin converted from the sideline and the Raiders hit the front 6-4.
However, that was the last time the Raiders would see the lead as from then on, it was a one-way contest. After a series of crucial mistakes and lapses of discipline, the Dragons got repeated opportunities and took them with both (or 34) hands, as they raced to a 24-6 lead at halftime. The Dragons peppered the Raiders left-hand side defence, and Chad Grintell and Brad Cross were found wanting on several occassions, leading to three straight tries.
This optimistic Raiders fan had a deep feeling of hope as the Green Machine ran out onto the paddock for the second half. In hindsight, it was just food poisoning from the burger I had purchased an hour earlier.
Just two minutes into the second half, the Dragons put on a magical try which started with a chip and chase, and as the player in question regathered, he kicked over the top again for the flying Josh Morris who grabbed the second of his three tries for the Dragons.
Besides the tries, next came the only bright spot for the Raiders on an otherwise dark night, in one of the plays of the year. The Raiders were on the attack deep into the Dragons half, when they had an overlap out wide. William Zillman fired the ball in the direction of Brad Cross, however some schmuck from the Dragons intercepted the ball and started to run 80m upfield. Like a scene from the National Geographic channel (no, it didn't involve humping, but merely a graceful cheetah chasing its prey... or something), David Milne absolutely flew like the wind from the other side of the park, giving the Dragons winger at least a 30m start, and yet he caught him two metres out from the tryline in a classic copybook tackle, and as the Dragons schmuck slid into the goalposts, he knocked the ball on!
It was the momentum shifter that the Raiders needed to get back into the contest!
Unfortunately that didn't happen with the Dragons then moving to a 40-6 lead after another converted try.
Oh.
A few minutes later, after a break by replacement half Marc Herbert, Bronx Goodwin backed up and was able to charge his way over, before converting his own try. The score moved to 40-12.
The Dragons then scored two more late tries thanks to even more mistakes by the Raiders, and eventually, thankfully, mercifully, it was over.
The Dragons had defeated the Raiders by 50-12.
For the Raiders, it was a terrible performance. In the first half they looked like their first grade counterparts, playing very conservatively and very forward-orientated, but it didn't work, as their forwards got completely dominated by their Dragons counterparts. In the second half the game opened up a bit more, and Marc Herbert was the most dangerous when he came on in the second half, where he created a fair amount of opportunities out wide. The Raiders kicking game for the most part was atrocious, with Terry 'My Nickname Is Mid-Field Bomb' Campese returning to true form, living up to his moniker. The two stars who were expected to perform at such a high level like they had been over the course of the year, William Zillman and Bronx Goodwin, had especially poor games. Goodwin's mistakes led directly to three Dragons tries, while Zillman was extremely quiet and didn't create anything.
I was lucky enough to be able to speak to Premier League coach Andrew McFadden after the game, and when quizzed about the team's performance, he had this to say.
"..."
Telling indeed.
Well that just about wraps it up from this depressed Raiders supporter who basically wasted $48 (plus a crapload for food and parking, can you believe it costs $18 for parking?!?! ... but I digress), but that's what being a Raiders supporter is all about.
I'm Ron Burgundy... stay classy, San Diego.
.... you are obvioulsy a very keen student of the game :? 
