ROUND 20 Canberra Raiders v St George Illawarra Dragons
MONDAY:
Canberra Raiders v St George Illawarra Dragons at Canberra Stadium, 7:00pm
Raiders: Josh Dugan, Blake Ferguson, Danny Galea, Joel Thompson, Daniel Vidot, Josh McCrone, Sam Williams, Brett White, Alan Tongue (c), Dane Tilse, Joe Picker, Bronson Harrison, Shaun Fensom. Interchange: Glen Buttriss, Josh Miller, Trevor Thurling, Sam Mataora.
Dragons: Darius Boyd, Brett Morris, Mark Gasnier, Matt Cooper (c), Jason Nightingale, Jamie Soward, Nathan Fien, Dan Hunt, Kyle Stanley, Michael Weyman, Beau Scott, Ben Creagh, Matt Prior. Interchange: Adam Cuthbertson, Jon Green, Trent Merrin, Mitch Rein
St George Illawarra Dragons have not won in Canberra for 10 years
ALAN Tongue has no superstitions. No game-day rituals, either.
And having tossed coins every week now for years, well, there is hardly a freakish mathematical act left to surprise the Canberra captain.
"Five weeks of heads, tails ... it happens," Tongue said from his Canberra home yesterday. "It's why this whole thing about us and St George Illawarra, I certainly haven't mentioned it to the boys this week."
For those of you coming in late, this whole thing to which Tongue refers is the fact the Dragons - defending premiers, competition favourites and perennial hot shots right throughout the noughties - have not won in Canberra for 10 years and counting.
It's an incredible statistic. Think a two-up run of six, maybe seven consecutive heads.
But for this redheaded Raider, perhaps the Dragons' kryptonite when you consider his NRL debut came the very same year said hoodoo began, the unlikely run will not be mentioned in the sheds tonight.
"Honestly, it means nothing," Tongue continues. "Earlier this year someone in the media brought up how we hadn't beat the Roosters at the SFS in 16 years and, sure enough, we went up there and beat them.
"It happens. If anything, the fact someone has dug this up means the Dragons could now be coming down here with more motivation. We haven't spoken about it once but who knows? Maybe they have."
A quick check with Fox Sports Statistics shows that, like every other year, there have been a number of mathematical permutations broken in 2011.
Like Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens, who scored has first win over rival John Lang since 1994. His Tigers, too, beat the Roosters on Saturday night after dropping their past four to the Bondi Boys.
The Dragons, meanwhile, rectified their first jinx of the winter only last week - coming back to beat Cronulla after dropping their first encounter in round two.
The win represented the first time since 2006 that, in matches between these two Sydney rivals, the team that won the first local derby of the year didn't back up and win the second.
Yet no one has smashed hoodoos this year quite like the Raiders. A club which not only, for the first time since 1995, beat the Roosters at the SFS, but also upset Melbourne at home for the first time in a decade.
"And I guess the one thing I will say is that, for as long as I've played first grade, this has always been a club that's been able to rise for the big games," Tongue says.
"While we've lost to Melbourne away, we've always been competitive. And against teams like Brisbane and St George Illawarra particularly, we seem to have a decent record."
But is it, finally, about to change? A quick check of the Weather Channel over the past three days has shown the nation's capital to be enjoying the type of glorious winter sunshine that visiting clubs usually only dream about.
Wondering if, maybe, this could be an omen, we asked the Raiders skipper to yesterday have a quick look outside his kitchen window and give us a forecast.
"Ah, right now, looks ordinary to be honest," he laughs.
"Cold, overcast, drizzling rain. Exactly the conditions we're used to."