If you want the Canberra Raiders to win a game at home, just tell them to go and move their training camp away from the nation’s capital, and they will win – as that is exactly what happened this week, with the Raiders winning 28-12 over the Brisbane Broncos.
With the Raiders struggling at home this season in past games, they took their midweek camp across the border to Eagle Hawk in NSW, before catching a bus back into the nation’s capital.
It did the trick, as the Raiders treated the game like it was an away game, with the home win just the Raiders seventh, in their last 21 home games.
With their abysmal home record there for all to see this year, captain David Shillington said the club had no problems in pretending it was an away game.
“Sometimes it’s just a mental thing,” he said.
“You go away, you’re in that football-prepared frame of mind.
“You’re hydrating, you’re hanging out with your teammates, you’re thinking about footy, you’re preparing the right way.
“It’s been working for us going away … so it was worth a try doing it for a home game.
“We rocked up with a great attitude today.”
To compound matters for the Broncos, their top player from the game in Alex Glenn, went off with an injury shortly after scoring his second try.
Anthony Griffin, the Broncos coach had a simple solution to his side’s run of losses – they are down on confidence.
“We just killed ourselves in the middle of that second half,” he said.