There are twice as many people in the ACT as there are in Hobart, so why not look to Manuka Oval in future? It’s not as cold as Hobart at night (in summer), so at least it won’t look like the crowd is there for the winter olympics.

As a former tennis player said “you can’t be serious?”. England have been reasonably pathetic; it’s not the Aussies fault!

The Knights have the wood on the Raiders, even when the Green Machine are playing really well. We never seem to bother getting excited about the game until it’s too late.

The Knights have as much chance of success as the Raiders. Negligible.

It’s good to get something right. Unprecedented!

Get vaccinated you self absorbed nut.

Jos Buttler has been a fraction of his normal self this series. He usually has an enormous smile and is effervescent. He’s been trudging around and I hope going home will help him.

Sorry, I haven’t the time to read the article as Rugby League, the NRL anyway, is about as interesting to me as Rugby Union. I hate Union. Since there is very little likelihood of success for many teams in the NRL, as the best players all go to the same few clubs, fans like me are putting our once loved teams onto the backburner – like going “yah” if you hear they win, but not watching anymore.

I’ve been a Raiders Member for years, but I’ve divorced them, not because they can’t possibly win a GF, but because the NRL is happy to have a few (in racing parlance) Group 1 Teams, a few Group 2 Teams and the rest are Country/Provincial grade. The latter can come to town and win on occasion. If one of these players starts to look like a good prospect, it’s off to the Broncos or Roosters for them. The Raiders had a good year in 2016 – in 2019 they’ll have lost much of that talent, replaced by untried guys who try bloody hard. If the Roosters have a good year, they can add a couple of million dollar players. When a club has a Salary Cap controversy, do the good players go to the talent needy clubs – not likely.

The NRL is unfortunately reflecting life – it’s a bitch, and then you die. I’m not watching anymore.

Thanks to a frigid ride from Dom Tourneur in MR 1 on the hot fav Hucklebuck, I and many others now need to find some money to bet this afternoon. Hucklebuck was a certainty, the jock obviously thought so too. He sat in behind the leaders until it was too late to win. On big days like this, and particularly in Melbourne, there always seems to be a horse on all punters lips as a near cert. Trouble is, they seldom win. I loaded up on Hucklebuck (obviously), so that I’d have twice as much money to bet with for the day. Oops. I don’t mind losing, but I do mind it when a jockey with a lap-full of horse, holds it up so long that it needs to be Kingston Town to catch up. No doubt this horse will be $1.50 next time, and I doubt that Tourneur will be sitting on it. Doesn’t help much that I backed the winner last start…

Last Saturday John Kissick was on Riva de Lago which was a hot fav. At the 350m mark, he was last in a small field, but rather than pull the horse 5 wide (on a track that 24 horses can race side by side), he goes for a split between the outside horse and the one inside. Of course there’s no room, so for the next 250m he gets baulked for a run. When the dope finally pulls it out wide, it charges home and just misses the win. Had he pulled to the outside in the first place, he wins by 5 lengths. There are so many ways to lose, hard to accept the stupidity/overconfidence of these jockeys.

Slightly different topic, but why can’t all senior jockeys judge the pace of a race? How many times do you back a backmarker and the leaders pull up for most of the race and just sprint home? You may as well not have had a bet, cause you have no chance. I backed Dandino in the Caulfield Cup, and Williams was out ridden by a magnificent Hall ride – I don’t get upset with this as Williams allowed his horse plenty of room and was going for it for 500m, and Hall rode like he was Bossy on Makybe Diva. I did put a $100 on Fawkner, so it hurt less I suppose.

Epiquin, it is troubling that some of the least intelligent players are making a mockery of an allegedly intellectual NRL Commission.

That would be nice. Speaking about hate, I’m a little worried about Oikee, He hasn’t commented! No doom and gloom from him, letting us all know how bad the Broncos have it, and that the weather in Canberra has caused the Black Plague, Ebola and Dopey Dugan Syndrome. I hope he is well.

Ed, that would prove that nothing has changed. I hope you’re wrong!

She should be proud that any of her children have earned the right to play for their country. I’ve got two disabled kids, maybe she should shut up.

Oikee, many people like cold weather and dislike heat. If you live 100kms off the coast in sthn qld you’ll be bloody cold at night too. I doubt you could complete a passport application that would be legible, but if someone else did it for you, you’d find that there are vast, vast areas of this world that are colder. Go call Paris, London, DC etc etc cold, cause their cold is way colder than down here. Because it IS cold in Canberra, it justifies having central heating and wearing jackets etc, I freeze my balls off when we go to Sydney during winter as there are so many unheated places. And Canberra weather craps on Melbourne weather.

You’re a broken record.

Why do we need to talk about the Raiders any more, better to just forget the friggin season.

This doesn’t belong here, but Tony Milford is continually sticking it up the Raiders on social media. It’s obvious he wants to go home. He is starting to sound a lot like Carney, Dugan and Ferguson. Maybe Fergo has been a little nicer, in fact. Just bugger off and enjoy yourself up there. I’m not sure how you can be so mature when on the field and be so childish off it.

Oikee – you are a persistent bugger, and I apologise for being rude. You’re a one-eyed git, but I shouldn’t be rude to you.

Not sure a compliment from such a dubious source should make you feel too good!

Oikee, if it was anyone but you, the village idiot, I’d take exception to that.

Milford’s Dad is sick, there’s no doubt about that, but he was sick when Tony signed his last contract. He is an absolutely lovely young man and I’d love my daughter to go out with him BUT as Noddy confirmed last night, his home-sickness seemed to get unbearable after the Broncos spoke to him, and they shouldn’t be speaking to him at all. His contract provides for his Dad’s deterioration, and I don’t think that has happened. If it has, well and good and he can leave with my best wishes.

When my Mum and Dad died after long illnesses, I didn’t move towns to be with them, and there would only be hundreds of people in Australia that would be able to do that, although the vast majority would like to be able to do it. If his Dad deteriorates I’m sure his club would give him as much time off as he needs. I returned to work 3 days after my Mum died, and that’s pretty damn typical. When professional sports people’s parents/brothers/cousins die, it is quite normal for them to keep playing and dedicate their game to their lost loved one.

If this all sounds very unsympathetic, think of your workplace when something bad happens with loved ones. Your boss will no doubt give you all the time you need off, but how will he react if you say you’re leaving, and oh, I’m moving to the sunshine state and getting paid more money. If you’re on a contract, he will probably say – do what you like when the contract finishes, in the meantime take a bit of leave.

It is the real world, unfortunately.

Chris I don’t like the “Watch this space” ending – I’m already seeing headlines like “Milford leaves the coldest place on earth to be with his sick Dad”, or something like that!

I wish there was somewhere appropriate to say this, but there isn’t, so here it is – sorry.

Is the NRL going to stop the Broncos from getting into the ear of the many QLD born kids playing in southern teams, leading them to play the home-sick, compassion card? Yes the Bulldogs were nice guys and let Barba go, but the truth is his teammates wanted him gone, so it was an amicable split (unlike the one that appeared on Barba’s estranged lady’s lip earlier in the year).

We Raiders supporters are holding our breath to see if Milford is going “home” to the Broncos (who didn’t want him until he started looking like a star). Milford’s Dad had a heart attack 18 months ago, and it appears he’s improving rather than deteriorating. Milford’s contract was written so that he could return home if his Dad did deteriorate.

Milford signed this contract well after his Dad’s health problems. The real reason we are waiting is because the Broncos need play-makers and have gotten into the ear of young guys like Milford, and are sniffing around some other brilliant young kids we have supported for a third of their lives. Milford should not be in a position to tell his club or teammates what he’s doing next year – he has a contract with the Raiders so it shouldn’t be in question. Milford is a very decent young man, but it’s not hard to see how the “star” treatment effects these guys – just look at how Dugan and Ferguson behaved.

2013 has been a disgusting year for the Raiders, and it would be nice to see how the Milford situation is resolved today so we can get on with life. I speak for many Raiders supporters in saying that the sickness in our stomachs is increasing day by day and if it goes on much longer it would be better for everyone if a decision to leave were made right now, so that my team can consist of players who love the place the way I do.

Outstanding is way overboard in regard to the Broncos and Melbourne. The Broncos have had so many advantages over the years, it’s little wonder they won their share of titles. The Storm cheated and have had 3 of the best players of all time for the past ten years. These teams are undoubtedly very successful in terms of results, but how they got those results is in question when it comes to the Broncos and Melbourne, at least.

What a turn around for Manly – actually looking like a respectable club. They used to steal all of the good Wests players, and anyone else that could play. Maybe it’s the disgusting poaching behaviour of grubs like the Broncos that makes them look good in comparison. If they didn’t have Matai, B Stewart and Lyon they would be pretty lovable. Lyon is close to the best player in the world, but his bickering is painful. At least he has lots of ability, whereas Ennis and his whinging are not offset by any great ability to play footy.

He only had to wait out 8 more weeks and he could have left the Raiders with no contractual problems. It shows what an idiot he is, and/or how little respect he has for the club, his team mates and the NRL. He will get a smack across the knuckles in court, but he should serve out a year in the wilderness for the harm he did the game.

Dugan was let off very lightly and he keeps saying that he has “moved-on” and suggests we all do too. He can get f’d. He stuffed up my team for months and acted deplorably. He set a precedent for what other stupid people with loads of football ability can do. The NRL needs to man-up and make a precedent of Fergo. He broke his contract, just walked away from the support he had used up. He didn’t exactly help NSW either. It’s getting to the point where people who have supported the game for 46 years, like me, just don’t care any more. There is no justice, certain teams have too many stars while others have none, and the ones with one star are always at risk of losing them to the star-studded teams. Why bother?

Why do we have to wait till the Roosters sign Ferguson before the NRL will come up with a penalty for him? He did something wrong in breaking his contract, and that deserves a punishment. No successful business works the way the NRL does. He needs to sit out 2014, then join whoever gets the wooden spoon next year. He comes from Wellington, NSW so it’s no punishment to play for Parra or Wests etc.

My 24 yo daughter often says stuff like “I’ll do the dishes later” or “I’ll clean up later”. Her dopey parents say “thanks”. However, she NEVER does any house work.

Dugan painted for a few hours and dug a hole, but he got in the papers for doing it as he was a reformed man. That he was on $600,000 at the time, not mentioned. Now we’ve got to go through the same rubbish with Fergo. Rugby League is a working man’s game, so I can only imagine what real workers think of these idiots while they do very hard work, day in day out, for year after year, and for a fraction of what these bogans get. Do we need to see their disgraceful faces being highlighted in the papers as heroes or stars, when they are anything but?

Surely it’s racism if he gets stood down for a while and if he doesn’t make either the NSW or the Australian side. He has been victimised. Just ask Uncle.