Canberra Raiders fans ready to support their team. Photo: Jayze Photography.
The image of Raiders fans booing their own team off the ground at half-time in the loss to the Cowboys at Canberra Stadium is about as unsavoury as it gets in my world.
Sure, the Raiders were down 22-0 as the Cowboys ran in four first-half tries after the Raiders crossed the line twice, only to be denied, before North Queensland scored their first try.
Sure, the Raiders gave away some dumb penalties and poor defensive reads, which allowed the Cowboys into the game.
Understandably, the crowd was upset at the scoreline, but does that give fans the moral right to rush to the tunnel and give it to their own team?
Is there a perception that it will motivate the team to do better in the second half?
I would have thought it is counterproductive for players to potentially go into their shells after facing a barrage from their own fans.
The Raiders against the Cowboys: perhaps trying too hard? Photo: Jayze Photography.
It wasn’t as if the Raiders were trying to lose. It wasn’t as if they were purposely missing tackles, dropping balls or giving away penalties. In fact, it was the complete opposite. It did appear, at times, that they were trying too hard.
It often happens when the pressure and frustration start to mount as they try to turn around an ordinary home-ground record. In their past three games at Canberra Stadium, they have conceded 118 points.
Papali’i manages an offload against a strong Cowboys defence. Photo: Jayze Photography.
As a commentator, I am supposed to be impartial, but having called almost every Raiders home game since 1989, I am a Raiders fan.
I say this because I was as disappointed as every other Raiders supporter at the half-time scoreline. However, never in my wildest dreams would I have booed my own players off the ground.
Sadly, I have seen it before at Raiders home games. Round 19 in 2012, when Canberra lost at home to the Gold Coast Titans 38-36, lives long in my memory.
Rapana trying to break the Cowboys line. Photo: Jayze Photography.
Some will be critical of my stance with the Raiders.
I’ve heard it before. I get a car pass and free entry to the games; I get to watch and call the game in a box away from the weather conditions. What gives me the right to question fans who work hard during the week to pay for tickets and sit in the cold to support their team?
I am simply questioning whether we want to be known as fans that turn on our own. I am not saying that you shouldn’t show passion for the Raiders; it is what we are renowned for, but booing your own players is taking that passion too far.
Last year in the NBA, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich grabbed the public address microphone, calling on Spurs fans to stop booing former San Antonio player Kawhi Leonard, who took the court for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Popovich told the crowd to have a little class.
I couldn’t agree more.
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