BY DAN

The Canberra Raiders are in possession of something rare and precious: a second chance.

Last weekend was one of the most chaotic, soul-sucking experiences of my sporting life. The scenes heaved and dissipated from a surreal environment like a distorted movie. I felt faint. I felt elated. As Ben Hunt’s field goal bounced off the upright and through our hearts, I felt empty, without hope or feeling, just ready to sit down and wait for fate to turn me to dust.

And I was just watching.

I cannot imagine what that must have felt like on the field. To have it in the bag three times. On their way to the preliminary final, only to have it ripped away by a series of unfortunate events each more confusing and confounding than the last. A year’s work seemingly veering from triumph to disaster like a car losing its wheels in the rain, hands wrenching at the steering wheel in a vain attempt to find the road. It was all paying off, until it was all for nothing.

Normally in events like this it’s game over, man. The loss has to be processed, and dealt with. No escape, nothing to do but go away, lick your wounds and hope you can find redemption in some far flung future. The Broncos have spent two years chasing the same thing, and they’re still not at the point where they can call it redemption.

But Canberra have a rare gift because of the circumstance in which their disaster occurred. A win this weekend and they’re essentially back at the same spot. Having redemption so close to catastrophe breathes air back into lungs that nearly collapsed in the vacuum of Sunday’s disaster.

They have the opportunity, but taking it will be another thing. If there’s anyone that revels in the idea of being written off it’s Coach Stuart. He reportedly created quite the stir with his speech at the Mal Meninga awards, and it can hopefully create the energy needed to climb the mountain again. The players have been clear in their desire to get out and have another crack. Joe Tapine and Tom Starling have shown their leadership. Jamal Fogarty has been accountable for what went wrong. And Corey Horsburgh probably put it best in his comments today:

I feel like we’ve been ready since the loss. The boys have been in good spirits…we can’t wait to play

That is oxygen to our lungs. Getting up after last Sunday shouldn’t be a problem, believing in themselves if they hit quicksand is the actual issue. There will be a moment on Saturday night they will have to choose right where last week they chose wrong. The lessons will have to stick.

But football isn’t played in memory alone. If the battle with themselves is one thing, the challenge on the field may be even tougher. Like the Broncos, the Sharks have a pack that can compete with the Raiders. Like the Broncos, they have a left side attack that can use second-rowers running inside the shoulders on the halfback to take advantage of Jamal Fogarty’s lack of lateral quickness. Unlike the Broncos they don’t have the pace and skill in their fullback to make the Raiders pay, but they do have a back five just as crazy as anything the Raiders have to offer. If you were hoping it got easier from here I’m not sure I can help you with that.

Maybe in a game this close what matters is the team more desperate. The Sharks have appeared quite bolshie this week, revelling in perceived slights and lack of faith of people outside the four walls of Shark Park. They felt their victory over the Roosters proved something unseen by the greater commentariat. Are they satisfied? Or have they entered full “nobody believes in us” siege mentality? Will that be the edge they need?

Or will Canberra’s opportunity for redemption, chance to right the wrongs and turn last week into a lesson instead of a nightmare, be theirs? As Fogarty told the Canberra Times:

We should have kept them out and iced the game, but that’s rugby league. The best thing is our season is still alive, and we get another opportunity on Saturday.

Second chances rarely come this quickly. But getting them is one thing. What you do with it is what matters. Hope this time we can still breathe after.

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