2019 Rd 2 V Storm: Game Day

[raiderskater]

Sezer did have a pretty ordinary game, but I still think we do him a massive disservice by giving him some absolutely trash-garbage passes. Of course your kicks aren't going to be great when you get a dodgy pass half a second before you get flattened by the opposition. I thought we got better at that late in the second half and surprise surprise, Sezer's kick accuracy improved.

Also - one of the things I was so happy about last week totally disappeared last night - CHASE THE ****ING KICKS. There's no point in Sezer or Wighton or whoever putting in a big booming kick when none of our guys are there to put the pressure on!

[yurithe1]

I wouldn’t be against him being dropped IF he had a bad game against the Knights and IF Williams is tearing it up in Mounties

BUT I’m quietly confident he’ll turn it around next week


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Mounties are playing against Newtown today. Game is being televised by Foxsports. We'll get a good idea of how he's travelling.

I have to admit I'd forgotten about Hingano. I didn't think he was very good last year, but I have to temper that with the fact that Ricky was misusing him at hooker.

[-TW-]

Bit hard to chase them when they shell them down the back 3s throat all night

Didn't know we had Josh McCrone for a cameo appearance

[Brew]

Watching with a mate .... and we couldnt even work out whether he was nsw or qld ???

That says it all.

Does it really matter, he will never ever play Origin.


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[Wiki Special]

I thought we could take the scoreline as a positive. Last year it probably gets ugly in that 2nd half with a quality team like Melbourne putting 40 on us. The desire is evident this year, we are just not there yet against the top sides. The Storm won the wrestle in both attack and defence. We have to do a better job in this area. Our teams attack needs quick play the balls for the likes of Rapana, Leilua, Cotric, etc. to shine. And in defence our line speed would improve if we aren't starting each play on the back foot because we can't slow down the opposition. I hate the wrestle in the game but it isn't going anywhere it would seem so we need to be better.

I am very happy with the likes of Horsburgh, J. Bateman and CNK so far. All extremely willing.

I really like our back 3 as individual players but I do honestly think all 3 are better wingers than fullbacks.

[-PJ-]

Ok guys, garage door is up...

[Botman]

Shouts to the green chapel though!

He and his mate didn’t remember Sezer’s played for city, was a highly touted bulldogs junior, and they can’t use google... it really does say it all!

[simo]

Imagine how many halfa would be sacked if their performance against the storm was the only criteria used

[Neeeegz]

Hingano in for sezer, I'd think him and Jack would go well together

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I've seen no evidence that Hingano is a regular first grader, he's a depth half.

Yeah because Ricky plays him on the wing

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[Hazza]

Imagine how many halfa would be sacked if their performance against the storm was the only criteria used

haha yeah cos Sezer has only ever had an ordinary game v the storm. Gee I would've thought people are basing it on 3 seasons of mediocrity, not 1 game v the storm.

[roneel78]

Shouts to the green chapel though!

He and his mate didn’t remember Sezer’s played for city, was a highly touted bulldogs junior, and they can’t use google... it really does say it all!

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[KingDynamite]

I’m sorry but did he just spell it “acturally”

[gerg]

Bit hard to chase them when they shell them down the back 3s throat all night

Didn't know we had Josh McCrone for a cameo appearance

For the first 40/50 odd minutes our strategy was one out forward hitups for 4 tackles which allowed us to be completely dominated in the ruck, which meant we weren't making any ground and weren't countering the wrestle. Because of this their wingers were dropping back on the fourth meaning there was not much open space to kick. We could have tried a few shorter kicks behind the line. We didn't have enough bodies in motion to stop our forwards from being monstered in gang tackles. This is something I believe Crawley would have rectified.

We have no plays, no structured play, it's like they just toss it around and wait for something to open up. This doesnt work against the top teams with good defence. You need structured plays to create gaps.

We were outcoached.

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[Brew]

Another year another loss to Melbourne. They just do everything better than us.

I pray for the day the worlds align and we get Bellamy to coach us.

Sezer has been in the top grade for what 7 years? Croft hardly a world beater has had 2 seasons in the NRL and he looks better than Sezer.
I was a Sezer fan but becoming increasingly frustrated with him.


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[zim]

Horsburgh just needs to improve his discipline before he gets a reputation with the refs, otherwise he is what we need in the side. I'd put his effort way ahead of Lui's even with the penalties.

Yeah for me Horsburgh negatives just amount to a rookie learning where to draw the line. He would have been given some instructions that he took too literally.

[LastRaider]

Imagine how many halfa would be sacked if their performance against the storm was the only criteria used

haha yeah cos Sezer has only ever had an ordinary game v the storm. Gee I would've thought people are basing it on 3 seasons of mediocrity, not 1 game v the storm.

Agree, 3 seasons with no improvement at all.


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[BadnMean]

Bit hard to chase them when they shell them down the back 3s throat all night

Didn't know we had Josh McCrone for a cameo appearance

For the first 40/50 odd minutes our strategy was one out forward hitups for 4 tackles which allowed us to be completely dominated in the ruck, which meant we weren't making any ground and weren't countering the wrestle. Because of this their wingers were dropping back on the fourth meaning there was not much open space to kick. We could have tried a few shorter kicks behind the line. We didn't have enough bodies in motion to stop our forwards from being monstered in gang tackles. This is something I believe Crawley would have rectified.

We have no plays, no structured play, it's like they just toss it around and wait for something to open up. This doesnt work against the top teams with good defence. You need structured plays to create gaps.

We were outcoached.

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There's no question Storm are the best coached team in the league, across all (or most) departments.

We see the same thing every time we play them- we just look like we are being squeezed to death by a python and can't get out. Once the air cuts out, we panic and start to make mistakes and Storm pounce.

The way to play them isn't to outboring Storm them- they are the best at that. You need to hold your nerve in attack and not actually try anything that doesn't work for you normally. Just accept that it takes longer to break a good team down and what gets through most teams on most occasions will take a few extra goes to work vs Melbourne. Instead we panic and drop balls pushing passes down there when it's not on and kick early and out on the full. Panic.

A strong minded team looks at them and doesn't blink and just does it again. A less confident team (us) blinks and panics and throws the game at them with silly errors.


In defence you need to be uber aggressive - cheat to get off your line- keep doing it so you can defend the penalties and the refs will get sick of cluing the 2m ones and just call the biggies. Then you can smash them and push the wrestle as dominant tackler. Like the Rooters did in the GF. Admittedly you different reffing in a GF but we had a 20 min period where we did this and we were in the game. They will out wrestle you by half a second in every ruck and choke your game that way unless you do something like this imo.
Only other weapon against that is for freaks like Rapana and Joey to keep making breaks/half breaks and get such a roll the wrestling looks bad because we are rolling and have the momentum. But you can't have career best years every year.

Storm outplay everyone because they do everything 90% well and have such belief that they don't panic if faced with real resistance. They have the mental strength to know it works so just keep doing it, the know it will work eventually and seeing other teams lose by just panicking away from their own game... well they feed off that.

[Seiffert82]

The key stat would have to be metres conceeded per set.

Raiders 45m, Storm 35.

The Storm had the best number this season and have a +10 advantage for 2 weeks.

Funnily enough I was just thinking the difference was about 10 m per set.

The Storm forwards are like a machine with Smith. Hitting the advantage line flat and hard on every hitup. Our forwards often seemed to be receing the ball a metre or so behind the ruck, and certainly not at full pace. Not surprising with a new front row.

In defence, Melbourne's linespeed was easily 1-2 metres faster than ours. So if you're getting a 2 metre per hitup advantage the entire game, it really adds up.

[Rickmando]

Bit hard to chase them when they shell them down the back 3s throat all night

Didn't know we had Josh McCrone for a cameo appearance

For the first 40/50 odd minutes our strategy was one out forward hitups for 4 tackles which allowed us to be completely dominated in the ruck, which meant we weren't making any ground and weren't countering the wrestle. Because of this their wingers were dropping back on the fourth meaning there was not much open space to kick. We could have tried a few shorter kicks behind the line. We didn't have enough bodies in motion to stop our forwards from being monstered in gang tackles. This is something I believe Crawley would have rectified.

We have no plays, no structured play, it's like they just toss it around and wait for something to open up. This doesnt work against the top teams with good defence. You need structured plays to create gaps.

We were outcoached.

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I’d agree that our attacking structure has been sorely lacking for a long time. Even a massive Rick-head like me can see that.

But I’d also argue that our “improvised” attack leaves something to be desired. I love Jordy Raps and to a lesser extent BJ, but when those guys go to dummy half they run it 100% of the time. There’s no thought to pass it occasionally just to keep defences guessing/honest. Kicking is the same. What about the occasional chip over the top to put doubt in a fullbacks mind?

It seems as though we have blokes who are trying to follow a structured, rigid plan of attacking - but either they aren’t executing it very well, or the plan isn’t very good.

Bottom line - we have a lot of players in this team with low football IQ

[gangrenous]

The plan is fine, it works well against a lot of teams.

The problem is there is no plan B. No adapting to game circumstances. So no beating the Storm.

As you say there needed to be some passing or support runners for the dummy half. Melbourne shut that down and we kept to it. Stupid.

[greeneyed]

Match Gallery: Raiders v Storm: https://www.pinterest.com.au/theghraiders/

https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2019/03 ... s-v-storm/

In the Sheds: Jarrod Croker: https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2019/03 ... od-croker/

[Green Chapel]

Shouts to the green chapel though!

He and his mate didn’t remember Sezer’s played for city, was a highly touted bulldogs junior, and they can’t use google... it really does say it all!

Hey mate ... the point was , most good players you know what state they are from !!
Because they get talked about for origin

Get it piggy ??

You know what i mean ?

Too busy trying to put me down ae pal !!

And you missed the point ...

[Green Chapel]

Maybe miss piggy can figure it out for ya !!

[Gazman]

Bit hard to chase them when they shell them down the back 3s throat all night

Didn't know we had Josh McCrone for a cameo appearance

For the first 40/50 odd minutes our strategy was one out forward hitups for 4 tackles which allowed us to be completely dominated in the ruck, which meant we weren't making any ground and weren't countering the wrestle. Because of this their wingers were dropping back on the fourth meaning there was not much open space to kick. We could have tried a few shorter kicks behind the line. We didn't have enough bodies in motion to stop our forwards from being monstered in gang tackles. This is something I believe Crawley would have rectified.

We have no plays, no structured play, it's like they just toss it around and wait for something to open up. This doesnt work against the top teams with good defence. You need structured plays to create gaps.

We were outcoached.

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There's no question Storm are the best coached team in the league, across all (or most) departments.

We see the same thing every time we play them- we just look like we are being squeezed to death by a python and can't get out. Once the air cuts out, we panic and start to make mistakes and Storm pounce.

The way to play them isn't to outboring Storm them- they are the best at that. You need to hold your nerve in attack and not actually try anything that doesn't work for you normally. Just accept that it takes longer to break a good team down and what gets through most teams on most occasions will take a few extra goes to work vs Melbourne. Instead we panic and drop balls pushing passes down there when it's not on and kick early and out on the full. Panic.

A strong minded team looks at them and doesn't blink and just does it again. A less confident team (us) blinks and panics and throws the game at them with silly errors.


In defence you need to be uber aggressive - cheat to get off your line- keep doing it so you can defend the penalties and the refs will get sick of cluing the 2m ones and just call the biggies. Then you can smash them and push the wrestle as dominant tackler. Like the Rooters did in the GF. Admittedly you different reffing in a GF but we had a 20 min period where we did this and we were in the game. They will out wrestle you by half a second in every ruck and choke your game that way unless you do something like this imo.
Only other weapon against that is for freaks like Rapana and Joey to keep making breaks/half breaks and get such a roll the wrestling looks bad because we are rolling and have the momentum. But you can't have career best years every year.

Storm outplay everyone because they do everything 90% well and have such belief that they don't panic if faced with real resistance. They have the mental strength to know it works so just keep doing it, the know it will work eventually and seeing other teams lose by just panicking away from their own game... well they feed off that.

Great analogy’s!



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[greeneyed]

AUDIO: Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart speaks about the loss to the Melbourne Storm

Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart speaks to Brett McKay on Canberra Grandstand after the loss to the Melbourne Storm last night. (0:00 min mark)

Audio: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/canberra/p ... d/10909074

[RedRaider]

Happy Clapper..Winx's bitch since 2017

No surprise that Winx has done it again today.

Fabulous consistency from the mare. Unlike Aidan Sezer who's only consistency is his inconsistency. Sticky has his favourites and will stay with them, just like the jumbo props selections of last year. Sam Williams was better in the trials than Sezer. I read the Mounties thread and he apparently played well for Mounties again today (queue those who scream ' but it's only reggies'). He is playing well against the opposition he is put in against. Sezer is not. I don't expect Sticky will drop him. He should but he won't.

[Botman]

Well, I mean he’s been spoken about for origin a number of times (though not in the last 2-3 years), he was probably close to a call up a few times in those dark days for NSW and he was playing very well for the Titans. Certainly his name was brought up in the media a few times early in his career

I got your point. You didn’t know what state he was from.

But that says it all!

[Botman]

Maybe miss piggy can figure it out for ya !!

Fwiw miss piggy doesn’t give the faintest **** about the footy anymore
She doesn’t know nor care who Aiden Sezer is, and that, my dear friend, really says it all.

[gerg]

I've been a staunch supporter of Sezer but he doesn't show something in the next 5 to 6 weeks maybe Williams deserves a chance. Sezer has been given the reins to lead the side around. He was good with game management last week but pretty ordinary last night.

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[Botman]

Williams has had a chance. That’s the problem. All you’re doing with Williams is shifting the problems
We’ll may be slightly better in attack, and suddenly we’ve got the Blake Austin problem again.

And maybe that’s more manageable now we have Wighton in the halves? Or maybe that’ll just force teams to attack that one weakness even more.

Ultimately the club and it think most fans know the results won’t change much between the two, it’s just how you and lose that will change. Neither of these dudes is the answer, they’ve each been given chances to prove otherwise and here we are.

Which is probably why the English lad has been signed.

[Green eyed Mick]

Williams has had a chance. That’s the problem. All you’re doing with Williams is shifting the problems
We’ll may be slightly better in attack, and suddenly we’ve got the Blake Austin problem again.

And maybe that’s more manageable now we have Wighton in the halves? Or maybe that’ll just force teams to attack that one weakness even more.

Ultimately the club and it think most fans know the results won’t change much between the two, it’s just how you and lose that will change. Neither of these dudes is the answer, they’ve each been given chances to prove otherwise and here we are.

Which is probably why the English lad has been signed.

I think we would be a better side with Williams. I thought the same last year. Williams and Wighton will work better together because Williams is a natural first receiver and Sezer is not. It's really that simple.

[Sezer's Palace]

A few thoughts:

- I've been really impressed by CNK so far but something to keep an eye on is his positioning for the Storm's second try. Not sure if it's a tactic or just a brain explosion but he did it against the Bulldogs in the trial as well and we were almost caught out. Hopefully doesn't happen again.
- I'd probably rather see someone else in for Lui. He's been ineffective carting the ball in both games and he's not a particularly strong defender. Would probably like to see Guler come in but haven't seen any of Mounties this season so not sure who's been strong there.
- I don't think Sezer was as bad as has been said. Granted, his first 20 was awful and that kick for Rapana in particular was both a bad idea/bad execution but I thought after that he was okay. Hodgson's decisions in the red zone frustrated me more so than Sezer's and I thought he did a better job of straightening/taking on the line this week. He needs to stand closer to the ruck as first receiver, at the moment he is standing so far away that it's a difficult pass to make and it's causing him to start flat footed.
- I'd like to see us utilise Whitehead better in attack. He's such a weapon with his hands/hole running/short kick chase but at the moment he's just being used for tough carries/short balls. We also need to get Leilua more early ball, going to the right seems to be an after thought at the moment.
- Rapana looked a bit underdone but it was great to have his enthusiasm back.
- Horsburgh will be great if he can get those dumb penalties out of his game. Love his aggression and offload but has to be more disciplined.

I think that's all for the moment. The Storm have been clinical to start the season and I think we were overwhelmed by their intensity and ruck control. With a 7 day turnaround I'm still very confident we'll do the Knights.

[zilhouse]

Bit hard to chase them when they shell them down the back 3s throat all night

Didn't know we had Josh McCrone for a cameo appearance

For the first 40/50 odd minutes our strategy was one out forward hitups for 4 tackles which allowed us to be completely dominated in the ruck, which meant we weren't making any ground and weren't countering the wrestle. Because of this their wingers were dropping back on the fourth meaning there was not much open space to kick. We could have tried a few shorter kicks behind the line. We didn't have enough bodies in motion to stop our forwards from being monstered in gang tackles. This is something I believe Crawley would have rectified.

We have no plays, no structured play, it's like they just toss it around and wait for something to open up. This doesnt work against the top teams with good defence. You need structured plays to create gaps.

We were outcoached.

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I’d agree that our attacking structure has been sorely lacking for a long time. Even a massive Rick-head like me can see that.

But I’d also argue that our “improvised” attack leaves something to be desired. I love Jordy Raps and to a lesser extent BJ, but when those guys go to dummy half they run it 100% of the time. There’s no thought to pass it occasionally just to keep defences guessing/honest. Kicking is the same. What about the occasional chip over the top to put doubt in a fullbacks mind?

It seems as though we have blokes who are trying to follow a structured, rigid plan of attacking - but either they aren’t executing it very well, or the plan isn’t very good.

Bottom line - we have a lot of players in this team with low football IQ

I disagree with the bottom line man. A team with a guy like hodgson isnt low IQ. If your team is doing 4 one out hit ups they are doing it because they are coached to do that.
Its not always a bad strategy but at NRL level it generally is. There are a few ways that can work i.e. if you have a team full of big boppers who are hard to handle and get quick play the balls, or if youre playing a team in the wet who drop lots of footy i.e. titans. Doing that verses the storm is just asking for a pounding. They can get numbers into the tackles and slow it down so you lose any momentum. The way to beat the storm is through offloads, getting one on one tackles when you have the ball and complete at a high %.

The 2016 attack wasnt rigid. Our attack started to get rigid the last few games into 2018. Whoever is coaching attack at the moment is banking on playing under 15 level footy for the rest of the year.

[Leebola]

What about the occasional chip over the top to put doubt in a fullbacks mind?

Yessir!! This is what has been grinding my gears for a while now. We bitched and moaned throughout 2017 and 2018 the teams were coming up so fast (or were standing offside) they'd stifle our attacking weapons out wide. Well, if teams are moving up quick, then put the ball behind them!! Make them turn around and chase - if they're up fast or offside, then the race to the ball is that much closer! Put them in two minds! Put some questions into the fullback's mind! Ricky Stuart was a master of the chip-and-chase, either for himself or others.

Christ, why is it that randoms on a RL forum can see this stuff, but RL professionals on six- and seven figures can't seem to manage it.

[Botman]

We might be marginally better in attack, but we’d be significantly worse in defence
The game is played on both sides and unfortunately both options leave us exposed on one side.

I’ve watched enough footy and enough of this raiders team to say we’ve got the strike power to score points despite Sezer’s limitations
I’ve seen nothing to suggest we can stand up defensively with a player of Williams limitations

For me, it’s as simple as that. If we have to pick a poison here, defence wins more in this league more than offence
We’ve been the best attacking side in the league over the last 2 years and haven’t sniffed the play offs

Let’s hooe the pommy Williams can give us a little of both.