BY DAN

When Jamal Fogarty and Zac Hosking departed weeks after each other things were meant to fall apart for the Canberra Raiders. A couple of losses got bundled together and maybe for a second it definitely felt it would. But somehow going into their second bye the Canberra Raiders have stayed afloat, winning three of the five games since Fogarty went down and collecting eight competition points in the meantime. Now they have just four games (right?!) until Fogarty and Hosking are due to return.

That will occur on the other side of the second of two byes that start this week and end in round 18. That’s one of the reasons the victory against the Dolphins was so important (and remarkable). Canberra have ended their first ‘mini-season’ sitting in sixth position, with the same amount of victories as Redcliffe and the freaking Roosters and Broncos. They just added a victory over the 4th place team at their house to the resume, and while it was anything but clinical, nothing ever is with this team. We’d written before this little inter-bye period that the Milk needed to keep their heads above water. Achievement unlocked.

They’re doing an amazing job of red-lining themselves into victory. This time last year we’d worried the same thing about the club. Then it had felt like a cruel ceiling, like there was nothing more to this team that bumbling their way to victory. This team has already showed more than that this year, and without key functionaries keeping the good vibes going until they have all hands on deck has been the floor, not the ceiling. They are getting better, and they can make a quantum leap as personnel is re-inserted (ahem). Sorry to go all 90s on you, but that’s dope as fuck.

The games they’ve been winning have been in the monkey knife fight of the second tier. The Sea Eagles, Phins, Dogs, Raiders (really there’s a lot of teams here right now to the Titans at 14th) are all part of a tier below the contenders (Panthers, Broncos, Roosters, Storm, and Sharks….for now) jockeying for position. The Raiders have approached it like Rapana did the ball when he smashed into Jake Averillo (I think) last night and thieved a cluster of ‘four-point’ games out of sheer bloody-mindedness.

Now they get a rest, which is well-deserved, and then a real opportunity to press the advantage before Fogarty and Hosking return. Coming after the bye are the Cows (home), Tigers (away), Storm (away) and knights (home). Heading into the tail of the season with their heads above .500 with their main troops returning would be such a brilliant position to be in for this season.

And that doesn’t even account for the actual goal of this team of building something for the future. Ethan Strange and Kaeo Weekes keep proving that the investment in them is money well spent. Strange is here for a long time and we’ll be better for it. He’s still honing his craft as a ballplayer but he can already create space with his running game, and defensively varies somewhere between near air-tight and brutal (especially if you’re an opposition fullback fuckn lol). Each week Weekes is doing something that makes it seem more important to keep him around beyond his current contract (he’s on the market as of 1 November). I’m not sure on his role long term (short term he’ll be a backup half and probably a bit of fullback) but it just seems like they’ve found a first grade quality player. You can never have too many of those.

In the short term though they’ll need the rest. I’m sure there’s plenty of weary bodies. If there was ever a time to go double OT it’s when you have a bye following. Elliott Whitehead can’t keep this up forever. He noted he shouldn’t have even played on Saturday, which says a lot about him and about the lack of current depth at the position. He also says he’s touch-and-go for the Cows. Ata Mariota proved a capable fill-in backrower and offers a new weapon in his hit-and-offload ability on an edge. Simi Sasagi looked energetic late in the game, mixing dynamic runs with errors and lapses of discipline. Regardless, it’s a good warning shot though (as if they needed one) that Whitehead can’t carry the load in perpetuity. In this club we obey the laws of thermodynamics.

There’s still plenty they can improve over this bye period into the next little mini-season. A capacity for attacking football that involves two passes wide of the ruck would be a good place to start. Their ability to handle teams that can pull and tease their middle apart, forcing their edges to more than adequate is another. But that’s a problem for another week. Right now we’re still basking in the glow of Jordan ‘two-times’ Rapana.

So one mini-season is over, another is coming. Canberra have surfed one wave of misfortune and chaos and are sitting pretty. Another test awaits. One thing I’m sure of is that they’ll give it all they’ve got.

Like the page on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or share this on social media and I’ll tell you how I got a secret hangover and am busy trying to convince people I’m fine. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.