Sent this to Phil Gould's email address at the SunH (shsport@mail.fairfax.com.au) this morning. Like all of you I'm disgusted with the agenda at play here...
Dear Phil,
it is time you come clean with your agenda against the Canberra Raiders. I and many like-minded Raiders fans are sick of hearing uninformed and poorly researched opinion pieces saying that Canberra is a 'club in trouble.' If you want to tip us to run last in season 2007, then fine - that is your opinion and you are not alone, and someone has to collect the spoon. But to question our existence in the NRL - what right do you have to do such a thing, if you're not going to back it up with some evidence? Are you leading an agenda to have the Raiders' licence relocated to the Central Coast?
Fact is, the Raiders are supported by a string of league clubs throughout the ACT. We have a full array of sponsors - jersey, sleeve, short and signage - lined up for the next three years at a good price so there is no financial issue at stake. Canberra and surrounds produce some of the finest juniors year after year and some of the league's hottest young prospects are on our books right now - some until 2010. The Raiders club may have only been around for 25 years but we have produced more legends and won more titles in that time than many of the 'glamour' sides in Sydney who hog more than their fare share of media space - including your beloved Chooks.
So rather than writing 'easy' articles about "ooh look at all the players who have left Canberra" - why don't you do some research and write something positive about young guys like William Zillman, Todd Carney, Michael Weyman, or even rookie coach Neil Henry? These guys are going to be superstars and Neil has all the makings of a great NRL coach - yet all the Sydney-centric media can do is savage the Raiders to pieces, because, simply, it is the easy option. Last week when the Raiders lost to the Broncos 'reserves' it was like the beginning of the apocalypse in the eyes of the Sydney tabloids - you're only as good as your last match though and last time I checked the Raiders knocked off the 2005 premiers 26-4... and they were at full strength. However I'm sure the write-up will be that "it's only a trial" and "the Raiders are still crap." Funny how things like that stay true.
So Phil, either come clean with evidence or shut up about the Raiders' future. Your position and influence means that the unfounded diatribe you come up with about Canberra means that a lot of people will start to believe it and that is just not fair, right or just.
Looking forward to the Green Machine proving you, and all the critics wrong - again - because that is what we do.
