Through green eyes 2018
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Re: Through green eyes 2018
Currently in Bathurst having about to have dinner on way to Mudgee. Decent singer playing covers although his acoustic version of Pink’s long gone wasn’t that acoustic. Meat raffles are done but still no dinner!!
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Not going to pop into Carrington Park to reminisce about the heartbreak.
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- John Ferguson
- Posts: 2383
- Joined: March 31, 2018, 9:30 pm
Re: Through green eyes 2018
GE, I understand what your saying with playing at country venue’s but now more than ever it’s important we get more NRL games into the country area’s. Myself, who played originally in Group 16, then to Group 9 the junior numbers in those area’s are currently dying and losing the battle to AFL and soccer! The CRL will soon merge with NSWRL, hence the Country will not have as much representation as it has now and unless there is more done to support the country area’s the game will continue to struggle and will affect the NRL in the long run.
Anyway, photo’s look great. Looking forward to seeing more photo’s through out the weekend
Anyway, photo’s look great. Looking forward to seeing more photo’s through out the weekend
Re: Through green eyes 2018
LastRaider, I think that is a very good point. Playing these games in regional centres is important for maintaining the interest in the game.
If NRL is only something that kids from those areas see on tv then NRL is not only competing with AFL and soccer but it is competing with NBA basketball, European soccer etc which are also available on tv to these kids.
Also what I don’t get is GE pushes for RL to be a big sport and for government money to flow. One of the big reasons facilities such as Mudgee are being built is on a promise of NRL games coming to these centres. I doubt the council here would have built this facility only for group 10 rugby league.
On the subject of taking the Raiders to these venues being disrespectful, the reality is the crowds at games in Sydney when Sydney clubs play the Raiders are lower than when they play other Sydney clubs so we will always be candidates to play in these games. I think we actually like playing in these country venues and it allows us to fulfil some commitments to the country without actually taking a game away from Canberra.
If NRL is only something that kids from those areas see on tv then NRL is not only competing with AFL and soccer but it is competing with NBA basketball, European soccer etc which are also available on tv to these kids.
Also what I don’t get is GE pushes for RL to be a big sport and for government money to flow. One of the big reasons facilities such as Mudgee are being built is on a promise of NRL games coming to these centres. I doubt the council here would have built this facility only for group 10 rugby league.
On the subject of taking the Raiders to these venues being disrespectful, the reality is the crowds at games in Sydney when Sydney clubs play the Raiders are lower than when they play other Sydney clubs so we will always be candidates to play in these games. I think we actually like playing in these country venues and it allows us to fulfil some commitments to the country without actually taking a game away from Canberra.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
GE, Always lots of Red and White in Mudgee. The local team is the Mudgee Dragons who compete in Group 10. Glen Willow is their home ground.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
mmmm Mudgee reds and whites......RedRaider wrote:GE, Always lots of Red and White in Mudgee. The local team is the Mudgee Dragons who compete in Group 10. Glen Willow is their home ground.
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Edrick The Entertainer
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Through green eyes: As I saw it
"We won’t improve as a football team until we start consistently learning how to close out those games that are tight. We don’t consistently do it well enough... We put ourselves in so many positions to win games this season so far and we haven’t. That is frustrating, like it was last week. I sound like a broken record every week, we work on it, we talk about it, we’re not doing it.“
Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart
Round 11 2018. St George Illawarra Dragons 25 - Canberra Raiders 18. It was frustrating. Intensely frustrating. The Raiders and Dragons both scored three tries. But it was again a case of the Raiders making critical errors, conceding too many penalties at just the wrong time, which cost them the match. The Dragons, meanwhile, were simply too professional.
The Raiders scored two tries to one in the first half, and were really the better team. They led 10-6 with three minutes to half time. But a high tackle from Josh Papalii... and a shoulder charge from Joe Tapine as the siren sounded... gifted the Dragons two quick penalty goals. Canberra should have gone to the break with a lead, but instead it was 10 apiece. Unfortunately the Tapine shoulder charge was also put on report, which could produce a suspension, given he has 90 carry over points.
In the second half, some Raiders fans have been calling foul about some critical calls in the lead up to Jordan Rapana’s sin binning. First, Nick Cotric kicked ahead with 21 minutes remaining, and Jason Nightingale pushed him off his line in the chase. It was at least close to a try scoring situation, but not even a penalty was given... and a penalty was probably deserved. The Raiders led by 18-16 at the time... but the momentum swung quickly in the next set. The Dragons went the length of the field, with Jordan Rapana pushing aside Nene McDonald in similar circumstances. The referee went to the bunker for a possible penalty try... which was turned down, but Rapana was sent to the bin for 10 minutes. The calls were clearly inconsistent, in my view.
However, I don’t think the refereeing was the difference in the match. The Raiders have for too long had a culture of blaming bad refereeing calls. Ricky Stuart certainly wasn’t blaming the refereeing for the loss after this game. The bottom line is that teams have to be better than the refereeing calls, whatever they are. The Raiders had their chances in the final 20 minutes to win, but they didn’t make the right choices.
The Raiders produced some great defence with Rapana off the field. But with just one minute to survive with 12 men, the Raiders conceded a penalty after trapping the Dragons in their own red zone... and some Matt Dufty individual brilliance saw the Dragons go six points up. Canberra was gassed in the final 10 minutes, and everything they tried produced errors. And the Dragons professionally put it out of reach with a Gareth Widdop field goal at the death.
Stats that mattered? The Dragons had a 54 per cent share of possession. The Raiders completed at 77 per cent compared with 72 per cent for the Dragons, with the Dragons making 11 errors to nine for the Raiders. However, Canberra conceded 13 penalties compared with 10 for the Dragons. The Dragons made more runs (168-148) and made many more metres with the ball in hand (1708m-1351). The Raiders made more line breaks (5-4) and offloads (11-10), but fewer tackle breaks (30-36). Canberra had to make more tackles (343-295), with the Raiders missing more (36-30) and making more ineffective tackles (21-17).
Memorable moments? The Dragons scored two memorable tries, the first to Widdop and a second to Dufty. But enough of them! In the 18th minute, Joey Leilua scored an extraordinary try, with the gates simply opening wide open for him. It seemed like there must have been some obstruction. The Dragons all stopped dead in their tracks, arms in the air. But the defenders simply made a poor read, aiming to tackle Blake Austin, who had already offloaded to Leilua. The try of the match for the Raiders came with 25 minutes remaining. Jack Wighton defused a bomb in goal and took the quick 20m tap, before offloading to Jarrod Croker. Croker drew a penalty and Rapana took another quick tap - and went straight through the middle of the Dragons. Try under the posts. It gave the Raiders the lead, but sadly they could not protect it.
Best performers?
Josh Papalii. 19 runs for 179 metres, two tackle breaks, one offload, 29 tackles.
Nick Cotric. 14 runs for 136 metres, eight tackle breaks, two line breaks, three tackles.
Joe Tapine. 12 runs for 80 metres, three tackle breaks, two offloads, 40 tackles.
Top tacklers: Joe Tapine 40, Siliva Havili 36, Elliott Whitehead 30
Most metres gained: Josh Papalii 179, Jordan Rapana 167, Nick Cotric 136
My player ratings:
Jack Wighton 6
Nick Cotric 7
Jarrod Croker 6
Joey Leilua 7
Jordan Rapana 6
Blake Austin 5
Aidan Sezer 5
Sia Soliola 5
Siliva Havili 6
Charlie Gubb 4
Joe Tapine 7
Elliott Whitehead 6
Josh Papalii 7
Shannon Boyd 5
Ata Hingano 4
Luke Bateman 6
Dunamis Lui 5
Do you agree or disagree with the ratings? Let us know!
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"We won’t improve as a football team until we start consistently learning how to close out those games that are tight. We don’t consistently do it well enough... We put ourselves in so many positions to win games this season so far and we haven’t. That is frustrating, like it was last week. I sound like a broken record every week, we work on it, we talk about it, we’re not doing it.“
Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart
Round 11 2018. St George Illawarra Dragons 25 - Canberra Raiders 18. It was frustrating. Intensely frustrating. The Raiders and Dragons both scored three tries. But it was again a case of the Raiders making critical errors, conceding too many penalties at just the wrong time, which cost them the match. The Dragons, meanwhile, were simply too professional.
The Raiders scored two tries to one in the first half, and were really the better team. They led 10-6 with three minutes to half time. But a high tackle from Josh Papalii... and a shoulder charge from Joe Tapine as the siren sounded... gifted the Dragons two quick penalty goals. Canberra should have gone to the break with a lead, but instead it was 10 apiece. Unfortunately the Tapine shoulder charge was also put on report, which could produce a suspension, given he has 90 carry over points.
In the second half, some Raiders fans have been calling foul about some critical calls in the lead up to Jordan Rapana’s sin binning. First, Nick Cotric kicked ahead with 21 minutes remaining, and Jason Nightingale pushed him off his line in the chase. It was at least close to a try scoring situation, but not even a penalty was given... and a penalty was probably deserved. The Raiders led by 18-16 at the time... but the momentum swung quickly in the next set. The Dragons went the length of the field, with Jordan Rapana pushing aside Nene McDonald in similar circumstances. The referee went to the bunker for a possible penalty try... which was turned down, but Rapana was sent to the bin for 10 minutes. The calls were clearly inconsistent, in my view.
However, I don’t think the refereeing was the difference in the match. The Raiders have for too long had a culture of blaming bad refereeing calls. Ricky Stuart certainly wasn’t blaming the refereeing for the loss after this game. The bottom line is that teams have to be better than the refereeing calls, whatever they are. The Raiders had their chances in the final 20 minutes to win, but they didn’t make the right choices.
The Raiders produced some great defence with Rapana off the field. But with just one minute to survive with 12 men, the Raiders conceded a penalty after trapping the Dragons in their own red zone... and some Matt Dufty individual brilliance saw the Dragons go six points up. Canberra was gassed in the final 10 minutes, and everything they tried produced errors. And the Dragons professionally put it out of reach with a Gareth Widdop field goal at the death.
Stats that mattered? The Dragons had a 54 per cent share of possession. The Raiders completed at 77 per cent compared with 72 per cent for the Dragons, with the Dragons making 11 errors to nine for the Raiders. However, Canberra conceded 13 penalties compared with 10 for the Dragons. The Dragons made more runs (168-148) and made many more metres with the ball in hand (1708m-1351). The Raiders made more line breaks (5-4) and offloads (11-10), but fewer tackle breaks (30-36). Canberra had to make more tackles (343-295), with the Raiders missing more (36-30) and making more ineffective tackles (21-17).
Memorable moments? The Dragons scored two memorable tries, the first to Widdop and a second to Dufty. But enough of them! In the 18th minute, Joey Leilua scored an extraordinary try, with the gates simply opening wide open for him. It seemed like there must have been some obstruction. The Dragons all stopped dead in their tracks, arms in the air. But the defenders simply made a poor read, aiming to tackle Blake Austin, who had already offloaded to Leilua. The try of the match for the Raiders came with 25 minutes remaining. Jack Wighton defused a bomb in goal and took the quick 20m tap, before offloading to Jarrod Croker. Croker drew a penalty and Rapana took another quick tap - and went straight through the middle of the Dragons. Try under the posts. It gave the Raiders the lead, but sadly they could not protect it.
Best performers?
Josh Papalii. 19 runs for 179 metres, two tackle breaks, one offload, 29 tackles.
Nick Cotric. 14 runs for 136 metres, eight tackle breaks, two line breaks, three tackles.
Joe Tapine. 12 runs for 80 metres, three tackle breaks, two offloads, 40 tackles.
Top tacklers: Joe Tapine 40, Siliva Havili 36, Elliott Whitehead 30
Most metres gained: Josh Papalii 179, Jordan Rapana 167, Nick Cotric 136
My player ratings:
Jack Wighton 6
Nick Cotric 7
Jarrod Croker 6
Joey Leilua 7
Jordan Rapana 6
Blake Austin 5
Aidan Sezer 5
Sia Soliola 5
Siliva Havili 6
Charlie Gubb 4
Joe Tapine 7
Elliott Whitehead 6
Josh Papalii 7
Shannon Boyd 5
Ata Hingano 4
Luke Bateman 6
Dunamis Lui 5
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Re: Through green eyes 2018
Good write up as always.
I was impressed with Austin’s defence but if you want to see why I have been critical of Austin look no further than the Widdop try.
Austin is actually closer to Dufty than Widdop is initially and Widdop runs past him to get in a position to support. Austin lazily jogs back as Dufty eventually puts the kick in for Widdop to collect for the try.
Players like Tapine, Cotric and Croker consistently show more desperation in our side and I can guarantee a player like Thurston is sprinting back to contest that ball.
I like Blake and I think he still has the skills to be a very solid player - but he needs to get efforts like that out of his game.
I was impressed with Austin’s defence but if you want to see why I have been critical of Austin look no further than the Widdop try.
Austin is actually closer to Dufty than Widdop is initially and Widdop runs past him to get in a position to support. Austin lazily jogs back as Dufty eventually puts the kick in for Widdop to collect for the try.
Players like Tapine, Cotric and Croker consistently show more desperation in our side and I can guarantee a player like Thurston is sprinting back to contest that ball.
I like Blake and I think he still has the skills to be a very solid player - but he needs to get efforts like that out of his game.
Last edited by TongueFTW on May 21, 2018, 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
I rated Blake Austin's one on one tackles, but that didn't make up for the three critical errors.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
All good, agree with the rating - was just mentioning the play because I thought it was a good example of the sort of “effort play” that he sometimes doesn’t make.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Absolutely, those three tackles on Sims... were great.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
100%. Not too happy with a defensive structure that requires a half to make them 3 times in a game though!
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- John Ferguson
- Posts: 2383
- Joined: March 31, 2018, 9:30 pm
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Agree with your ratings GE. I’m really rating Papilii’s effort at the moment. Putting in the work finally
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Through green eyes: As I saw it
"We were penalised out of that game in the first 20 minutes and they scored two tries through soft defence... We gave them a lot of footy in the second half and we defended very well. From a coach's point of view, the courage and the will to win and the never say die attitude - that's what's in the green jumper."“
Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart
Round 12 2018. Canberra Raiders 21-Manly Sea Eagles 20. Finally! Finally, the Raiders were the team that came from behind, to win a close contest in the final five minutes. Finally the Raiders were the team inflicting heartbreak on the opposition. And finally, there was some payback for the two golden point losses suffered at the hands of the Sea Eagles in 2017... not to mention the thrashing at Brookvale earlier this year.
There were stages in the match when the Raiders played poorly, very poorly. Canberra produced a horror start, conceding two of the easiest tries you’ll ever see. The defence was simply diabolical on the goal line. At one stage in the first half, Aidan Sezer conceded a penalty in front of the posts - and two points - simply because a line drop out was not taken before the shot clock expired.
Then with 20 minutes remaining, Sea Eagles five eighth Trent Hodkinson was sent to the sin bin, the Raiders trailing but just two points. Not only did the Raiders fail to score while playing 12 men, but they conceded a try to Sea Eagles centre Brian Kelly. It was the second time in the game that Manly had successfully exploited the gap between Blake Austin and Joey Leilua.
Following that, the Raiders went into self destruct mode. They repeatedly turned over possession to the Sea Eagles: a dropped ball from Elliott Whitehead, a wayward off load from Leilua, a forward pass from Aidan Sezer, Sezer dislodged of the ball in a tackle. With five minutes remaining, Trent Hodkinson was in perfect position to pot a field goal... which would have taken the visitors’ lead out to seven. It would have been a match winning lead - but it sprayed wide of the posts.
And then just one minute later, there was some finally some joy for the Green Machine. Jack Wighton to Nick Cotric... Cotric kicked ahead... and Wighton brilliantly backed up for four points. Jarrod Croker’s conversion from the sideline levelled the match, 20-20.
With less than two minutes on the clock, a Sezer kick to the corner was mishandled by by Tom Trbojevic - and while it seemed for a moment that Nick Cotric had sensationally scored the winning try - the Manly fullback had first made the ball dead in goal. Trbojevic’s initial knock on in the field of play gave the Raiders a scrum feed 10 metres out - and set up the winning field goal from Sezer with just seconds left. It was not the best of field goals, but it went over, and that was the most important thing. Sezer had been the villain more than once during the match... but he had turned from villain to hero.
Stats that mattered? The Sea Eagles had 52 per cent possession, but had only 32 sets, compared with 36 for the Raiders. In addition, the Raiders had a better completion rate (81 per cent, 78 per cent for the Sea Eagles) and conceded fewer penalties (Raiders eight, Sea Eagles 12). The error count was similar, Canberra making one more than the Sea Eagles (8-7).
The Sea Eagles made slightly fewer runs (140-145) but made more metres with the ball in hand (1335m-1201m). Canberra made more kicking metres (342m-249m). Both teams produced four line breaks, while the Raiders made more offloads (8-5). Canberra had to make more tackles (301-276), with the Raiders missing more (27-23).
Memorable moments? It’s impossible to go past the extraordinary try, goal and wonky field goal in the final four minutes as the most memorable events of the match. But there are some other moments that shouldn’t be forgotten. How about the two tries to Nick Cotric in the first half? They were almost carbon copies of each other, the result of quick, quality passing along the backline. Cotric had a blinder and will have done his chances of Origin selection no harm. In defence, Joey Leilua deserves mention... with tackles twice taking the opposition over the sideline in the red zone.
Best performers?
Nick Cotric. Two tries, 11 runs for 88 metres, one try assist, two tackle breaks, three line breaks, three tackles, 39 kicking metres.
Jack Wighton. One try, 17 runs for 159 metres, one try assist, one line break assist, five tackle breaks, three tackles, 52 kicking metres.
Josh Papalii. 13 runs for 120 metres, two tackle breaks, 36 tackles.
Top tacklers: Siliva Havili 39, Elliott Whitehead 37, Josh Papalii 36
Most metres gained: Jack Wighton 159, Josh Papalii 120, Jordan Rapana 100
My player ratings:
Jack Wighton 8
Nick Cotric 8
Jarrod Croker 6
Joey Leilua 6
Jordan Rapana 7
Blake Austin 6
Aidan Sezer 5
Dunamis Lui 6
Siliva Havili 7
Shannon Boyd 6
Josh Papalii 8
Elliott Whitehead 6
Sia Soliola 6
Ata Hingano dnp
Luke Bateman 6
Charlie Gubb 3
Liam Knight 4
Do you agree or disagree with the ratings? Let us know!
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"We were penalised out of that game in the first 20 minutes and they scored two tries through soft defence... We gave them a lot of footy in the second half and we defended very well. From a coach's point of view, the courage and the will to win and the never say die attitude - that's what's in the green jumper."“
Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart
Round 12 2018. Canberra Raiders 21-Manly Sea Eagles 20. Finally! Finally, the Raiders were the team that came from behind, to win a close contest in the final five minutes. Finally the Raiders were the team inflicting heartbreak on the opposition. And finally, there was some payback for the two golden point losses suffered at the hands of the Sea Eagles in 2017... not to mention the thrashing at Brookvale earlier this year.
There were stages in the match when the Raiders played poorly, very poorly. Canberra produced a horror start, conceding two of the easiest tries you’ll ever see. The defence was simply diabolical on the goal line. At one stage in the first half, Aidan Sezer conceded a penalty in front of the posts - and two points - simply because a line drop out was not taken before the shot clock expired.
Then with 20 minutes remaining, Sea Eagles five eighth Trent Hodkinson was sent to the sin bin, the Raiders trailing but just two points. Not only did the Raiders fail to score while playing 12 men, but they conceded a try to Sea Eagles centre Brian Kelly. It was the second time in the game that Manly had successfully exploited the gap between Blake Austin and Joey Leilua.
Following that, the Raiders went into self destruct mode. They repeatedly turned over possession to the Sea Eagles: a dropped ball from Elliott Whitehead, a wayward off load from Leilua, a forward pass from Aidan Sezer, Sezer dislodged of the ball in a tackle. With five minutes remaining, Trent Hodkinson was in perfect position to pot a field goal... which would have taken the visitors’ lead out to seven. It would have been a match winning lead - but it sprayed wide of the posts.
And then just one minute later, there was some finally some joy for the Green Machine. Jack Wighton to Nick Cotric... Cotric kicked ahead... and Wighton brilliantly backed up for four points. Jarrod Croker’s conversion from the sideline levelled the match, 20-20.
With less than two minutes on the clock, a Sezer kick to the corner was mishandled by by Tom Trbojevic - and while it seemed for a moment that Nick Cotric had sensationally scored the winning try - the Manly fullback had first made the ball dead in goal. Trbojevic’s initial knock on in the field of play gave the Raiders a scrum feed 10 metres out - and set up the winning field goal from Sezer with just seconds left. It was not the best of field goals, but it went over, and that was the most important thing. Sezer had been the villain more than once during the match... but he had turned from villain to hero.
Stats that mattered? The Sea Eagles had 52 per cent possession, but had only 32 sets, compared with 36 for the Raiders. In addition, the Raiders had a better completion rate (81 per cent, 78 per cent for the Sea Eagles) and conceded fewer penalties (Raiders eight, Sea Eagles 12). The error count was similar, Canberra making one more than the Sea Eagles (8-7).
The Sea Eagles made slightly fewer runs (140-145) but made more metres with the ball in hand (1335m-1201m). Canberra made more kicking metres (342m-249m). Both teams produced four line breaks, while the Raiders made more offloads (8-5). Canberra had to make more tackles (301-276), with the Raiders missing more (27-23).
Memorable moments? It’s impossible to go past the extraordinary try, goal and wonky field goal in the final four minutes as the most memorable events of the match. But there are some other moments that shouldn’t be forgotten. How about the two tries to Nick Cotric in the first half? They were almost carbon copies of each other, the result of quick, quality passing along the backline. Cotric had a blinder and will have done his chances of Origin selection no harm. In defence, Joey Leilua deserves mention... with tackles twice taking the opposition over the sideline in the red zone.
Best performers?
Nick Cotric. Two tries, 11 runs for 88 metres, one try assist, two tackle breaks, three line breaks, three tackles, 39 kicking metres.
Jack Wighton. One try, 17 runs for 159 metres, one try assist, one line break assist, five tackle breaks, three tackles, 52 kicking metres.
Josh Papalii. 13 runs for 120 metres, two tackle breaks, 36 tackles.
Top tacklers: Siliva Havili 39, Elliott Whitehead 37, Josh Papalii 36
Most metres gained: Jack Wighton 159, Josh Papalii 120, Jordan Rapana 100
My player ratings:
Jack Wighton 8
Nick Cotric 8
Jarrod Croker 6
Joey Leilua 6
Jordan Rapana 7
Blake Austin 6
Aidan Sezer 5
Dunamis Lui 6
Siliva Havili 7
Shannon Boyd 6
Josh Papalii 8
Elliott Whitehead 6
Sia Soliola 6
Ata Hingano dnp
Luke Bateman 6
Charlie Gubb 3
Liam Knight 4
Do you agree or disagree with the ratings? Let us know!
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- John Ferguson
- Posts: 2383
- Joined: March 31, 2018, 9:30 pm
Through green eyes 2018
It’s a shame about Lui. Getting a run on spot for the first time, he just didn’t fire like he has in the past few games. A 6 is fair.
Papilii continues to impress at Lock. Makes us wonder why he wasn’t there at the beginning of the season. We all know how devastating he has been at Origin playing in the middle.
Wighton, Cotric, Rapana and Leiluia, I would hate to think where we would be with out them... They ruck the ball out every set in our zone, support the big guys by following them up the middle and then cut defenses a part on the edges. It feels like they carry us week in week out.
Also Havilii playing 80 minutes was a big part of our success this week. He keeps the team composed from the play the ball and always gives consistent service from dummy half. His dummy half runs to are always challenging the defence. Unfortunately Hingano just isn’t working when he comes on and the team becomes frantic when he is on, it was a good choice to not play him last night. The bench in general was lacking umpth for us in this game. Ratings are fair
Papilii continues to impress at Lock. Makes us wonder why he wasn’t there at the beginning of the season. We all know how devastating he has been at Origin playing in the middle.
Wighton, Cotric, Rapana and Leiluia, I would hate to think where we would be with out them... They ruck the ball out every set in our zone, support the big guys by following them up the middle and then cut defenses a part on the edges. It feels like they carry us week in week out.
Also Havilii playing 80 minutes was a big part of our success this week. He keeps the team composed from the play the ball and always gives consistent service from dummy half. His dummy half runs to are always challenging the defence. Unfortunately Hingano just isn’t working when he comes on and the team becomes frantic when he is on, it was a good choice to not play him last night. The bench in general was lacking umpth for us in this game. Ratings are fair
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Lui was okay early but that phase where we just had no ball took the sting out of him
Re: Through green eyes 2018
GE, I think you are a bit generous with Austin. The tries to Thompson and Kelly were in large part due to his poor defensive reads and application. I know he is playing busted due to his ankle, but if he is going to play then he will be judged like every other player. You have also rated Jarrod Croker a 6 and he did not let in two tries. I agree with your Croker and other ratings.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
I think he was one point generous for both of the halves.RedRaider wrote:GE, I think you are a bit generous with Austin. The tries to Thompson and Kelly were in large part due to his poor defensive reads and application. I know he is playing busted due to his ankle, but if he is going to play then he will be judged like every other player. You have also rated Jarrod Croker a 6 and he did not let in two tries. I agree with your Croker and other ratings.
Last minute field goals not withstanding, they were diabolical.
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Son, we live in a world that has forums, and those forums have to be guarded by Mods. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Nickman? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Lucy, and you curse GE. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know -- that GE’s moderation, while tragic, probably saved lives; and my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, keeps threads on track and under the appropriately sized, highlighted green headings.
You want moderation because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that forum -- you need me on that forum. We use words like "stay on topic," "use the appropriate forum," "please delete." We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very moderation that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather that you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you get a green handle and edit a post. Either way, I don't give a DAMN what you think about moderation.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Through green eyes: Mid term report card
We’re now at the halfway mark of the 2018 season... and it’s been a rough ride for the Canberra Raiders and their fans.
The season started with three heart breaking, close losses. Late in each game, the Raiders were in a position to win... but Canberra buckled in the final minutes, Bathurst style. Canberra lost by only two points or less in those opening three games... less than a converted try in aggregate... to teams they really should have beaten. Canberra was in a position to win against the Dragons in Mudgee as well, but the Raiders faded in the final 20 minutes.
Things could be worse. A 5 and 7 record in the first half of the season sees the Raiders placed 10th on the ladder... with a positive points differential of one solitary point. They’re still in striking distance of the top eight.
But the fact that two teams above the Raiders on the competition table have a negative points differential (the Warriors in fifth with -2 and the Broncos in ninth with -32) just highlights how costly those close losses have been. Those four matches are the difference between running 10th and running first, at present.
The five victories have come against the five teams at the foot of the ladder. Remarkably, that list includes the North Queensland Cowboys and the Parramatta Eels - both widely expectedly to finish top four. To win in Townsville was certainly a red letter day. And it was great to win a close one in the dying stages against the Sea Eagles at home last Friday. But it is still a sobering fact that the Raiders have yet to win against a top eight team this season. And nine of the Raiders’ remaining 12 matches are against teams currently placed in the top eight, with only two games against teams below them on the ladder. They must play the first placed Panthers twice, as well as top four teams, the Rabbitohs and the Sharks.
So things aren’t going to get any easier in the second half of the year. In 2017, 13 wins was the cut off for the top eight. In general, teams need at least a 50 per cent win rate to make the finals... though the Titans managed to sneak in with just 11 wins in 2016. It means the Raiders need to win eight of those 12 matches, maybe one less, just to be sure of making the eight. It’s a big ask. Hopefully, they can do it.
****
So what do the statistics from the first half of the year tell us?
First of all, the attack is not bad. The Raiders average 3.6 tries per match, equal third in the league, behind only the Rabbitohs and the Dragons. Points scored per match is not quite so good, with the Raiders ranked sixth in the league (averaging 21.8 points per match). That’s partly because the Raiders’ goal kicking success rate ranks eighth in the NRL (78 per cent), but it also due to the fact that some teams are taking more shots at penalty goal this year. For example, the Dragons have taken 27 shots at penalty goal and the Panthers 22, while the Raiders have attempted just 13. The teams at the top have clearly taken advantage of the refereeing crack down on illegal play in the red zone - by “taking the two” when offered.
The Raiders aren’t scoring a lot of tries because they make a lot of running metres. They average 1301 running metres per match from 145 runs, 13th in the NRL. The Dragons, Rabbitohs and Panthers all average more than 1400 metres gained per game. In addition, Canberra has the lowest kick return metres in the league (just 50 metres on average per game). Canberra doesn’t kick much either... and are third lowest in the NRL for kicking metres (364 metres per match) and forced line drop outs (under one per game).
The Raiders score tries through the sheer brilliance of the outside backs. Canberra ranks second for tackle breaks (30 per match, behind the Dragons with 32) and line breaks (five per game, behind the Rabbitohs with sixth). Nick Cotric (13), Jordan Rapana (10) and Jarrod Croker (seven) lead the way for the club with line breaks, while Cotric (68), Rapana (50), Joey Leilua (38) and Jack Wighton (29) lead in tackle breaks. Cotric ranks first in the NRL in both categories.
The Raiders also create opportunities from their dummy half running - producing more than any other team, at an average of 15 per game. Jordan Rapana alone makes five per game (third in the league behind Damien Cook and Issac Luke).
The Raiders have aimed to rein in the speculative passes that produced such spectacular results in 2016... but far too many errors in 2017. The Raiders are not a team that passes a lot. They rank 13th in the NRL for general play passes (87 per match, compared with 117 per match from the Rabbitohs). However, they still rank seventh in the NRL for offloads (10.3 per game).
So Ricky Stuart would probably be hoping for a better completion rate than 76 per cent this season (ninth in the league) - though that’s not too far behind the benchmark teams on 78 per cent. He’d probably be hoping for an improvement in discipline as well. Canberra receives almost 10 penalties per match (fourth highest in the NRL)... but they concede just as many (third highest in the NRL).
Canberra’s biggest problem, though, continues to be its defence. The Raiders rank 11th for least points conceded (21.8 points per match) and 12th for fewest tries conceded (3.4 points per match). The Panthers are the benchmark team, conceding just 14 points per game. The Tigers, Storm, Roosters and Dragons also concede 16 points per game or less. That’s the mark that has proven to win premierships in previous years.
The Raiders give up too many metres, conceding 1420 running metres to the opposition on average per game (fourth worst in the NRL). They rank fifth for most line breaks conceded (4.3 per game) and fifth for most offloads conceded (10.1 per game). Canberra ranks eighth for fewest missed tackles. Blake Austin and Joey Leilua continues to be targeted by opposition offences, with both producing 10 try causes so far this season. There are some big names with worse numbers... Valentine Holmes and Tom Trbojevic to mention two. But how they combine in defence is something they’ll need to keep working on.
And the bottom line is this. Until the Raiders fix their defence, they won’t be a real contender. And that’s the area where most improvement is needed in the second half of the season.
The other area where improvement is needed is game management. In all those close losses, the playmakers did not stand up to calmly control proceedings. It will help, massively, to have Josh Hodgson return from his ACL injury. Siliva Havili has stood in admirably at hooker in his absence. But Hodgson, at his peak, is one of the best hookers in rugby league. You can’t easily replace that.
Hodgson will take time to get back in the groove when he does return, and he will need support from the halves. At their best Aidan Sezer and Blake Austin can be damaging players. Sezer has 14 total try involvements so far this year, Blake Austin 10. That’s not up with the top halves, but that’s in, or close, to the top 10 players in those positions. So I think they are sometimes harshly criticised. But if the Raiders are to get those seven or eight wins, they will need to produce more consistent performances.
MID TERM REPORT CARD
Attack: B
Defence: C
Forwards: C
Backs: B
Spine: C
Overall: C
Best forwards: Joe Tapine, Josh Papalii
Best backs: Jordan Rapana, Nick Cotric
Best spine player: Jack Wighton
****
Every week I rate the Raiders players on a scale of 0-10... and here are the total points and average points per match after the win over the Sea Eagles:
Total points after Round 12:
Jordan Rapana 79
Elliott Whitehead 78
Nick Cotric 78
Siliva Havili 78
Shannon Boyd 77
Joey Leilua 77
Iosia Soliola 75
Josh Papalii 74
Jarrod Croker 73
Jack Wighton 72
Luke Bateman 70
Dunamis Lui 69
Aidan Sezer 67
Joseph Tapine 61
Blake Austin 58
Junior Paulo 56
Sam Williams 27
Ata Hingano 27
Charlie Gubb 16
Liam Knight 12
Michael Oldfield 3
Average points per match after Round 12:
Joseph Tapine 6.8
Josh Papalii 6.7
Jordan Rapana 6.6
Nick Cotric 6.5
Elliott Whitehead 6.5
Siliva Havili 6.5
Jack Wighton 6.5
Joey Leilua 6.4
Shannon Boyd 6.4
Iosia Soliola 6.3
Junior Paulo 6.2
Jarrod Croker 6.1
Blake Austin 5.8
Dunamis Lui 5.8
Luke Bateman 5.8
Aidan Sezer 5.6
Sam Williams 5.4
Charlie Gubb 4.0
Liam Knight 4.0
Ata Hingano 3.4
Michael Oldfield 3.0
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We’re now at the halfway mark of the 2018 season... and it’s been a rough ride for the Canberra Raiders and their fans.
The season started with three heart breaking, close losses. Late in each game, the Raiders were in a position to win... but Canberra buckled in the final minutes, Bathurst style. Canberra lost by only two points or less in those opening three games... less than a converted try in aggregate... to teams they really should have beaten. Canberra was in a position to win against the Dragons in Mudgee as well, but the Raiders faded in the final 20 minutes.
Things could be worse. A 5 and 7 record in the first half of the season sees the Raiders placed 10th on the ladder... with a positive points differential of one solitary point. They’re still in striking distance of the top eight.
But the fact that two teams above the Raiders on the competition table have a negative points differential (the Warriors in fifth with -2 and the Broncos in ninth with -32) just highlights how costly those close losses have been. Those four matches are the difference between running 10th and running first, at present.
The five victories have come against the five teams at the foot of the ladder. Remarkably, that list includes the North Queensland Cowboys and the Parramatta Eels - both widely expectedly to finish top four. To win in Townsville was certainly a red letter day. And it was great to win a close one in the dying stages against the Sea Eagles at home last Friday. But it is still a sobering fact that the Raiders have yet to win against a top eight team this season. And nine of the Raiders’ remaining 12 matches are against teams currently placed in the top eight, with only two games against teams below them on the ladder. They must play the first placed Panthers twice, as well as top four teams, the Rabbitohs and the Sharks.
So things aren’t going to get any easier in the second half of the year. In 2017, 13 wins was the cut off for the top eight. In general, teams need at least a 50 per cent win rate to make the finals... though the Titans managed to sneak in with just 11 wins in 2016. It means the Raiders need to win eight of those 12 matches, maybe one less, just to be sure of making the eight. It’s a big ask. Hopefully, they can do it.
****
So what do the statistics from the first half of the year tell us?
First of all, the attack is not bad. The Raiders average 3.6 tries per match, equal third in the league, behind only the Rabbitohs and the Dragons. Points scored per match is not quite so good, with the Raiders ranked sixth in the league (averaging 21.8 points per match). That’s partly because the Raiders’ goal kicking success rate ranks eighth in the NRL (78 per cent), but it also due to the fact that some teams are taking more shots at penalty goal this year. For example, the Dragons have taken 27 shots at penalty goal and the Panthers 22, while the Raiders have attempted just 13. The teams at the top have clearly taken advantage of the refereeing crack down on illegal play in the red zone - by “taking the two” when offered.
The Raiders aren’t scoring a lot of tries because they make a lot of running metres. They average 1301 running metres per match from 145 runs, 13th in the NRL. The Dragons, Rabbitohs and Panthers all average more than 1400 metres gained per game. In addition, Canberra has the lowest kick return metres in the league (just 50 metres on average per game). Canberra doesn’t kick much either... and are third lowest in the NRL for kicking metres (364 metres per match) and forced line drop outs (under one per game).
The Raiders score tries through the sheer brilliance of the outside backs. Canberra ranks second for tackle breaks (30 per match, behind the Dragons with 32) and line breaks (five per game, behind the Rabbitohs with sixth). Nick Cotric (13), Jordan Rapana (10) and Jarrod Croker (seven) lead the way for the club with line breaks, while Cotric (68), Rapana (50), Joey Leilua (38) and Jack Wighton (29) lead in tackle breaks. Cotric ranks first in the NRL in both categories.
The Raiders also create opportunities from their dummy half running - producing more than any other team, at an average of 15 per game. Jordan Rapana alone makes five per game (third in the league behind Damien Cook and Issac Luke).
The Raiders have aimed to rein in the speculative passes that produced such spectacular results in 2016... but far too many errors in 2017. The Raiders are not a team that passes a lot. They rank 13th in the NRL for general play passes (87 per match, compared with 117 per match from the Rabbitohs). However, they still rank seventh in the NRL for offloads (10.3 per game).
So Ricky Stuart would probably be hoping for a better completion rate than 76 per cent this season (ninth in the league) - though that’s not too far behind the benchmark teams on 78 per cent. He’d probably be hoping for an improvement in discipline as well. Canberra receives almost 10 penalties per match (fourth highest in the NRL)... but they concede just as many (third highest in the NRL).
Canberra’s biggest problem, though, continues to be its defence. The Raiders rank 11th for least points conceded (21.8 points per match) and 12th for fewest tries conceded (3.4 points per match). The Panthers are the benchmark team, conceding just 14 points per game. The Tigers, Storm, Roosters and Dragons also concede 16 points per game or less. That’s the mark that has proven to win premierships in previous years.
The Raiders give up too many metres, conceding 1420 running metres to the opposition on average per game (fourth worst in the NRL). They rank fifth for most line breaks conceded (4.3 per game) and fifth for most offloads conceded (10.1 per game). Canberra ranks eighth for fewest missed tackles. Blake Austin and Joey Leilua continues to be targeted by opposition offences, with both producing 10 try causes so far this season. There are some big names with worse numbers... Valentine Holmes and Tom Trbojevic to mention two. But how they combine in defence is something they’ll need to keep working on.
And the bottom line is this. Until the Raiders fix their defence, they won’t be a real contender. And that’s the area where most improvement is needed in the second half of the season.
The other area where improvement is needed is game management. In all those close losses, the playmakers did not stand up to calmly control proceedings. It will help, massively, to have Josh Hodgson return from his ACL injury. Siliva Havili has stood in admirably at hooker in his absence. But Hodgson, at his peak, is one of the best hookers in rugby league. You can’t easily replace that.
Hodgson will take time to get back in the groove when he does return, and he will need support from the halves. At their best Aidan Sezer and Blake Austin can be damaging players. Sezer has 14 total try involvements so far this year, Blake Austin 10. That’s not up with the top halves, but that’s in, or close, to the top 10 players in those positions. So I think they are sometimes harshly criticised. But if the Raiders are to get those seven or eight wins, they will need to produce more consistent performances.
MID TERM REPORT CARD
Attack: B
Defence: C
Forwards: C
Backs: B
Spine: C
Overall: C
Best forwards: Joe Tapine, Josh Papalii
Best backs: Jordan Rapana, Nick Cotric
Best spine player: Jack Wighton
****
Every week I rate the Raiders players on a scale of 0-10... and here are the total points and average points per match after the win over the Sea Eagles:
Total points after Round 12:
Jordan Rapana 79
Elliott Whitehead 78
Nick Cotric 78
Siliva Havili 78
Shannon Boyd 77
Joey Leilua 77
Iosia Soliola 75
Josh Papalii 74
Jarrod Croker 73
Jack Wighton 72
Luke Bateman 70
Dunamis Lui 69
Aidan Sezer 67
Joseph Tapine 61
Blake Austin 58
Junior Paulo 56
Sam Williams 27
Ata Hingano 27
Charlie Gubb 16
Liam Knight 12
Michael Oldfield 3
Average points per match after Round 12:
Joseph Tapine 6.8
Josh Papalii 6.7
Jordan Rapana 6.6
Nick Cotric 6.5
Elliott Whitehead 6.5
Siliva Havili 6.5
Jack Wighton 6.5
Joey Leilua 6.4
Shannon Boyd 6.4
Iosia Soliola 6.3
Junior Paulo 6.2
Jarrod Croker 6.1
Blake Austin 5.8
Dunamis Lui 5.8
Luke Bateman 5.8
Aidan Sezer 5.6
Sam Williams 5.4
Charlie Gubb 4.0
Liam Knight 4.0
Ata Hingano 3.4
Michael Oldfield 3.0
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- reptar
- Laurie Daley
- Posts: 16058
- Joined: January 25, 2005, 9:24 pm
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- Location: Brisbane
Re: Through green eyes 2018
I give an E - failure to win at least 50%
Gina Riley: Oh, come on, John. That’s a bit old hat, the corrupt IOC delegate.
John Clarke: Old hat? Gina, in the scientific world when they see that something is happening again and again and again, repeatedly, they don’t call it old hat. They call it a pattern.
John Clarke: Old hat? Gina, in the scientific world when they see that something is happening again and again and again, repeatedly, they don’t call it old hat. They call it a pattern.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
I rate on a scale of A to D. And there are six worse teams...
- -PJ-
- Mal Meninga
- Posts: 24834
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- Favourite Player: Josh Papalii
- Location: 416.9 km from GIO Stadium
Re: Through green eyes 2018
There's no way the boys deserve an E.
The coach says we've been damn unlucky(Tits,Knights,Warriors)
And we threw away games against Crudnulla and St Merge.
That's another 10pts on top of the 10pts we already have.
That puts us in the top 4 easy...and cruising.
Ricky says A+
Just unlucky mate...
3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment..Old Faithful
#emptythetank
#emptythetank
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Yes, Yes and More Yes to this GE. We are not a 'tough to beat' side because our defence is SOFT. We are top 4 in terms of tries scored so I would give us an A for attack. But the stats above tell the story. We are a D in defence. Until we are a top 5 defensive side in terms of tries conceded (these sides have won the grand finals for the past 10 years) we will continue to watch on in September and October. Great write up GE you are in sublime form.greeneyed wrote: ↑May 31, 2018, 6:54 pm Through green eyes: Mid term report card
So what do the statistics from the first half of the year tell us?
Canberra’s biggest problem, though, continues to be its defence. The Raiders rank 11th for least points conceded (21.8 points per match) and 12th for fewest tries conceded (3.4 points per match). The Panthers are the benchmark team, conceding just 14 points per game. The Tigers, Storm, Roosters and Dragons also concede 16 points per game or less. That’s the mark that has proven to win premierships in previous years.
The Raiders give up too many metres, conceding 1420 running metres to the opposition on average per game (fourth worst in the NRL). They rank fifth for most line breaks conceded (4.3 per game) and fifth for most offloads conceded (10.1 per game). Canberra ranks eighth for fewest missed tackles. Blake Austin and Joey Leilua continues to be targeted by opposition offences, with both producing 10 try causes so far this season. There are some big names with worse numbers... Valentine Holmes and Tom Trbojevic to mention two. But how they combine in defence is something they’ll need to keep working on.
And the bottom line is this. Until the Raiders fix their defence, they won’t be a real contender. And that’s the area where most improvement is needed in the second half of the season.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Just so you know GE. I rate the bottom 6 sides in tries conceded a D. The next two outside the 8 a C. The sides 5-8 a B. Top 4 an A.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
My ratings are four groupings of four, which is why I rated the defence a C. I rated the attack a B, because of the total pointscoring tally.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Fair enough GE. I am more specific about try scoring when defining a sides attack or defence.
In 21st century football a bottom six defensive side is not going to be a threat imo. Unless a side hits a hot patch of form leading into the finals then I don't give such sides much of a chance of progressing far into the finals. Sides need to have the defence sorted long before the finals. What they do under pressure and fatigue then becomes 'muscle memory' which the sides with good defensive records produce most weeks. The Raiders however ... I'll call it a laissez faire defensive style. Inconsistent from week to week. Eg Austin v St.George and Austin v Manly or most of the last couple of years.
In 21st century football a bottom six defensive side is not going to be a threat imo. Unless a side hits a hot patch of form leading into the finals then I don't give such sides much of a chance of progressing far into the finals. Sides need to have the defence sorted long before the finals. What they do under pressure and fatigue then becomes 'muscle memory' which the sides with good defensive records produce most weeks. The Raiders however ... I'll call it a laissez faire defensive style. Inconsistent from week to week. Eg Austin v St.George and Austin v Manly or most of the last couple of years.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Through green eyes: As I saw it
”We didn’t throw it away... We shouldn't have even been in the game if you look at the statistics, if you have a look at the stats it shouldn't have even been that close... No one threw the game away. That was such a tough performance, I was so proud of the performance. I'm not looking at us throwing the game away again. They're leading the comp and no team has scored a try against them the last two weeks.
I’ve got a halfback on the wing, I’ve got a backrower right centre, I’ve lost my centre the first couple of minutes of the game. I've got Junior Paulo out, I've got Hodgson out, I've got Tapine out. It's one of our best performances of the year against the team that's meant to be the best. If I walk off unhappy with that I shouldn’t be coaching.”
Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart
Round 14 2018. Penrith Panthers 23 - Canberra Raiders 22. It was more heart break for the Canberra Raiders and their fans. For the fourth time this year, the Raiders surrendered a lead in the final five minutes... and lost by two points or less.
The match was a bizarre one. The Raiders faced considerable adversity during the game, losing both Joey Leilua and Jordan Rapana to injury. Canberra was forced to produce a makeshift right flank mid-match. The refereeing was obtrusive, no let’s face it, it was poor. And it produced huge momentum for both sides at different stages of the game. The Raiders’ error rate was simply dreadful. So it was remarkable that Canberra led 20-10 with 20 minutes remaining.
The Raiders also generated three additional try scoring opportunities in the first half, that were missed - despite the lack of ball.
But there’s also no avoiding this fact. With the match on the line, the Raiders’ playmakers, the Raiders’ leaders, again failed to manage the game. We heard a remarkable quote from Blake Austin this week, asking “What is game management”. I think he was meaning to say that luck plays a part in close games. But to answer the question... you just have to look at what James Maloney and Nathan Cleary did in the final stages. That was game management.
To be honest, I’m concerned about the idea that the Raiders have just been unlucky in these close losses. We essentially heard this from Ricky Stuart after the last gasp win over the Sea Eagles. I’m sure legendary rugby league coach Jack Gibson would have nothing to do with that idea. He used to espouse this view: that everyone is lucky, you just have to put yourself in the position to take advantage of it.
And that is what the Raiders’ playmakers, the Raiders’ leaders, are failing to do. If it was just an unlucky break, these last gasp, close losses might happen occasionally. What we have seen in the past two years is a consistent pattern. The same thing happens over and over.
On Friday night, we saw a couple of classic cases of poor game management. Just before half time, with the Panthers reduced to 12 men, Kaide Ellis binned, Canberra chose to take a shot at penalty goal. The Panthers were on the rack. By the time Ellis returned, the Raiders had taken no advantage. Both teams had added a penalty goal to their tally. It was similar to the situation in the match against the Dragons. Well, that was actually worse... the Raiders conceded a try playing 12 men at Mudgee.
With six minutes remaining against Penrith, the Raiders put themselves in the position to post what could have been a decisive field goal. The set ended with Siliva Havili taking the shot. It would have been a goal in soccer, but it was nowhere near a field goal in rugby league. If it was the plan, it wasn’t a good one. Instead, a seven tackle set was handed to the Panthers... and they took advantage, levelling the scores with a try. And then the Panthers ticked over their plays like clock work, setting up an easy field goal. The sort of field goal the Raiders struggle to find in the clutch.
I’m not sure what it is... but something has to change.
Stats that mattered? The Panthers finished with a 58 per cent possession share. Even though both teams had 37 sets, the Panthers completed at 84 per cent, the Raiders at just 65 per cent. The Raiders produced 16 errors, the Panthers just seven.
The Raiders were caned in the penalties and 50/50 calls early in the match, but the Panthers ended up conceding nine penalties to the Raiders’ six - and they also had a player sent to the bin. The penalties came in waves against both teams, and the officiating was overly obtrusive. There were a number of wrong calls in my view, but against both teams. The Raiders were very lucky to have a try awarded by the bunker, after it appeared Blake Austin had knocked on in the lead up. The refereeing certainly impacted the game, but I don’t believe it had an impact on the result. There are no excuses for the Raiders on that score.
The Panthers made more runs (168-140) and made more metres with the ball in hand (1404m-1240m). The Panthers also made more kicking metres (550m-358m). Penrith produced more offloads (5-1) and line breaks (4-3). Canberra had to make more tackles (353-276), but the Panthers missed more (38-33).
Memorable moments? Two moments stick out in my mind. First, was the extraordinary try to Elliott Whitehead in the 62 minute. He scored on the wing, and it was set up with an amazing pass from “centre” Josh Papalii. Amazing stuff from the two forwards, playing in the outside backs. The other was the 40/20 kick from Jordan Rapana in the 37th minute. The Raiders must have lost 20 metres in the previous set... but Rapana’s kick was magnificent. Sadly it was not rewarded with a try... as the Raiders took a shot at penalty goal... yes, while playing 12 men.
Best performers?
Josh Papalii. 11 runs for 115 metres, one try assist, one line break assists, six tackle breaks, one line break, one offload, 36 tackles,
Elliott Whitehead. One try, eight runs for 66 metres, one try assist, two tackle breaks, one line break, 16 tackles.
Siliva Havili. Five runs for 74 metres, three tackle breaks, 42 tackles,
Top tacklers: Luke Bateman 50, Sia Soliola 45, Siliva Havili 42
Most metres gained: Jack Wighton 147, Josh Papalii 115, Jordan Rapana 107
My player ratings:
Jack Wighton 6
Nick Cotric 6
Jarrod Croker 6
Joey Leilua 0
Jordan Rapana 5
Blake Austin 5
Aidan Sezer 5
Dunamis Lui 6
Siliva Havili 7
Shannon Boyd 6
Sia Soliola 6
Elliott Whitehead 7
Josh Papalii 8
Ata Hingano 1
Luke Bateman 6
Charlie Gubb 4
Liam Knight 4
Do you agree or disagree with the ratings? Let us know!
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”We didn’t throw it away... We shouldn't have even been in the game if you look at the statistics, if you have a look at the stats it shouldn't have even been that close... No one threw the game away. That was such a tough performance, I was so proud of the performance. I'm not looking at us throwing the game away again. They're leading the comp and no team has scored a try against them the last two weeks.
I’ve got a halfback on the wing, I’ve got a backrower right centre, I’ve lost my centre the first couple of minutes of the game. I've got Junior Paulo out, I've got Hodgson out, I've got Tapine out. It's one of our best performances of the year against the team that's meant to be the best. If I walk off unhappy with that I shouldn’t be coaching.”
Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart
Round 14 2018. Penrith Panthers 23 - Canberra Raiders 22. It was more heart break for the Canberra Raiders and their fans. For the fourth time this year, the Raiders surrendered a lead in the final five minutes... and lost by two points or less.
The match was a bizarre one. The Raiders faced considerable adversity during the game, losing both Joey Leilua and Jordan Rapana to injury. Canberra was forced to produce a makeshift right flank mid-match. The refereeing was obtrusive, no let’s face it, it was poor. And it produced huge momentum for both sides at different stages of the game. The Raiders’ error rate was simply dreadful. So it was remarkable that Canberra led 20-10 with 20 minutes remaining.
The Raiders also generated three additional try scoring opportunities in the first half, that were missed - despite the lack of ball.
But there’s also no avoiding this fact. With the match on the line, the Raiders’ playmakers, the Raiders’ leaders, again failed to manage the game. We heard a remarkable quote from Blake Austin this week, asking “What is game management”. I think he was meaning to say that luck plays a part in close games. But to answer the question... you just have to look at what James Maloney and Nathan Cleary did in the final stages. That was game management.
To be honest, I’m concerned about the idea that the Raiders have just been unlucky in these close losses. We essentially heard this from Ricky Stuart after the last gasp win over the Sea Eagles. I’m sure legendary rugby league coach Jack Gibson would have nothing to do with that idea. He used to espouse this view: that everyone is lucky, you just have to put yourself in the position to take advantage of it.
And that is what the Raiders’ playmakers, the Raiders’ leaders, are failing to do. If it was just an unlucky break, these last gasp, close losses might happen occasionally. What we have seen in the past two years is a consistent pattern. The same thing happens over and over.
On Friday night, we saw a couple of classic cases of poor game management. Just before half time, with the Panthers reduced to 12 men, Kaide Ellis binned, Canberra chose to take a shot at penalty goal. The Panthers were on the rack. By the time Ellis returned, the Raiders had taken no advantage. Both teams had added a penalty goal to their tally. It was similar to the situation in the match against the Dragons. Well, that was actually worse... the Raiders conceded a try playing 12 men at Mudgee.
With six minutes remaining against Penrith, the Raiders put themselves in the position to post what could have been a decisive field goal. The set ended with Siliva Havili taking the shot. It would have been a goal in soccer, but it was nowhere near a field goal in rugby league. If it was the plan, it wasn’t a good one. Instead, a seven tackle set was handed to the Panthers... and they took advantage, levelling the scores with a try. And then the Panthers ticked over their plays like clock work, setting up an easy field goal. The sort of field goal the Raiders struggle to find in the clutch.
I’m not sure what it is... but something has to change.
Stats that mattered? The Panthers finished with a 58 per cent possession share. Even though both teams had 37 sets, the Panthers completed at 84 per cent, the Raiders at just 65 per cent. The Raiders produced 16 errors, the Panthers just seven.
The Raiders were caned in the penalties and 50/50 calls early in the match, but the Panthers ended up conceding nine penalties to the Raiders’ six - and they also had a player sent to the bin. The penalties came in waves against both teams, and the officiating was overly obtrusive. There were a number of wrong calls in my view, but against both teams. The Raiders were very lucky to have a try awarded by the bunker, after it appeared Blake Austin had knocked on in the lead up. The refereeing certainly impacted the game, but I don’t believe it had an impact on the result. There are no excuses for the Raiders on that score.
The Panthers made more runs (168-140) and made more metres with the ball in hand (1404m-1240m). The Panthers also made more kicking metres (550m-358m). Penrith produced more offloads (5-1) and line breaks (4-3). Canberra had to make more tackles (353-276), but the Panthers missed more (38-33).
Memorable moments? Two moments stick out in my mind. First, was the extraordinary try to Elliott Whitehead in the 62 minute. He scored on the wing, and it was set up with an amazing pass from “centre” Josh Papalii. Amazing stuff from the two forwards, playing in the outside backs. The other was the 40/20 kick from Jordan Rapana in the 37th minute. The Raiders must have lost 20 metres in the previous set... but Rapana’s kick was magnificent. Sadly it was not rewarded with a try... as the Raiders took a shot at penalty goal... yes, while playing 12 men.
Best performers?
Josh Papalii. 11 runs for 115 metres, one try assist, one line break assists, six tackle breaks, one line break, one offload, 36 tackles,
Elliott Whitehead. One try, eight runs for 66 metres, one try assist, two tackle breaks, one line break, 16 tackles.
Siliva Havili. Five runs for 74 metres, three tackle breaks, 42 tackles,
Top tacklers: Luke Bateman 50, Sia Soliola 45, Siliva Havili 42
Most metres gained: Jack Wighton 147, Josh Papalii 115, Jordan Rapana 107
My player ratings:
Jack Wighton 6
Nick Cotric 6
Jarrod Croker 6
Joey Leilua 0
Jordan Rapana 5
Blake Austin 5
Aidan Sezer 5
Dunamis Lui 6
Siliva Havili 7
Shannon Boyd 6
Sia Soliola 6
Elliott Whitehead 7
Josh Papalii 8
Ata Hingano 1
Luke Bateman 6
Charlie Gubb 4
Liam Knight 4
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- -PJ-
- Mal Meninga
- Posts: 24834
- Joined: May 8, 2010, 1:58 pm
- Favourite Player: Josh Papalii
- Location: 416.9 km from GIO Stadium
Re: Through green eyes 2018
0 for Joey..harsh
3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment..Old Faithful
#emptythetank
#emptythetank
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Joey and Hingano should be swapped
At least Joey didn't make a truckload of errors in his 2 min stint
At least Joey didn't make a truckload of errors in his 2 min stint
- reptar
- Laurie Daley
- Posts: 16058
- Joined: January 25, 2005, 9:24 pm
- Favourite Player: Jordan Rapana
- Location: Brisbane
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Man that press conference makes me angry
Gina Riley: Oh, come on, John. That’s a bit old hat, the corrupt IOC delegate.
John Clarke: Old hat? Gina, in the scientific world when they see that something is happening again and again and again, repeatedly, they don’t call it old hat. They call it a pattern.
John Clarke: Old hat? Gina, in the scientific world when they see that something is happening again and again and again, repeatedly, they don’t call it old hat. They call it a pattern.
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- John Ferguson
- Posts: 2383
- Joined: March 31, 2018, 9:30 pm
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Yep that press conference did me in on Friday night. I was floored with what was coming from him mouthreptar wrote:Man that press conference makes me angry
Sent from my iPhone using The Greenhouse
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Through green eyes: As I saw it
Round 15 2018. Canberra Raiders 48 - Wests Tigers 12. Josh Hodgson returned for the Canberra Raiders from an ACL injury and he looked like he’d never been away from the field. He started on the bench... but when he came onto the field he took control. It was a masterful performance.
The Raiders scored the first try of the match, with Joey Leilua crossing for an easy try against some feeble Wests Tigers defence. But Canberra’s defence was even worse than the Tigers when their own goal line came under attack. Defensive errors from Blake Austin saw the home team score two rapid fire tries, and they skipped to a 12-4 lead after a quarter of an hour. And when Austin was sin binned in the 23rd minute, for impeding a quick penalty tap, it looked like it might be another long, frustrating afternoon for the Raiders.
But it was actually a turning point for the Green Machine. Hodgson entered the fray, and the team actually looked better with 12 men than they did with 13. The defence lifted... and Hodgson laid on a try for Josh Papalii with Austin still in the bin. The teams went to the half time break with the Tigers holding a two point lead. And then in the second half, the Raiders’ attack opened up. It was great to see the Raiders post a big win. A relief as well.
But Raiders fans shouldn’t get carried away either. The Tigers suffered injuries to Matt McIlwrick, Chris Lawrence and Mahe Fonua. And they played like a team that had won just two of their past eight matches.
Canberra still faces a huge challenge if they’re to make the eight. They must win seven of their final 10 matches to be assured of a place. The Raiders have moved into ninth place - but are four competition points adrift of the seventh placed Sharks and eighth placed Broncos. However, there’s still reason for hope. Particularly given the form shown by Josh Hodgson.
Stats that mattered? The Raiders finished with a 58 per cent possession share, with the Raiders completing at 82 per cent, the Tigers at 76 per cent. The Tigers produced 12 errors, the Raiders eight. Canberra’s discipline could have been better, conceding nine penalties, compared with five for the Tigers.
The Raiders had six more sets with the ball than the Tigers, made more many runs (194-144) and many more metres with the ball in hand (1891m-1352m). The Raiders also made more kicking metres (476m-375m). Canberra produced more line breaks (8-2), but fewer offloads (7-11) than the Wests Tigers. The Tigers had to make more tackles (366-270) and produced a whopping 61 missed tackles (just 26 for the Raiders).
Memorable moments? There were some great tries for the Green Machine - and none was more spectacular than the four pointer scored by Michael Oldfield in the 70th minute. Elliott Whitehead was outstanding in the lead up, the running and passing was as good as you’ll see. There were also some little touches that stuck in the mind. How about the crafty ball play of Josh Hodgson to set up Josh Papalii and Joe Tapine for tries. What about the flick pass from Jarrod Croker to put Nick Cotric over in the corner?
Sadly, two amazing tries were disallowed by the bunker. In the 66th minute, a Wests Tigers short kick off was batted back by Jarrod Croker - with Elliott Whitehead making an amazing run up field before throwing an equally amazing pass to Jack Wighton, who crossed the white stripe. The bunker disallowed the try, with a Wests Tigers player ruled to have been impeded by Josh Hodgson. It may have been a technically correct decision - but it looked like the Tigers were playing for an obstruction call by running into Hodgson.
Then in the 73rd minute, a great try to Shannon Boyd was disallowed, the bunker overturning the on field call. The referee wanted the bunker to check obstruction in the lead up... and there was none. The bunker then proceeded to replay the grounding over and over. Despite there being no conclusive evidence it was not grounded, the bunker posted “NO TRY”. In my view, that was definitely an incorrect decision. Fortunately, these calls did not impact the result... but the bunker certainly did not show they have much feeling for the flow of our game.
Best performers?
Josh Hodgson. Four runs for 40 metres, two try assists, two line break assists, one off load, 20 tackles, 101 kicking metres in 46 minutes. I had him with at three try assists...
Elliott Whitehead. 14 runs for 198 metres, four tackle breaks, 33 tackles.
Joseph Tapine. Two tries, nine runs for 82 metres, 11 tackle breaks, two line breaks, 32 tackles.
Josh Papalii and Jack Wighton unlucky not to be in the top three.
Top tacklers: Elliott Whitehead 33, Joe Tapine 32, Josh Papalii 27, Dunamis Lui 27.
Most metres gained: Elliott Whitehead 198, Jack Wighton 197, Josh Papalii 171.
My player ratings:
Jack Wighton 7
Nick Cotric 7
Jarrod Croker 7
Joey Leilua 7
Michael Oldfield 6
Blake Austin 6
Aidan Sezer 7
Dunamis Lui 6
Siliva Havili 5
Shannon Boyd 6
Joe Tapine 8
Elliott Whitehead 8
Josh Papalii 7
Sia Soliola 6
Josh Hodgson 8
Luke Bateman 6
Liam Knight 6
Do you agree or disagree with the ratings? Let us know!
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Round 15 2018. Canberra Raiders 48 - Wests Tigers 12. Josh Hodgson returned for the Canberra Raiders from an ACL injury and he looked like he’d never been away from the field. He started on the bench... but when he came onto the field he took control. It was a masterful performance.
The Raiders scored the first try of the match, with Joey Leilua crossing for an easy try against some feeble Wests Tigers defence. But Canberra’s defence was even worse than the Tigers when their own goal line came under attack. Defensive errors from Blake Austin saw the home team score two rapid fire tries, and they skipped to a 12-4 lead after a quarter of an hour. And when Austin was sin binned in the 23rd minute, for impeding a quick penalty tap, it looked like it might be another long, frustrating afternoon for the Raiders.
But it was actually a turning point for the Green Machine. Hodgson entered the fray, and the team actually looked better with 12 men than they did with 13. The defence lifted... and Hodgson laid on a try for Josh Papalii with Austin still in the bin. The teams went to the half time break with the Tigers holding a two point lead. And then in the second half, the Raiders’ attack opened up. It was great to see the Raiders post a big win. A relief as well.
But Raiders fans shouldn’t get carried away either. The Tigers suffered injuries to Matt McIlwrick, Chris Lawrence and Mahe Fonua. And they played like a team that had won just two of their past eight matches.
Canberra still faces a huge challenge if they’re to make the eight. They must win seven of their final 10 matches to be assured of a place. The Raiders have moved into ninth place - but are four competition points adrift of the seventh placed Sharks and eighth placed Broncos. However, there’s still reason for hope. Particularly given the form shown by Josh Hodgson.
Stats that mattered? The Raiders finished with a 58 per cent possession share, with the Raiders completing at 82 per cent, the Tigers at 76 per cent. The Tigers produced 12 errors, the Raiders eight. Canberra’s discipline could have been better, conceding nine penalties, compared with five for the Tigers.
The Raiders had six more sets with the ball than the Tigers, made more many runs (194-144) and many more metres with the ball in hand (1891m-1352m). The Raiders also made more kicking metres (476m-375m). Canberra produced more line breaks (8-2), but fewer offloads (7-11) than the Wests Tigers. The Tigers had to make more tackles (366-270) and produced a whopping 61 missed tackles (just 26 for the Raiders).
Memorable moments? There were some great tries for the Green Machine - and none was more spectacular than the four pointer scored by Michael Oldfield in the 70th minute. Elliott Whitehead was outstanding in the lead up, the running and passing was as good as you’ll see. There were also some little touches that stuck in the mind. How about the crafty ball play of Josh Hodgson to set up Josh Papalii and Joe Tapine for tries. What about the flick pass from Jarrod Croker to put Nick Cotric over in the corner?
Sadly, two amazing tries were disallowed by the bunker. In the 66th minute, a Wests Tigers short kick off was batted back by Jarrod Croker - with Elliott Whitehead making an amazing run up field before throwing an equally amazing pass to Jack Wighton, who crossed the white stripe. The bunker disallowed the try, with a Wests Tigers player ruled to have been impeded by Josh Hodgson. It may have been a technically correct decision - but it looked like the Tigers were playing for an obstruction call by running into Hodgson.
Then in the 73rd minute, a great try to Shannon Boyd was disallowed, the bunker overturning the on field call. The referee wanted the bunker to check obstruction in the lead up... and there was none. The bunker then proceeded to replay the grounding over and over. Despite there being no conclusive evidence it was not grounded, the bunker posted “NO TRY”. In my view, that was definitely an incorrect decision. Fortunately, these calls did not impact the result... but the bunker certainly did not show they have much feeling for the flow of our game.
Best performers?
Josh Hodgson. Four runs for 40 metres, two try assists, two line break assists, one off load, 20 tackles, 101 kicking metres in 46 minutes. I had him with at three try assists...
Elliott Whitehead. 14 runs for 198 metres, four tackle breaks, 33 tackles.
Joseph Tapine. Two tries, nine runs for 82 metres, 11 tackle breaks, two line breaks, 32 tackles.
Josh Papalii and Jack Wighton unlucky not to be in the top three.
Top tacklers: Elliott Whitehead 33, Joe Tapine 32, Josh Papalii 27, Dunamis Lui 27.
Most metres gained: Elliott Whitehead 198, Jack Wighton 197, Josh Papalii 171.
My player ratings:
Jack Wighton 7
Nick Cotric 7
Jarrod Croker 7
Joey Leilua 7
Michael Oldfield 6
Blake Austin 6
Aidan Sezer 7
Dunamis Lui 6
Siliva Havili 5
Shannon Boyd 6
Joe Tapine 8
Elliott Whitehead 8
Josh Papalii 7
Sia Soliola 6
Josh Hodgson 8
Luke Bateman 6
Liam Knight 6
Do you agree or disagree with the ratings? Let us know!
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- zim
- Laurie Daley
- Posts: 10691
- Joined: July 8, 2015, 3:38 pm
- Favourite Player: NRL: Joseph Tapine
NRLW: Grace Kemp - Location: Sydney
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Hard to give Tapine an 8 but he was great first game back from injury. There's no way you can rate Knight the same as Soliola and Bateman when he was only on for 15mins. That's just too generous when the other 2 were a big part of our line speed and defense when we turned the game around.
Re: Through green eyes 2018
Knight produced a try, a try assist, three tackle breaks, a line break and 71 metres from four runs. I considered a five rating... but that’s a pretty fine cameo.