Raiders defence on mend: Croker

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greeneyed
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Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by greeneyed »

Raiders defence on mend: Croker

LAST season Canberra’s defensive left edge came under fire, something centre Jarrod Croker says the club has spent the pre-season trying to fix.

The smallest of their two edges, Croker and halfback Sam Williams often found themselves on the worse end of a bad read or missed tackle which led to a leakage of points of the Raiders.

The Raiders conceded 109 tries last season, the equal most by any club in the NRL last season.

Suffering 18 losses and finishing only above the wooden spooners Gold Coast, Croker says defence has been a focal point in the Raiders' preparation for 2012.

“This year one of our main goals as a club is our defence,” Croker told sportsnewsfirst.com.au.

“Last year we weren’t as good as we should have been but this season as a group we’ve drawn a standard and that’s the standard we are going to meet.

“We are definitely working as an edge to improve on last year but that’s one of the main goals as a whole club this year.”

The Raiders spent the end of last season undergoing a dramatic review through all levels of the football club.

With the recommendations from the club’s high performance review in full swing, the club has restructured the NRL coaching staff to better cater for the new direction of the high performance environment.

Croker, 21, who is entering into his fourth season of first grade, said from a playing perspective it was all about improving.

“We’ve always been a well coached, well drilled team but I think it’s just about upping the standard this year,” he said.

“The young fellas have really stepped it up a notch and fitness wise everyone’s doing well.

“I think everyone’s upped the ante a bit and working together a lot more.

“It’s more about going to that next level of your game, that’s the main thing we’ve been working on.”

In keeping in the theme of improving, the Raiders goal kicker has been busy practising his kicks from touch in order to better his chances in adding the additional points for the club this year.

“I try to have at least two good kicking sessions a week,” he said.

“You’re always rusty coming back from a break, I spoke to Darryl Halligan and you don’t want to let it get on your nerves too much.

“Before Christmas I wasn’t doing too much but really upping the ante now and getting back to that end of 2010 where I was kicking that mid 80 per centers is another goal.

“I want to get my kicking percentage back up I think that dropped off last year and went with the rest of my game I suppose.”

Croker will miss Canberra's opening trial match in Albury against Melbourne on Saturday with a jarred knee.

Croker is expected to be fit in time for the second trial against Canterbury in Wagga Wagga on February 18.

http://www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au/artic ... nd-croker/
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Rodman »

4th season and still only 21 years old...crazy.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Raidersrawesome »

Rodman wrote:4th season and still only 21 years old...crazy.

Its easy to forget he is only 21
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Seiffert82 »

Raidersrawesome wrote:
Rodman wrote:4th season and still only 21 years old...crazy.

Its easy to forget he is only 21
Yet according to some Sydney "journos" he's at the crossroads of his career.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Raidersrawesome »

Seiffert82 wrote:
Raidersrawesome wrote:
Rodman wrote:4th season and still only 21 years old...crazy.

Its easy to forget he is only 21
Yet according to some Sydney "journos" he's at the crossroads of his career.
Use that word loosely
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Seiffert82 »

Raidersrawesome wrote:
Seiffert82 wrote:
Raidersrawesome wrote:
Rodman wrote:4th season and still only 21 years old...crazy.

Its easy to forget he is only 21
Yet according to some Sydney "journos" he's at the crossroads of his career.
Use that word loosely
Yeah, just couldn't think of any other (non-expletive) word to use unfortunately.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Nick »

Crokers got another 10-12 years in the game
If he remains injury free and stays in the NRL his entire career, he could well end up one of the most capped players of all time.

He's a FG quality centre with the upside of a rep star. His defense suffered last year as it did with most of the team because Dugan missed over half the season, Campese, our best wide defender played 8 minutes, Harrison who defends out wide also had his worst year in grade and our 2nd best wide defender, joe picker had an up and down year.

His defense will improve again this year and given he will be getting quality service from one of the games elite play makers again, i expect his attacking game to be a marked improvement on last year too.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Aero »

The other thing I hope Croker has worked on over the off season is on how to pass the ball. I hope who ever plays in our centres knows that's its alright to pass the ball to their wingers, and that setting up the winger to break the defensive line is just as good as breaking the defensive line themselves.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by dubby »

Aero Croker can pass and pass well, but like the other centre last year (JT who also has a penchant for not passing) they were at the mercy of poor halves who gave the outside men no room and ran them across field.

If Croker or JT passed the ball to the winger, the winger would be over the sidelines in an instant.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by bonehead »

Dubs there were countless times in 11 where RR and Ferguson were unmarked and the 2 ballhog centres went themselves - they need a kick in the pants for that.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Aero »

dubby wrote:Aero Croker can pass and pass well, but like the other centre last year (JT who also has a penchant for not passing) they were at the mercy of poor halves who gave the outside men no room and ran them across field.

If Croker or JT passed the ball to the winger, the winger would be over the sidelines in an instant.
The thing that frustrated me about our centres last year was seeing them hog the ball when the winger was open, so it wasnt just the result of getting poor opportunities from our halves. I remember well in previous seasons, Croker would help set up Graham for breaks or tries down the side, and JT used to do the same for Vidot when JT first started at centre.

I just hope they (our centres) have been practicing how to draw the defenders then passing, as it was something they seemed to have forgotten how to do last season.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Green_Hammock »

dubby wrote:Aero Croker can pass and pass well, but like the other centre last year (JT who also has a penchant for not passing) they were at the mercy of poor halves who gave the outside men no room and ran them across field.

If Croker or JT passed the ball to the winger, the winger would be over the sidelines in an instant.
Opportunities were limited but when the winger was open it was extremely rare for one of them to pass to the winger.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by dubby »

Lime Warrior wrote:Dubs there were countless times in 11 where RR and Ferguson were unmarked and the 2 ballhog centres went themselves - they need a kick in the pants for that.
I disagree the times were "countless".

Probably felt that way seeing as our wingers were hardly getting any ball.
The spiral of silence refers to the idea that when people fail to speak, the price of speaking rises. As the price to speak rises, still fewer speak out, which further causes the price to rise, so that fewer people yet will speak out, until a whole culture or nation is silenced. This is what happened in Germany.

If you do not speak, you are not being neutral, but are contributing to the success of the thing you refuse to name and condemn.
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Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by -GD- »

There was definitely one time on Saturday night we created numbers and Thompson only had to pass to Robbo and he would have been away, but as he did last year he put the head down and took on the winger, got tackled and the chance went missing.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by dubby »

I honestly think JT was a much worse ball hog than Croker
The spiral of silence refers to the idea that when people fail to speak, the price of speaking rises. As the price to speak rises, still fewer speak out, which further causes the price to rise, so that fewer people yet will speak out, until a whole culture or nation is silenced. This is what happened in Germany.

If you do not speak, you are not being neutral, but are contributing to the success of the thing you refuse to name and condemn.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Aero »

dubby wrote:I honestly think JT was a much worse ball hog than Croker
I agree with that, but JT was also breaking the line on his own more than Croker was when they both started to ball hog..

Last year though, both werent passing nor breaking the line on their own.. so not good for the team over all.

I dont mind them trying to take on the line themselves from time to time, but I hope they do pass the ball from time to time as well. At the very least, if they do both during the game, it'll put defenders in two minds on what to do.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by yeh raiders »

The real ball hogs were the players not getting enough ball to our centres in the first place... attrocious, schoolboy attack last season.
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Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by BJ »

I agree that passing to the wingers more often will actually improve their chances of breaking tackles when they do run themselves. I think some teams knew that our centers were unlikely to pass so could compress the defensive line.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Scribbler »

These problems are a result of a team that is not confident and looses it's vision in attack. When you hold the ball tight and run directly forward without considering your options you reveal that you are stressed and concerned more about not making a mistake rather than creating opportunities to score.

Hopefully the return of key players from injury this year will restore the confidence of our centers and wingers, hopefully giving them more vision in attack aside from just not dropping the football.

Croker has a bright future if he improves his defence and general awareness on the field. I hope he has a better season this year.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by pete »

Let's hope croker puts his body infront of attackers this year instead of the weak scared looking defence he did constantly last year.
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by -PJ- »

pete wrote:Let's hope croker puts his body infront of attackers this year instead of the weak scared looking defence he did constantly last year.
he'll be fine Pete, mad dog has retired..... :thumbsup :thumbsup
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by Rodman »

This 'learn how to pass the ball' stuff is a bit of a beat up IMO.

Our centres last year were two young guys (one playing out of position) who have probably beaten their opponent one-on-one all throughout their junior footballing lives. Given that they weren't getting quality ball at any time last year, it's no surprise that they wanted to make the most of it. Croker is still learning how to play his position at the highest level and with what is hopefully going to be a much attacking structure and execution, I'm sure he will take the next step and add more facets to his game.

This is another reason why Berrigan makes a perfectly viable option at centre, particularly inside Fergo (top try scorer for next season - book it).
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Re: Raiders defence on mend: Croker

Post by pete »

Ahh berrigan i rate him.
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