2019 Rd 1 V Titans: Game Day

[Botman]

What's the collective take on our new #1?

I thought it was a very solid debut for us.

His work under the high ball worried me a lot, but that was also disgraceful conditions for a fullback, it was a god damn monsoon out there. So in that respect it'll be interesting to see how he goes under the high ball in better conditions but his positioning was excellent, and he didnt have to do a lot defensively but when he did, he got the job done.

Solid debut indeed.


Edit: Just read the entire thread and ****, seems like we're all on the same page here re his positioning and some shakiness under the high ball being probably down to the conditions. Also agree with whoever it was who made the Raps comp, i actually said the same to Rickman during the game

[CJ42]

The most pleasing aspect for me was the battle of the forwards, that is by far the best attribute of that titans side and we owned them with much lighter players. Good times.

[gangrenous]

I’m not too worried about the high ball stuff in that game. I think on some of those kicks the risk/reward was actually probably in favour of letting it bounce. In those conditions catching is much riskier and for the couple let bounce there was still space to wrap the titans up if they regathered (and they’re unlikely to get away quick!). This team has for far too long been incapable of considering the strategy of what they do. I’d prefer to see the occasional bad judgment mixed with actually changing approach based on circumstance.

Most that he decided to take he took really well.

[-PJ-]

I'm happy today.

That's all..

[gerg]

The most pleasing aspect for me was the battle of the forwards, that is by far the best attribute of that titans side and we owned them with much lighter players. Good times.

Came in to say this exact thing. The conditions weren't great but it turned it into a forward slog which was a great test of our defence and lighter, more mobile pack.

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[Northern Raider]

RUOK keggles?

Oh not sure I would need an expert like yourself to assess me and help guide me through the darkness and hopefully correct my shortcomings.

The analytical brain food that you provide here is a source of fuel that no one can function without.

Fly high ....you've got this.

So answer is no then

[Green_Hammock]

I'm happy today.

That's all..

Same here! I almost forgot the feeling of joy after a great Raiders win

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[Keghead]

RUOK keggles?

Oh not sure I would need an expert like yourself to assess me and help guide me through the darkness and hopefully correct my shortcomings.

The analytical brain food that you provide here is a source of fuel that no one can function without.

Fly high ....you've got this.

So answer is no then

No i'm fine you just have fun jumping ships and pretending you are the captain whilst you are actually scrubbing the decks.

[Wiki Special]

What's the collective take on our new #1?

I thought it was a very solid debut for us.

I agree with most that he was good on debut for us. I liked his work out of dummy half too. When Rapana comes back I'd still be tempted to try him at Fullback but regardless of where he plays a back three of Rapana, CNK and Cotric is very good.

I thought the young winger was solid. Was very impressed by Horsburgh despite some handling errors. He was extremely willing in defence. J. Bateman really grew into the match, he is that mongrel type forward all good teams have. Very impressive player, had a bit of prime Anthony Watmough about him when running into the teeth of the opposition.

Of the regulars, Wighton, Sezer and especially Hodgson controlled the game with great poise. Croker was very good in defence. Papa and Soliola provided great go forward too.

We beat an average side without there playmakers so nothing to brag about but we did the job and have a lot to build on which is great.

True test against the Storm next week.

[Timbo]

What's the collective take on our new #1?

I thought it was a very solid debut for us.

I agree with most that he was good on debut for us. I liked his work out of dummy half too. When Rapana comes back I'd still be tempted to try him at Fullback but regardless of where he plays a back three of Rapana, CNK and Cotric is very good.

I thought the young winger was solid. Was very impressed by Horsburgh despite some handling errors. He was extremely willing in defence. J. Bateman really grew into the match, he is that mongrel type forward all good teams have. Very impressive player, had a bit of prime Anthony Watmough about him when running into the teeth of the opposition.

Of the regulars, Wighton, Sezer and especially Hodgson controlled the game with great poise. Croker was very good in defence. Papa and Soliola provided great go forward too.

We beat an average side without there playmakers so nothing to brag about but we did the job and have a lot to build on which is great.

True test against the Storm next week.

I really liked what I saw from CNK. As I said in the match thread, if there are worse conditions for a fullback to make his debut - heavy rain, swirling wind, only been at the club for six weeks and has a fourth-choice winger outside of him who he'd have no combinations with - I don't know what they are. And he only made one real error when he and Simmonson thought the other was going for the ball. His positioning in defence was first rate, he did ugly metres running us out of our red zone and was always hanging around on the ball-carriers hip in support. It's a solid A debut from me.

As for moving Rapa there, they made the comment last night about Cotric and why stick doesn't want to move him. Yes, a fullback gets more ball but do we really want to lose what Cotric gives us on the wing? I think the same argument exists for Rapana. We have absolutely lethal threats on either edge, I want to keep it that way.

[papabear]

Didnt rapana have a go at fullback a few years ago and was terrible?

What is interesting is leilua and cotric edge looked beastly in defence, so it will be interesting to see how that combination works moving forward and how they shuffle them around when rapana comes back.

[Northern Raider]

RUOK keggles?

Oh not sure I would need an expert like yourself to assess me and help guide me through the darkness and hopefully correct my shortcomings.

The analytical brain food that you provide here is a source of fuel that no one can function without.

Fly high ....you've got this.

So answer is no then

No i'm fine you just have fun jumping ships and pretending you are the captain whilst you are actually scrubbing the decks.

Good to hear. Keep up the good work.

[Northern Raider]

Didnt rapana have a go at fullback a few years ago and was terrible?

What is interesting is leilua and cotric edge looked beastly in defence, so it will be interesting to see how that combination works moving forward and how they shuffle them around when rapana comes back.

BJ is right and Cotric was left side.

[Rickmando]

Didnt rapana have a go at fullback a few years ago and was terrible?

What is interesting is leilua and cotric edge looked beastly in defence, so it will be interesting to see how that combination works moving forward and how they shuffle them around when rapana comes back.

Sorry papabear, lazy take.


Rapana was very good at fullback - positioned himself really well in defence and attack. Very natural player of the position.

He had some issues with drops - but they were a) equally as prevalent on the wing as at FB in the early days, something to his credit he worked hard to fix b) not the only metric worth assessing a fullback on

... to that point, people criticising CNK’s high ball work last night are missing the point. Conditions alone would be enough to give him a pass, but to focus mainly on the high balls would be to ignore the fact he was in great position for grubbed kicks and cover tackles on every single occasion, and was clearly communicating well with the front line.

Give me that first and foremost from my fullback any day of the week. Especially one playing in his first game for the club and only his 8th in the top grade

[bonehead]

Didnt rapana have a go at fullback a few years ago and was terrible?

What is interesting is leilua and cotric edge looked beastly in defence, so it will be interesting to see how that combination works moving forward and how they shuffle them around when rapana comes back.

BJ is right and Cotric was left side.

cotric went right for the last 15mins when Simonsson went off

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[Northern Raider]

Didnt rapana have a go at fullback a few years ago and was terrible?

What is interesting is leilua and cotric edge looked beastly in defence, so it will be interesting to see how that combination works moving forward and how they shuffle them around when rapana comes back.

BJ is right and Cotric was left side.

cotric went right for the last 15mins when Simonsson went off

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Yeah but a fairly small sample size there. Our defense was rock solid in all areas for the full game.

On the defense I liked the way we held form when sliding. There was none of the familiar back peddling that has led to tries on the edges through simple backline sweeps. We also didn't have anybody trying to rush out of the line to shut the play down, which too often leaves gaps. Granted the conditions made it harder to put the defense under pressure and the Titans makehsift halves were playing too sideways. The real test will come next Friday against the Storm.

[Botman]

the thing that was clear in that game, and lets be clear, it's one game... but at least in that game our edge defenders all had total faith in each other.
No one felt the need to cheat in to protect anyone else, they trusted each other to make sound decisions and make clean effective tackles in space. That's huge if it holds up over the season

[Timbo]

the thing that was clear in that game, and lets be clear, it's one game... but at least in that game our edge defenders all had total faith in each other.
No one felt the need to cheat in to protect anyone else, they trusted each other to make sound decisions and make clean effective tackles in space. That's huge if it holds up over the season

Definitely. Our line looked far more secure than it has in a very long while. Now, how much of that had to do that the Titans were a completely rudderless ship for 70 minutes is unclear. But you can only play what's opposite you and in that regard full makes for the defensive effort.

[simo]

Just ducked over and had a look. The two people on the titans forum have taken this loss pretty hard. Both/all of them agree we outplayed them

[LimeGreenMachine]

You could see our structure looked more secure , they all worked as a unit. Line speed was good for the entire match .
We defended our errors. We weren't giving up 70-80m per set.
Titans threw plenty down our right side early and they couldnt break it , they then looked for other avenues to break through.
We made Titans look worse than what they were. They still had handy halves in AJ and Peachy. I knew Taylor was in doubt early in the week , it wasn't a game day decision for him not to play.

[papabear]

Didnt rapana have a go at fullback a few years ago and was terrible?

What is interesting is leilua and cotric edge looked beastly in defence, so it will be interesting to see how that combination works moving forward and how they shuffle them around when rapana comes back.

Sorry papabear, lazy take.


Rapana was very good at fullback - positioned himself really well in defence and attack. Very natural player of the position.

He had some issues with drops - but they were a) equally as prevalent on the wing as at FB in the early days, something to his credit he worked hard to fix b) not the only metric worth assessing a fullback on

... to that point, people criticising CNK’s high ball work last night are missing the point. Conditions alone would be enough to give him a pass, but to focus mainly on the high balls would be to ignore the fact he was in great position for grubbed kicks and cover tackles on every single occasion, and was clearly communicating well with the front line.

Give me that first and foremost from my fullback any day of the week. Especially one playing in his first game for the club and only his 8th in the top grade

Having issues with drops is pretty much the most important thing for a fullback though isn’t it?

I agree his hands were **** everywhere, but **** hands are exacerbated at fullback as you are cleaning up a lot more kicks.

And let’s be honest his hands are still a bit of a problem.

I am not 100 percent against it, I am just more sure it’s justified at the moment. The best argument I can see is that it makes our spine look better on paper, but I think that is the wrong way to build this footy team.

[Northern Raider]

You could see our structure looked more secure , they all worked as a unit. Line speed was good for the entire match .
We defended our errors. We weren't giving up 70-80m per set.
Titans threw plenty down our right side early and they couldnt break it , they then looked for other avenues to break through.
We made Titans look worse than what they were. They still had handy halves in AJ and Peachy. I knew Taylor was in doubt early in the week , it wasn't a game day decision for him not to play.

Good players but not necessarily good halves. Brimson more likely to play fullback in his formative NRL years. Peachey been tried many times previously in the halves and has been below standard. Didn't help that their forwards could not get any kind of roll on.

[Coastalraider]

The biggest caveat I will put on this comment is that we were playing a side without their halves (although a pairing of Brimson and Peachey is a pretty good back up to be fair), and that conditions slowed the speed of the game down.

But from about 12 minutes to go we turned into an exceptionally smart football team. Sezer took a kick for touch, and its like a lightswitch was flicked. I have zero doubt that some communication happened on field, and they went into 'scenario' mode, which they have been talking about creating in the off season. They worked to specific parts of the field as a unit, with specific goals - like kicking to the lines. Because everyone knew what the objective was, when the plan didnt go exactly like it was supposed to, ie when Jacks touch finder actually curled into the in goal, the kick chasers were poised to tackle in goal. Penalty kicks were taken to soak up time. A field goal was taken to soak up time and receive the ball for another set.

I haven't seen the team work as a smart unit like that for quite some time. Usually they would play what they saw (as Austo used to say - 'what is game management?'). I dont know if this is Cappy or Ennis' input - but I REALLY REALLY hope that it has hit home that playing that last period with a game plan suffocates the opposition out of the game.

Very impressive.

[Green Chapel]

Very good away win !

In fairness ...the Titans were hamstrung in attack.

But an enjoyable win !!

Job done.

[The Nickman]

RUOK keggles?

Oh not sure I would need an expert like yourself to assess me and help guide me through the darkness and hopefully correct my shortcomings.

The analytical brain food that you provide here is a source of fuel that no one can function without.

Fly high ....you've got this.

So answer is no then

No i'm fine you just have fun jumping ships and pretending you are the captain whilst you are actually scrubbing the decks.

Hahahaha PTOOOTFN, NR!

I think


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[sprintman]

Very little here or on the other media about Sutton. Will he make the grade?

[zim]

I think he looked fine but he didn't get much of a run. He's like the steady man to Horsburghs insanity.

[CJ42]

the thing that was clear in that game, and lets be clear, it's one game... but at least in that game our edge defenders all had total faith in each other.
No one felt the need to cheat in to protect anyone else, they trusted each other to make sound decisions and make clean effective tackles in space. That's huge if it holds up over the season

I reckon it's do with our vastly improved mobility in the middle, thoughts?

[Botman]

the thing that was clear in that game, and lets be clear, it's one game... but at least in that game our edge defenders all had total faith in each other.
No one felt the need to cheat in to protect anyone else, they trusted each other to make sound decisions and make clean effective tackles in space. That's huge if it holds up over the season

I reckon it's do with our vastly improved mobility in the middle, thoughts?

It certainly helps but even in situations where the middles were stressed, and the ball went wide, our line looked comfortable and calm defending in space.

[Goldcoast Raider]

The most pleasing aspect for me was the battle of the forwards, that is by far the best attribute of that titans side and we owned them with much lighter players. Good times.

Came in to say this exact thing. The conditions weren't great but it turned it into a forward slog which was a great test of our defence and lighter, more mobile pack.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk

how good was it to see a fit mobile pack making the Titans big boys look slow and tired, I was at the game absolutely giving it Shannon Boyd about what a fit front rower really looks like

[Zip Zip]

I'm just enjoying this moment.

Gee, certainly seems like it!

A great win in tough conditions and you've done nothing but bag our debutants! What's that all about? What could CNK, Simonsson and others have done to make you happy?

Saying you never want to see them play FG again is a ridiculous statement.

And from an admin... For shame. Are you even a supporter?

[greeneyed]

Canberra Raiders John Bateman spurred by Ricky Stuart's passion

Seeing Ricky Stuart dripping wet but unflinching on the sideline while John Bateman made his NRL debut only reinforced his decision to play for Canberra.

"He's really good, he's straight to the point," Bateman said of his coach. "They haven't been a good couple of years for Canberra; we really want to go out there and do well. And it helps you to know your coach is passionate about the club."

Read more: https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/raider-bat ... a238001bac

Canberra Raiders forward John Bateman stars on debut

Any notion of self-doubt has been laid to rest after English international John Bateman delivered a spectacular NRL debut in Canberra's 21-0 victory over the Titans on Sunday.

"I just went out there to play my game and kept it as simple as I could. That's where I get my confidence from really."

Read more: https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/03/18/sta ... nrl-debut/

Canberra Raiders shut out Gold Coast Titans for wet win: https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/titan-tayl ... 316b7934ba

VIDEO: In the sheds: Corey and Rick Horsburgh: https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2019/03 ... horsburgh/

VIDEO: In the sheds: Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad: https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2019/03 ... -klokstad/

By the Numbers: Raiders v Titans: https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2019/03 ... -v-titans/

Round 1 Moment of the Week: Wighton kick produces forced line dropout: https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2019/03 ... s-dropout/

[raiderskater]

Calm. Calm and collected. That's what's been reverberating in my head all day. We were calm and collected. The way we defended. When we made an error, immediately afterwards. And that final ten or so minutes when Sezer, Wighton and Hodgson looked like being rattled was a foreign concept to them.

Now, of course it's easier being calm and collected when you're 18-0 up on the scoreboard. (Although one might say, not for us in recent times.) But...we didn't panic. We didn't shut down and go into defensive mode. We just kept going, calm and collected.

Of course, calm and collected is now the absolute opposite of what I am!

[greeneyed]

Is Bailey Simonsson's try on debut the NRL Try of the Week? https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/03/18/try-of-the-week/

Vote for NRL try of the week: https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/03/18/try ... -vote-now/

Vote for the Raiders man of the match: https://www.raiders.com.au/competitions ... vote-motm/

[zim]

Is Bailey Simonsson's try on debut the NRL Try of the Week? https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/03/18/try-of-the-week/

Vote for NRL try of the week: https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/03/18/try ... -vote-now/

Vote for the Raiders man of the match: https://www.raiders.com.au/competitions ... vote-motm/

The current leader for best try of the week is... an intercept.