BY DAN

The Canberra Raiders should be well placed to make the finals. With six games to go they’re a full win inside the line, with games against the Tigers and Bulldogs to come. It essentially puts them in a position where a win against the Sharks, Broncos or Storm will likely keep them in the party. With Cronulla collapsing, a game at Canberra’s *other* home ground in Melbourne, and a home matchup against a side they beat earlier this year without Joe Tapine or Jack Wighton, it should be a done deal.

That’s a swell story to tell but anyone that watched yesterday’s capitulation to an admittedly impressive but also below their best Knights team (they made fourteen errors!) would be worried about the whiteknuckle ride this team is about to take. Three from six shouldn’t be hard but what had appeared a middling draw coming into the finals will now require the Raiders earn the right to be there. Given they won 10 of 12 at one point this season that worked was assumed to have been done. Alas here we are, struggling again with ourselves like Bubbles.

One had hoped the bye was going to be the opportunity to capitalise the gains made through the season – to recognise that what had come before was to an extent the brightest timeline, and that the Milk needed to make some tweaks in order to properly take advantage. Instead they’ve dropped two, and one in a way so listless that it seemed like 17 dudes got dumped before the game and just wanted to listen to Third Eye Blind instead of play footy.

The problems afflicting this team are hardly worth recapping. We all know them so well. An over-reliance on the middle to win them games, an inability to solve problems through the work of their edges on either side of the ball. A total and complete need to max-out the engine in order to scrape by any team, let alone mediocre ones. The fact that regression waits for no man. At some point you have to pay the piper.

The silverest lining is that there is so much time to turn this around, and so much proof that for the Canberra Raiders at least, a week is a long time in footy. The gaps between their best and worst are often more closely bound than an atom, almost like they sometimes they need to bleed just to know they’re alive (two 90s love song references in one piece I need a hug). So any concern that the effort of the Knights game will become the norm is likely mistaken.

It’s also worth noting that the other contenders for the throne of middle management (i.e. the last few spots in the finals) are also having some problems. The Sharks lost against to Manly and Panthers in the last two weeks in similarly inept displays. They have the Bunnies, Cowboys, Knights, and the Raiders in their run home. The Cows – who before this round we’d pencilled in a top four contender – inexplicably lost to an equally confusing Titans team and now also seem vulnerable. They have the Broncos, Sharks and Panthers, and a bye, in their coming rounds. The Knights are three points back from the Milk and would need to probably go five-for-five from here, but still have Souths and Cronulla in their future. For their part Souths were hardly inspirational in their game against the Tigers.

Suddenly everyone is vulnerable and no one is certain. It speaks to the fact that the Raiders aren’t the only team trying to work through some confounding results. It’s a bit of a mess but in a world where there’s six teams going for four positions Canberra at least has a head start and winnable games.

But sheesh the flaws. It seems they won’t be solved this year. Most will suggest personnel changes in response, and they’re not wrong. There’s some issues that come from the make up of this side. But these are more reflective of trying to solve other problems with two-day old bandaids. A simple shift of names won’t change anything now – the things that need fixing are so endemic, so part of both the style and nature of this side that it feels naïve to think they’ll change now.

And that’s part of what makes this all feel so forlorn. Even if the Raiders do continually outrun their ghosts, even if they do manage to do overcome their biggest foe (themselves or their coach you decide) all it means is a likely one round trip to September and potentially another feather to fend off criticism or demands for improvement going into another year. It’d make you mad if it wasn’t the best we’ve had it in years. Maybe we deserve better. Maybe that’s in the pipeline. The possibility of tomorrow doesn’t help our present though.

For now though embrace the white knuckle ride. It should be terrifying fun to see if this sides bloody-minded best can overcome their insipid and flawed worst. At the very least it will make for an entertaining end to the season.

Do me a favour and like the page on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or share this on social media because Bruce is the coldest place in heaven. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.