2021 Canberra Raiders Cup: Round 3 Preview
Round 3 of the Canberra Raiders Cup is headlined by the top of the table clash between the Blues and Bulldogs at Seiffert on Saturday, while the game between the Bushrangers and Magpies at Walker Park will be the live stream feature match of the weekend.
Queanbeyan Blues v Goulburn Bulldogs
The Queanbeyan Blues and Goulburn Bulldogs have a share of the competition lead after two rounds - and now face off at Seiffert Oval. The Blues had a big, 40-6 win over the Yass Magpies in their last outing, with fullback Matt Parsons, centre Cyprian Ale and winger George Morseau all picking up doubles. Coach Terry Campese was missing from the playing field due to injury, but experienced hooker Josh Mitchell led the way. Big wins over the Belconnen United Sharks and the Magpies in the opening rounds have seen the Blues take first place on the ladder, due to points differential. But they now face a tougher assignment against the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs produced a solid 44-30 victory over the Queanbeyan Kangaroos at Goulburn Arena in Round 2. Hooker Ryan Griffin led the way for the home side, scoring back to back tries inside the opening 12 minutes. The Roos struck back through their own hooker, Jesse Dent, on the back of a couple of penalties - reducing the gap to six points. In the 23rd minute, Goulburn five eighth Thomas Croker was put perfectly into a gap by dummy half Griffin for a four pointer. Five minutes later, Roos half Sione Vuki kept the visitors in the game, converting his own try. But tries to bench forward Jack Peppernell and centre Isaac Walker delivered an imposing 28-12 lead to Goulburn.
Five minutes into the second half, Bulldogs winger Dom Stephens took an intercept and ran 30 metres to score - extending the lead to 20 points. From there it was always going to be difficult for the Kangaroos to come back - but they kept trying to until the end. A crash ball put Roos prop Zachary Noble over under the posts in the 50th minute. But two tries in the space of five minutes - to a flying fullback, Max Flack, and Thomas Croker - saw the Bulldogs take a 44-18 lead with just under 20 minutes remaining. Late Kangaroos tries to Jesse Dent and winger Temple Rupapera were too little, too late.
This should be a good test for both teams, but we'll tip the Blues at home in this one.
Season record: Blues 2 and 0 (1st, +74)
Bulldogs 2 and 0 (3rd, +22)
Form: Blues WW
Bulls WW
Attacking record: Blues 46, Bulldogs 36 points scored per match
Defensive record: Blues 9, Bulldogs 25 points conceded per match
Yass Magpies V Tuggeranong Bushrangers
The Magpies host the Bushrangers at Walker Park for their first home game of the season. They had a big loss to the Blues in their season opener last week, with their only try, to hooker David Barrie, coming late in the game. They will be keen to make amends in front of their home crowd this week.
"It's going to be a tough match, they've got some big boys," Magpies captain Willie Peace said this week.
"We know we're not the biggest team in the comp but what we lack in size we’re happy to make up for in other areas. Hopefully we get the ball rolling this week in executing our game plan."
"Yass is a pretty tight knit community so everyone gets around the team and the club. If anything I think we've got a lot more support this year."
"We're expecting a big crowd of local supporters coming out to support the boys so fingers crossed we can get the result for the team and the club."
The Bushrangers had an impressive win over the Kangaroos in Round 1. However, they suffered a 26-22 loss to the Woden Valley Rams in a very tight affair at Phillip last weekend. Niu Mariota again impressed for the Bushies, scoring a try, while five eighth Wez Alexander-McCarthy got himself a double.
"We got a bad result last week, we lost in a few effort areas that we are not happy about," Bushrangers second rower Jacob McGrath said this week.
"It's all been about making up for those one percenters, that’s where we failed last weekend. It'll be a good battle, it's always tough going out to Yass."
Expect the Bushrangers to be too strong in this clash.
Season record: Magpies 0 and 1 (7th, -34)
Bushrangers 1 and 1 (4th, +20)
Form: Magpies BL
Bushrangers WL
Attacking record: Magpies 6, Bushrangers 29 points scored per match
Defensive record: Magpies 40, Bushrangers 19 points conceded per match
Woden Valley Rams V Queanbeyan Kangaroos
After recording their first win of the season against the Bushrangers in Round 2, the Woden Valley Rams are again at home this week - and will host the winless Queanbeyan Kangaroos. The Rams had a 10 point loss to the Gungahlin Bulls in their season opener, but just managed to get over the top of their southern rivals last weekend. The Rams led 26-18 with just a minute left on the clock, before Wez Alexander-McCarthy crossed for his second try of the afternoon. And despite the Bushrangers having one final shot at scoring, the Rams managed to hold on. Halfback Brayden Robertson steered his team around well, while centres Aiden Agnew and Lachlan Eveston scored doubles. The Kangaroos have had some injury problems and effort has certainly not been a problem in their opening matches. They've looked good at stages, but have been conceding too many points. We'll tip the Rams at home in this one.
Season record: Rams 1 and 1 (5th, -6)
Kangaroos 0 and 2 (8th, -38)
Form: Rams LW
Kangaroos LL
Attacking record: Rams 24, Kangaroos 21 points scored per match
Defensive record: Rams 27, Kangaroos 40 points conceded per match
Gungahlin Bulls V West Belconnen Warriors
After making the CRRL Grand Final in 2020, the Gungahlin Bulls have got off to a good start in 2021. They have a share of the competition lead after wins over the Rams and the Sharks. Last weekend, the Sharks put up a good effort, but the Bulls were ultimately too strong in the final stages.
The Bulls led 28-16 with around 10 minutes left on the clock, before a try to Sharks winger PK Amponn-Nyamekye saw the gap narrow to just six points. But late tries to Jordan Williams and winger Todd Sherd sealed it for Gungahlin. In the end, the score line probably did not reflect the closeness of the contest. The Williams trio, Tre, Jordan and Jack, again orchestrated proceedings for the Bulls.
The West Belconnen Warriors had the bye last weekend, after falling to the Bulldogs at Goulburn in Round 1. They'll want to get themselves on the winners' list for the first time when they travel to Gungahlin on Saturday. Given the form of the Bulls, however, I'll tip Gungahlin to continue on their winning ways.
Season record: Bulls 2 and 0 (2nd, +26)
Warriors 0 and 1 (6th, -8)
Form: Bulls WW
Warriors LB
Attacking record: Bulls 36, Warriors 20 points scored per match
Defensive record: Bulls 23, Warriors 28 points conceded per match
The Greenhouse will again be going around the grounds to cover the Canberra Raiders Cup matches whenever we can this season. Watch for our coverage on @TheGHRaiders on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, while we also provide live scores on Twitter via @CanberraCup.
Round 3
Saturday 24 April
Yass Magpies V Tuggeranong Bushrangers, Walker Park, 3:00pm *
Live stream:
Woden Valley Rams V Queanbeyan Kangaroos, Phillip Oval, 3:00pm
Live stream:
Queanbeyan Blues v Goulburn Bulldogs, Seiffert Oval, 3:00pm
Live stream:
Gungahlin Bulls V West Belconnen Warriors, Gungahlin Enclosed, 3:00pm
Live stream:
BYE Belconnen Sharks
* Free live stream via BarTVSports.com.au and the CRRL Facebook page.
Canberra Raiders Cup teams: https://www.raiders.com.au/siteassets/c ... ee-crc.pdf
PODCAST: Rub of the Green: Tuggeranong Bushrangers vice-captain Brent Neil and Yass Magpies first grade assistant coach Josh Hardy:
https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2021/04 ... ode-three/
VIDEO: Round 3 preview:
https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2021/04 ... -preview2/
Round 2 McIntyre Medal votes
Belconnen United Sharks v Gungahlin Bulls
3 Jordan Williams, Gungahlin Bulls - 3 points
2 Tre Holten-Williams, Gungahlin Bulls - 2 points
1 Manase Kaho, Belconnen United Sharks
Woden Valley Rams v Tuggeranong Bushrangers
3 Brayden Robertson, Woden Valley Rams
2 Niu Mariota, Tuggeranong Bushrangers
1 Aidan Agnew, Woden Valley Rams
Queanbeyan Blues v Yass Magpies
3 Cristiano Manuolevao, Queanbeyan Blues
2 Josh Mitchell, Queanbeyan Blues
1 David Barrie, Yass Magpies
Goulburn Bulldogs v Queanbeyan Kangaroos
3 Jesse Martin, Goulburn Bulldogs
2 Tyson Greenwood, Goulburn Bulldogs
1 Jayden Baxter, Queanbeyan Kangaroos
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