BY ROB

Well, here we are Raiders fans. End of the line. No after party for us in 2015. Which is not to say that it has been a truly awful vintage in the vein of 2014. While the season was punctuated by frequent runs of losses there were still some highs. For me personally our come-from-behind triumph over Souths and our narrow loss to the Cowboys were two of the standout games of the year.

If anything 2015 should motivate the Green Machine to play better next season, hopefully a more mature, calmer kind of football. We already know that our attack can be sublime when it clicks into gear, it’s just a matter of stifling the casual errors and brain snap decisions that so often mar our playing style.

On Sunday the Raiders come up against another club looking to improve their outlook heading into next year. Last year the Raiders cruelled the Eels chances of sneaking into the finals (although the game prior against the Knights was the real demise of Parramatta), but this year they meet on more even terms, with both teams playing purely for pride and glory (whilst also trying to stay as far away from the spoon as possible). Both clubs are going through roster evolutions, with Aidan Sezer and Kieren Foran due at the Raiders and Eels respectively next year.

Big Three – Raiders

Josh Hodgson: While the Sydney media was busy wetting itself like hyped up pre-schoolers over Blake Austin Hodgson was affirming himself as the true #1 buy for the Green Machine in 2015. From his super accurate tactical 40/20 kicks to his sublime passing game and dummy half nous Hodgson was everywhere, stamping his brand not just on the hookers jersey but as a key playmaker for the Raiders.

Edrick Lee & Jordan Rapana: At this point in the season I can’t separate these two. Lee has matured into a much better defender, and overall more enthusiastic player who is becoming quite adept at picking off intercepts. Rapana is the walking definition of the little engine that could, gaining metres purely out of some steel clad will to succeed. I look forward to them forming a true holy trinity with Wighton in 2016.

Josh Papalii: With Shillo Titans bound Papa will find himself one of the senior forwards next year, so it’s crucial that he maintains his form from the second half of the year. He started 2015 looking pretty rough, but once the match fitness returned so did the Papa of old, running lines and terrorising tiny defenders.

Big Three – Eels

Semi Radradra: The Hayne Plane may have left Parramatta airspace, but you would hardly notice for the impact Semi has had on the Eels backline. 2015s most prolific try scorer coming into the last round, his speed, strength and agility is feared by defences everywhere.

Manu Ma’u: One of the Eels standout forwards this year, with a solid and respectable stat sheet to prove it. Extremely difficult to bring down when he gets going, often dragging 3 or 4 defenders down with him.

Tepai Moeroa: Referred to as “70s head” by my gf (a mad Parra fan) Moeroa is Ma’us partner in crime in the 2^nd row, and an equally terrifying sight. Between the two of them they must account for half of the team’s weight. Equally adept at plowing into defenders and bending the line. Best combatted by Shannon Boyd or Paul Vaughan.

You Wot Mate?

The fact that Jack Wighton is not playing. Wighton has copped an early guilty plea which ends his season a round early, after putting a corker of a tackle on Jamie Soward in the Raiders win over the panthers.

Despite the on field ref ruling it was (a) not a penalty and (b) a Raiders scrum due to Soward losing the ball the NRL match Review somehow saw fit to stitch Wighton up on a grade 2 careless tackle charge, despite pretty much everyone who witnessed the incident commending it for being a great tackle. And so the debacle that is the NRL’s mid-year clamp down on shoulder charges comes to fruition, and we are forced to live in a world where bone rattling legitimate tackles are no longer things to be applauded.

Crystal Ball

The Raiders just get a win over the Eels, mending their home record just a bit. We all breathe a deep sigh of relief that the spoon was once again not ours and settle in for a month of finals footy. McCrone and Buttriss move to the Super League where they gain valuable experience as ball boys.