Woolford vows to quit chewing referee’s heads off

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greeneyed
Don Furner
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Woolford vows to quit chewing referee’s heads off

Post by greeneyed »

Summary of a story from today's Sun Herald:

Woolford vows to quit chewing *'s heads off

The days of the *'s referees receiving an ear bashing throughout Canberra matches are over.

The reason?

Simon Woolford is not longer Raiders captain.

Mild mannered custodian Clinton Schifcofske is the new skipper. From way down town at fullback, he’ll need a megaphone to do the amount of hollering previously done by Woolford, bless him.

If there was one thing the former captain gave the role it was his all, but from now his considerable energies will be devoted to his main job as hooker.

“The refs will love it” Woolford laughed. “But the bastards will be just waiting for me to give them a bit of lip so they can ping me this year. I’ll have to be on my best behaviour.”

Woolford wasn’t sacked as leader. He told Raiders coach Matthew Elliott he wanted to stand down.

“I let Matty know at the end of the season I didn’t want to do it this year and I’ve never once regretted making that decision” said Woolford, whose six-month absence from the Raiders ends this afternoon in a trial against the New Zealand Warriors.

“I couldn’t back the other day and *'s been six months since I played. It feels like a year. I’m getting towards the end of my career and I’ve done the captaincy for five years so I just thought it was time to worry about playing my best footy. To do that, I thought I should off load some responsibilities on and off the field. Jesus, it’ll be good to be playing again.”

*'s 2005 season ended prematurely with an eight-match ban for a dangerous throw. He would have returned had the Raiders made the finals. The Raiders watched the unfancied Wests Tigers win the grand final and thought if they could do it, anyone could.

â€*'s wide open this year” Woolford said. “We know we can have a really good year if we have a bit of luck and stay healthy. But we also know that if we get an injury toll like we did last year, we’ll be struggling again.”

“The Tigers have given everyone hope. They hardly had any of their players out injured at the end of the year. *'s a huge thing for every team. You can have the best team in the world but everything goes out the window if you’ve got 10 blokes on the sideline.”

The Raiders will again rely heavily on mesmeric five eighth Jason Smith.

Another veteran Jason Croker, is also a hard nut whose input will be crucial.

A whole heap of interest will centre on sacked Newcastle Knight Dane Tilse, who gets his chance for a fresh start.

Gains: Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (Broncos), Trevor Thurling (Bulldogs), Dane Tilse (Knights)

Losses: Ryan O’Hara (Tigers), Ben Cross (Storm), Ian Hindmarsh (Les Catalans), Michael Howell (Toulouse), Matt Adamson, Tyran Smith (retired)

Trials:

Raiders V Warriors, today, North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, 1pm
Raiders V Broncos, Saturday, February 18, Regional Sports Stadium, Port Macquarie, 7.30pm
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