Year in Review - Part IV of XVI

The task has come to me to write about the Green Machine - the Canberra Raiders. However, seeing as I know nothing of the current team and, due to the fact that by giving Carney the boot they haven't left me anything to write on, I'm going to wind the clock back 15 years to the glory days.

1994: Year of the Tool



Highlight: Almost too many highlights to mention... Fairytale finishes to the careers of Big Mal and Paul Osborne. Tim Sheens winning his 3rd grandfinal in 6 years. Noa Nadruku at his best, back before he started beating up women.

Lowlight: Tooley Daley's lack of passion in the changeroom after the game. He was at his explosive best in the post-match celebrations in 1989 but sadly this year he kept it in his pants. On a side note, there are strange things happening with the Tooley statues in Canberra. See this link for more info.

Most Valuable Player: Brett Mullins. This kid is going to do big things in the future... League Blog predicts he will score over 100 tries, and will go out with a fairytale finish of his own. Marty Bella gets an honorouble mention, because without his dropped catch on the opening kickoff of the Grand Final the game might have followed a different, albeit probably more satisfying, path.

Most Worthless Player: Brett Hetherington. Only guy in the team who doesn't have his own page on Wikipedia.

Telling statistic: The signs were there at the end of the regular season - Despite coming in at 3rd on the Premiership ladder, Canberra had the best attack (677 points), and 2nd best defence (conceding 298 points), to have the massive points differential of +379 points for the season, a feat that has only since been bettered by Parramatta in 2001.

Quotes that sum up their year:-
"Simply the Best" - Tina Turner made a successful return to League in 1994...
"Ricky Stuart and Laurie Daley are two of the most respected figures in the game, and I don't see that changing". Mal misreads the Trusty Steeden.

1995 Outlook: I predict 20 years pain in the future for Canberra. Followed by 20 more.