The Greenhouse

2018 Rd 2 V Knights: Teams and Previews



Canberra Raiders V Newcastle Knights
Sunday 18 March 6:30pm
Canberra Stadium
Tickets: Click here
TV coverage: Fox League live Channel 502
Radio: ABC, 2CC, Mix 106.3

The Raiders suffered a heart breaking two point loss to the Gold Coast Titans, the result of a last gasp Titans try. They now return home to face the Newcastle Knights - first up winners in Round 1 - at Canberra Stadium. Who do you think should line up for the Green Machine? Tell us your team here and see how you go in comparison to the official squad when announced. We will include the official line ups in the first post of this thread as soon as they're available.

OFFICIAL SQUADS

Canberra Raiders

1. Jack Wighton
2. Nick Cotric
3. Jarrod Croker (C)
4. Joey Leilua
5. Jordan Rapana
6. Blake Austin
7. Sam Williams
8. Sia Soliola
9. Siliva Havili
10. Shannon Boyd
11. Josh Papalii
12. Elliott Whitehead
13. Luke Bateman

14. Aidan Sezer
15. Junior Paulo
16. Dunamis Lui
17. Charlie Gubb

18. Craig Garvey
19. Michael Oldfield
20. Royce Hunt
21. Jack Murchie

Newcastle Knights

1. Kalyn Ponga
2. Shaun Kenny-Dowall
3. Sione Mata’utia
4. Tautau Moga
5. Nathan Ross
6. Connor Watson
7. Mitchell Pearce (c)
8. Herman Ese’ese
9. Slade Griffin
10. Jacob Lillyman
11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon
12. Aidan Guerra
13. Mitch Barnett

14. Brock Lamb
15. Chris Heighington
16. Jamie Buhrer (c)
17. Daniel Saifiti

18. Ken Sio
19. Jacob Saifiti
20. Danny Levi
21. Luke Yates

Officials:

Referees: Ashley Klein, Matt Noyen
Sideline Officials: Ricky MacFarlane, Belinda Sleeman
Video Referees: Steve Chiddy, Bryan Norrie

Match Hashtags: #NRL #WeareRaiders #BleedGreen #NRLRaidersKnights

The Greenhouse Hashtags: #WearGreen2018 #FromAllAngles

Mounties teams: Click here



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1: Wighton
2: Cotric
3: Croker
4: Lelulai
5: Rapana
6: Sezer
7: Williams
8: Gubb
9: Havili
10: Boyd
11: Whitehead
12: Papalii
13: Soliola

14: Garvey
15: Hunt
16: Lui
17: Paulo

Paulo only keeps his place due to Tapine (I would presume out).

What are we playing the Titans again

Manchild wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 9:48 am What are we playing the Titans again

Have a better chance of beating them than the knights... Oh wait...

1. Cotric
2. Oldfield
3. Wighton
4. Leilua
5. Rapana
6. Seezer
7. Williams
8. Gubb
9. Hivalli
10. Boyd
11. Papalli
12. Soliola (c)
13. Whitehead

14. Garvey
15. Murchie
16. Lui
17. Paulo
18. Abbey
19. Hunt

Assuming tapine is injured
The rest can sort out their heads at mounties !!!!

What a fantastic event our first home game will be next Sunday.

Bumper crowd, Viking clap, a tribute to Kato Ottio..

And then another 80mins of whatever to finish it all off.

It ain't easy being green..

scotchberry wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 9:45 am 1: Wighton
2: Cotric
3: Croker
4: Lelulai
5: Rapana
6: Sezer
7: Williams
8: Gubb
9: Havili
10: Boyd
11: Whitehead
12: Papalii
13: Soliola

14: Garvey
15: Hunt
16: Lui
17: Paulo

Paulo only keeps his place due to Tapine (I would presume out).

I'll take one of these. Keep it simple, this Sezer/Austin/Williams/Havili mis-matching is just ridiculous and so counter-productive. Bateman adds absolutely nothing, so would prefer to see some fresh blood in Hunt, Knight, Makatoa, Guler or Murchie given a shot.

Assuming Tapine is injured:

1-Cotric
2-Oldfield
3-Croker (c)
4-Leilua
5-Rapana
6-Sezer
7-Williams
8-Paulo
9-Havili
10-Gubb
11-Soliola
12-Papalli
13-Whitehead

14-Wighton
15-Garvey
16-Lui
17-Boyd

1. Wighton
2. Cotric
3. Croker
4. BJ
5. Rapana
6. Sezer
7. Williams
8. Boyd
9. Havili
10. Gubb
11. Papa
12. Sia
13. Whitehead

14. Garvey
15. Lui (More minutes)
16. Bateman (Less Minutes)
17. Paulo (he would be joining Austin at Mounties if Tapine didn't bust a finger)

18. Hunt
19. Abbey

I know it was only a 2 pt loss but the way they lost demands a shakeup (a word foreign to the master coach):
1-Cotric
2-Croker ©
3-Wighton
4-Leilua
5-Rapana
6-Sezer (stays at 5/8. If he fails, he goes to Mounties)
7-Williams
8-Paulo
9-Havili
10-Gubb
11-Soliola
12-Papalli
13-Whitehead

14-Austin (I think he is a lost cause but ….)
15-Garvey
16-Hunt
17-Boyd
*Tapine will be sorely missed

1. Wighton
2. Cotric
3. Croker
4. BJ
5. Rapana
6. Seizer
7. Williams
8. Boyd
9. Havili
10. Gubb
11. Soliola
12. Papali
13. Whitehead

14. Garvey
15. Lui
16. Hunt
17. Paulo



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1. Wighton
2. Cotric
3. Croker
4. Leilua
5. Rapana
6. Sezer
7. Williams
8. Gubb
9. Havili
10. Boyd
11. Papalii
12. Whitehead
13. Soliola

14. Garvey
15. Murchie
16. Lui
17. Paulo



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Tapine broke his bloody finger round 1 last year too didn’t he?


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1. Wighton
2. Cotric
3. Croker
4. Leilua
5. Rapana
6. Sezer
7. Williams
8. Gubb
9. Havili
10. Boyd
11. Papalii
12. Whitehead
13. Soliola

14. Austin (15 mins either side of half and just run)
15. Bateman
16. Lui
17. Paulo


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1.Wighton
2.Cotric
3.Croker
4.Leilua
5.Rapana
6.Austin (I just think he is a better balance for Sammy than Sezer is)
7.Williams
8.Boyd
9.Havili
10.Gubb
11.Papali
12.Soliola
13.Whitehead

14.Garvey
15.Paulo
16.Lui
17.Guler (he looked great on the weekend, and could use a 10 minute taste early in the season).

Guler is in the dev squad. Can't play first grade.
Murchie, Hunt, Makatoa, Knight are available.

zim wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 1:04 pm Guler is in the dev squad. Can't play first grade.
Murchie, Hunt, Makatoa, Knight are available.

Copy. Thats a shame, he looked very good off the bench ono the weekend, I thought he would be good to give a taste, so he can head back to Mounties to work on things.

Coastalraider wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 1:15 pm

zim wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 1:04 pm Guler is in the dev squad. Can't play first grade.
Murchie, Hunt, Makatoa, Knight are available.

Copy. Thats a shame, he looked very good off the bench ono the weekend, I thought he would be good to give a taste, so he can head back to Mounties to work on things.

Yeah he looked most likely to step up. Murchie was kept quiet in attack but there were a few times he stopped the drags dead in their tracks with some solid 1 on 1 defence. Both looking good for the future.

The only player I’d look to drop is Bateman.

Gubb in for Whitehead
Whitehead in for Tapine
Hunt in for Bateman

And that Bateman call is based on last season, not last night.

we lost when havilli came off and sezer cam in and faded out williams, this team needs a new halves combo, austin is a hog and overrated sezer just doesnt have it anymore, while its early we need to try hingano, also i am soo over boyd he is not first grade standard at all, this is his peak, lui and bateman seriously offer nothing, hunt needs a run and makatoa, stick will name the exact same team.

Croker to the wing, Cotric to centre and Sezer out.

The rest can sort itself out.

Not confident at all.

Crusader wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 2:32 pm we lost when havilli came off and sezer cam in and faded out williams, this team needs a new halves combo, austin is a hog and overrated sezer just doesnt have it anymore, while its early we need to try hingano, also i am soo over boyd he is not first grade standard at all, this is his peak, lui and bateman seriously offer nothing, hunt needs a run and makatoa, stick will name the exact same team.

He was our best forward last night.

Green eyed Mick wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 2:40 pm

Crusader wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 2:32 pm we lost when havilli came off and sezer cam in and faded out williams, this team needs a new halves combo, austin is a hog and overrated sezer just doesnt have it anymore, while its early we need to try hingano, also i am soo over boyd he is not first grade standard at all, this is his peak, lui and bateman seriously offer nothing, hunt needs a run and makatoa, stick will name the exact same team.

He was our best forward last night.

He was back to where we need him, thats for sure.

julian87 wrote:The only player I’d look to drop is Bateman.

Gubb in for Whitehead
Whitehead in for Tapine
Hunt in for Bateman

And that Bateman call is based on last season, not last night.

I agree with your changes. Always like reading your comments, so interested to know who would you start at 6? And why?

if tapine is out i would love to trial this.

1. cotric or abbey
2. oldfield or cortic if abbey at fullback
3 croker
4. leilua
5. rapana
6 sezar
7 williams
8 boyd
9 havili
10. gubb
11. papa
12 whitehead
13 wighton

14 jnr paulo
15 soliola
16. hunt
17. austin ( i'd much rather garvey but don't exactly want to piss austin off) he's defence needs to improve big time
18. garvey
19. murchie

Crusader wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 2:32 pm we lost when havilli came off and sezer cam in and faded out williams, this team needs a new halves combo, austin is a hog and overrated sezer just doesnt have it anymore, while its early we need to try hingano, also i am soo over boyd he is not first grade standard at all, this is his peak, lui and bateman seriously offer nothing, hunt needs a run and makatoa, stick will name the exact same team.

Interested to know what prompted that Boyd comment?
Topped our side for running metres (149m), 100% tackle efficiency, no errors. In your eyes what more could he do to prove he's first grade standard?

Yeah Boyd was great last night no complaints about him. I am interested in the Croker/Cotric switch suggestion. If we aren't looking at Cotric as a fullback yet I think that'd be a decent compromise for now.


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Out of curiosity why do people want Wighton dropped? Thought he was one of our best last night.

-GD- wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 3:35 pm Out of curiosity why do people want Wighton dropped? Thought he was one of our best last night.

I think his positioning is still rubbish and he's had long enough there that I don't think it's likely to change.

He's big and strong and runs the ball brilliantly. I think his best spot is bench utility, primarily in the backrow but able to slot in out wide if injury hits.

Even fans of his, honestly - which of the other 15 starting fullbacks is he better than?

At a quick glance I'd rate him above Holmes, Lolohea, Johnston, Dufty and Gordon.

Judging by how the titans game played out I think telling him to let the boys sort themselves out on the 5th tackle instead of still marshalling the defence would go a long way to fixing is position issues. He spends too much time still sorting out the ruck when he should be gone by 5m already before the ball is played.

zim wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 3:24 pm

Crusader wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 2:32 pm we lost when havilli came off and sezer cam in and faded out williams, this team needs a new halves combo, austin is a hog and overrated sezer just doesnt have it anymore, while its early we need to try hingano, also i am soo over boyd he is not first grade standard at all, this is his peak, lui and bateman seriously offer nothing, hunt needs a run and makatoa, stick will name the exact same team.

Interested to know what prompted that Boyd comment?
Topped our side for running metres (149m), 100% tackle efficiency, no errors. In your eyes what more could he do to prove he's first grade standard?

i guess i was abit harsh but for his size shouldnt we be getting a lot more, who is no tamalolo but i would straight swap aiden tolman over him and he is smaller. i dont know i just want that destructive aggression

zim wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 3:49 pm At a quick glance I'd rate him above Holmes, Lolohea, Johnston, Dufty and Gordon.

Judging by how the titans game played out I think telling him to let the boys sort themselves out on the 5th tackle instead of still marshalling the defence would go a long way to fixing is position issues. He spends too much time still sorting out the ruck when he should be gone by 5m already before the ball is played.

boy out of those names I would take dufty any day, and i have no clue how holmes is a origin and AUS player

zim wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 3:49 pm At a quick glance I'd rate him above Holmes, Lolohea, Johnston, Dufty and Gordon.

Judging by how the titans game played out I think telling him to let the boys sort themselves out on the 5th tackle instead of still marshalling the defence would go a long way to fixing is position issues. He spends too much time still sorting out the ruck when he should be gone by 5m already before the ball is played.

boy out of those names I would take dufty any day, and i have no clue how holmes is a origin and AUS player

zim wrote: ↑March 12, 2018, 3:49 pm At a quick glance I'd rate him above Holmes, Lolohea, Johnston, Dufty and Gordon.

Judging by how the titans game played out I think telling him to let the boys sort themselves out on the 5th tackle instead of still marshalling the defence would go a long way to fixing is position issues. He spends too much time still sorting out the ruck when he should be gone by 5m already before the ball is played.

boy out of those names I would take dufty any day, and i have no clue how holmes is a origin and AUS player

Tapine dislocated thumb, will be assessed during the week