24 March 2008

Raiders defeat Panthers

| Cameron
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The Canberra Raiders defeated the Penrith Panthers in a rare away win (the first since Round 9, 2007) on Saturday evening. Despite the loss of Zillman (ACL – out for season) and Logan (fractured cheekbone) and blowing an early 12-2 lead, the Raiders scored the only points of the second half and managed to hold on for a 20-16 victory.

I was at CUA Stadium for the match and I have to say that the Panthers home crowd really get behind their side. That made it all the more pleasurable to be wearing green when the final siren blew.

It wasn’t the most impressive game for the Raiders, particularly in the latter stages of the first half. The kicking game wasn’t good enough (certainly not when compared with Sammut’s efforts for Penrith), nor was the defence. That said, the Raiders defence once the final try was scored was impressive – successfully frustrating the scoring efforts of a spirited Panthers side.

Although they came away with a win, the Raiders need to improve if they want to seriously challenge for the title in ’08. A 4 point win over the out-of-sorts Panthers is not necessarily a huge line entry on the CV, but will hopefully be enough to boost the confidence of the Raiders squad. It is worth noting that many bookmakers still have the Raiders as the favourite for the wooden spoon.

The loss of Zillman for the season is a big blow for the Raiders, though fans can take some solace from the fact that the ever-reliable Bronx Goodwin will more than likely be filling his shoes for the remainder of the season.Next Saturday will see the Raiders take on the St. George Dragons in their first home game for 2008. Kickoff at Canberra Stadium is 7:30pm – let’s get a big crowd their to cheer them to victory.

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Most of the Panthers fans around us were good natured. We shared laughs at some of the rubbish ref calls and the various things we were calling out. Had a good chat with a die-hard Panther fan who told me that there is no away supporter experience like going to Suncorp Stadium and supporting the away team when they lose – the Brisbane fans apparently savage you.

I was at the game as well. Your not wrong about Panthers fans getting behind their team. I had people singling me out in the crowd everytime the panthers scored and giving me the finger and yelling abuse at me. But at least I got the last laugh. Bring on the Dragons.

Growling Ferret7:16 pm 24 Mar 08

Worst game ever. But 2 points so some good came out of it.

Raiders to roll the Saints this week and have a 4 point head start on the spoon

You would have felt so ashamed after copping some from the announcer and being kicked out, lol.

barney said :

Poor poor Penrith, haha. Losers. But you’d expect them to do such things.

What was ridiculous about it was that they were doing it inside the first 10 minutes. As Zillman was scoring the first try of the match they were throwing them at him. Stupidity.

Cameron said :

Yes, there were some idiots throwing little mini footballs (handed out by the sponsors) at the Raiders. They were ejected promptly, and the match day announcer suitably took the piss out of them.

Poor poor Penrith, haha. Losers. But you’d expect them to do such things.

Evening games for the sponsors, and everything commercial, heh.
Sadly I wont be able to make it to the St George game, but we should win. The halves need to fire!

Does it have to be a Saturday night? I guess not… but it is. I’m sure we’ll get our share of afternoon games.

Yes, there were some idiots throwing little mini footballs (handed out by the sponsors) at the Raiders. They were ejected promptly, and the match day announcer suitably took the piss out of them.

Yeah Good result for the Raiders and nicely set up for next Saturday night but why does it have to be a Saturday night? I’ll take an afternoon game over an evening game any time.

I listened to the game on 2GB, then watched it later. Canberra could have scored more tries than what they did. Just a bit unlucky at times. They really looked good in attack on numerous occasions, however, the kicking game wasn’t too flash. A few of them just didn’t come off well. Had they of, then there would have been more points on the board 🙂

Having a win will no doubt do the players good, even if we have lost Zillman and possibly Logan. We can beat St George, just have to defend well, complete sets and minimise errors.

PS: I noticed some idiots from the Penrith were throwing things at the Canberra try scorers…

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