2020 Finals Week 3 V Storm: Game Day

[Begbie]

I've got no issue with Johnny Bateman heading home. I love the guy. But he was not the same player for us this year that he was last year. Not even close.

100% agree. Still brought me to tears with his postmatch interview. Has given so much.

[Raiders Lim!]

Sorry, but If Valemei is the answer to our backline problems, then your asking the wrong questions...
At best he’ll strengthen the Mounties bench...

The spotlight is now on our outside backs. Hard decisions need making.

And not necessarily Valemei

Onboard with a bit of positivity for next year.

Lots of quality to come back into team and then the addition of James and Aekins.

Assuming Jordo gets the Oldfield contract next year the two wingers and subsequently our edge defence will be the biggest question mark in 2021.

That and a vaccine.


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[afgtnk]

They're targeting us exactly where we've got little - the outside backs. Smart

Never fails...... well done

You, out of everyone, need to shut the **** up.

Biggest game of the year and the only thing you do is to take snipes at posters. Pathetic, spineless ****.

Your insults and cheap shots at player and various people are spineless, you are an imposter

I said shut the **** up.

[Roger Kenworthy]

Life is going to be good when Kevvie is taking the Broncos to new depths rather than on Fox.

[afgtnk]

Life is going to be good when Kevvie is taking the Broncos to new depths rather than on Fox.

Even in the darkest of clouds, there is always a silver lining.

[Botman]

I've got no issue with Johnny Bateman heading home. I love the guy. But he was not the same player for us this year that he was last year. Not even close.

his shoulder was cooked, he carried it all year.
His impact on this teams menality in undeniable.

We'll miss him. We dont think we will right now because there isnt the splash plays. But we will.

[Dr Zaius]

I've got no issue with Johnny Bateman heading home. I love the guy. But he was not the same player for us this year that he was last year. Not even close.

his shoulder was cooked, he carried it all year.
His impact on this teams menality in undeniable.

We'll miss him. We dont think we will right now because there isnt the splash plays. But we will.

I'm not sure what menality means. Does it have something to do with him not passing the ball in a 3 on 1 situation?

[Johno]

They're targeting us exactly where we've got little - the outside backs. Smart

Never fails...... well done

You, out of everyone, need to shut the **** up.

Biggest game of the year and the only thing you do is to take snipes at posters. Pathetic, spineless ****.

Your insults and cheap shots at player and various people are spineless, you are an imposter

I said shut the **** up.

I feel incredibly sorry for your partner, if they haven't bolted by now

[radicalraider]

2. Croker 3.wighton 4.Bj 5. Rap 6. Benji

[Roger Kenworthy]

Life is going to be good when Kevvie is taking the Broncos to new depths rather than on Fox.

Even in the darkest of clouds, there is always a silver lining.

If only they'd get Gaz back we could all sleep easy. He made the mistake of articulating football knowledge rather than make Dad jokes.

[moto748]

JB never gives less than 100% on the pitch, I think that's obvious, he could barely speak after the game (mind you, I can hardly understand his Yorkshire accent myself, so i don't know how you guys manage! ).

Talking about Brandy Alexander (and really, as an outsider, I don't see much bias in him, although most of you guys seem to think differently. it's nothing compared to the Roosters and Brisbane fanzine of a lot of the pundits) reminded me; I saw him play once. At Anfield in 1991, Wigan hammered Penrith. Alexander threw a pass Shaun Edwards intercepted and went the length (nearly).

[Seamonkey]

Well that was some press conference

[moto748]

If only they'd get Gaz back

When he was commentating, I reckon if you banned him from saying "There's space behind the ruck", you'd have got a lengthy period of silence.

[greeneyed]

Canberra Raiders' season of adversity finally ends with loss to Melbourne Storm



Canberra Raiders' season of adversity finally ends with loss to Melbourne Storm Ricky Stuart will refuse to make any excuses for his gallant Raiders after Friday's 30-10 preliminary final loss - but we're going to toss a few out here.

How about week after week of same-day travel up and down the eastern seaboard, culminating in a trip to Brisbane where the Queensland government refused to accommodate their request to prepare in a hotel.

MELBOURNE STORM 30 (Jesse Bromwich, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Suliasi Vunivalu, Justin Olam, Dale Finucane tries; Cameron Smith 5 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 10 (Nick Cotric 2 tries; Jarrod Croker goal) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Ashley Klein. Crowd: 37,112.

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

Melbourne Storm engulfs Canberra Raiders

It was a bridge too far for the Canberra Raiders. A long, tough year finally took its toll. Unfortunately, they saved their worst game for their last against a ferocious Melbourne Storm, going down 30-10 at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

Shattered John Bateman bids farewell to Canberra after preliminary final loss to Melbourne Storm

An emotional and bloodied John Bateman has passionately thanked Raiders fans after his two-year tenure in the capital came to an end.

"It's going to be tough [to say goodbye] mate, it's going to be really tough," Bateman said. "I just want to say thank you for having me, it's been a pleasure. Bit all over the place to be fair mate, it's tough to take."

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

Canberra Raiders better than that: Ricky Stuart: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14280

John Bateman bows out vowing the 'sky's the limit' for Green Machine: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/10/17/sky ... rs-family/

Queensland Government couldn't stop the Viking clap before Canberra Raiders Preliminary Final: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

MATCH REPORT: Storm blow Raiders away to book grand final spot: https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/10/16/sto ... inal-spot/

https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2020/10 ... -brisbane/

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: Raiders v Storm: https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/10/16/mat ... v-raiders/

PLAYER RATINGS: Canberra Raiders: https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/10/16/pla ... a-raiders/

Melbourne Storm: https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/10/16/pla ... rne-storm/

PRESS CONFERENCES: Ricky Stuart: https://www.foxsports.com.au/video/leag ... nce!788768

Craig Bellamy and Cameron Smith: https://www.foxsports.com.au/video/leag ... nce!788766

[Raiders Lim!]

Well that was some press conference

Hahaha hung around waiting for that!
Fine! Bring on the whiskey


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[Rads1984]

That was very unprofessional and Captain Croker didn’t even turn up.


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[Roger Kenworthy]

If only they'd get Gaz back

When he was commentating, I reckon if you banned him from saying "There's space behind the ruck", you'd have got a lengthy period of silence.

Haha. Definitely in the studio was where he shined for mine. He gave a pretty unique insight to things compared to the stating the obvious the rest of them do.

[Begbie]

If only they'd get Gaz back

When he was commentating, I reckon if you banned him from saying "There's space behind the ruck", you'd have got a lengthy period of silence.

Like Tim Gable on ABC radio: And he's brought down, midway half and 20. Said it 20 times a match.

[afgtnk]

Please don't tell me Sticky's done a 180 on his new mentality, with the old whinges and excuses appearing.

We lost the game fair and square, beaten by a much better side on the night. No two ways about it. Handle it with class.

[Botman]

I've got no issue with Johnny Bateman heading home. I love the guy. But he was not the same player for us this year that he was last year. Not even close.

his shoulder was cooked, he carried it all year.
His impact on this teams menality in undeniable.

We'll miss him. We dont think we will right now because there isnt the splash plays. But we will.

I'm not sure what menality means. Does it have something to do with him not passing the ball in a 3 on 1 situation?

You know what it means
Fans are welcome to remember him however they wish.

For me, ill miss watching him play for us, and i know this team is not better for his absence.

[Seamonkey]

Ricky seems more than triggered right now. Not going out on the field and then a 30 second press conference.

Seems to be something more going on there could just be angry about the travel farce but he seems pissed at the team.

Wonder if he just stripped a senior player of the captaincy?

[BadnMean]

I've got no issue with Johnny Bateman heading home. I love the guy. But he was not the same player for us this year that he was last year. Not even close.

Unarguable.
Love what he brings but he didn’t bring it to a level he did last year. Nowhere near.
Combo of injury; fitness; contract garbage; one eye on getting home.
Solid but far, far from spectacular this year.

Fair. He was cheeky enough to grab for the big dollars, long term though when he had half a chance (even if he knew that was playijng above himself long term)- classic JB!

Good luck in Super League! Moto might be happy. He'll be good for whoever plays with him back there.

We crumbled all over the park. Middle wasn't great.

best outisde back was one the one leaving. Rest were somewhere between ok and godawful.

Sticky has marked blokes for life after better games in finals than Semi played tonight. Croker has a lot of credits in the bank, but he's burning through them fast- completely ineffectual as a player and missed some challenges. Rapa was poor too.

There were plenty of good games this year, some epic performances from the pack and halves went well for most of the year. If I'm Ricky I'm shoving a broom through that back 5 though. He'll have 2 new faces (or swapped faces) but there's a couple more on thin ice surely.

[Raiders Lim!]

Outclassed tonight. Last week was our gf.
Seriously though, this season has been a success.
When Hodgo went down followed by just about everyone else, realistically it was gonna require a Herculean effort to get back up, change the way we play and make the 8.
We did that and much more. Players were blooded, players were discovered and we got a glimpse of how we can evolve into an ongoing genuine chance.
Tonight we got flamed early and never recovered.
Raps exposed as not a centre; no breaking news there but a decent fill in type centre won’t win comps.
JB has been epic for us especially last year but this year didn’t have the same impact.
Valemi will have a future but again he was full in with an upside.
Toots looked average the last two weeks. Having a rookie fill in outside hasn’t helped but you have to think next year will be an important year for him.
Gwilly with a year of nrl under his belt will be a genuine star. Looked at ease this year and will only get better and more confident.
Smell whilst being epic and consistent looked tired last few weeks. Needs a rest and refresh.
The drop off when paps and taps sub is noticeable. An area to work on next season with fresh players and new players and something we need to nail down consistently so that our pack goes from really good to absolute merciless conquerors.
I’m disappointed tonight but I think it all caught up to us and we were out of gas after a long draining season.
Overall a lot to be proud of this season. Prelim final is a good achievement and especially for us given our injuries.
Penrith Storm GF for mine. I hope the storm win it. I will enjoy gus and Brandy’s heartbreak as much as they enjoyed ours last year !
2021 awaits

I agree with most of what you say except when you comment about the big drop off when Papa and Taps are replaced. Our bench forwards have been good this year and saved us many times.

No team without access to third party deals can invest in a second set of Papa and Tapine level players.

I think we need a top line outside back.

I assume that’s why we take a punt on a Ryan James and hope he can rediscover some of the form from a few season ago. Him and lui at his best would be a phenomenal bench pairing. Not to mention horsey, sutto and guler improving.


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[BadnMean]

Ricky seems more than triggered right now. Not going out on the field and then a 30 second press conference.

Seems to be something more going on there could just be angry about the travel farce but he seems pissed at the team.

Wonder if he just stripped a senior player of the captaincy?

He's required to be on a plane out of Brisbane before midnight, legally so didn't have much time to work with given the 30 mins devoted to trying to convince us Cam Smith isnt the most hated player in the game still.

[Roger Kenworthy]

Please don't tell me Sticky's done a 180 on his new mentality, with the old whinges and excuses appearing.

We lost the game fair and square, beaten by a much better side on the night. No two ways about it. Handle it with class.

I didn't have a problem with that. He would have fielded 10 questions about travel and what played out. He covered what needed to be said - we didn't show up and were manhandled. We lost that game in the first 7 or 8 minutes.

Also, the team has a flight to get to.

[moto748]

Forwards aren't really your problem. Guler and Horsfield are pretty good, Sutton has come on no end at Canberra. Unlike George and JB,he never really hit his straps at Wigan.

Yeah of course I'm delighted to have JB back at Wigan. The problem in the past has been players have come from the NRL crocked. Sam Tomkins for one, took forever to finally get back to something near peak condition, and now Catalans are reaping the benefit. George Burgess, a pig in poke, should never have bought him. Hopefully JB won't be in that category.

[Begbie]

It would be a bad look to complain about the flights etc.

But surely, it must have played its part. After the first 20 we looked good. But perhaps they just clamped up with an 18 nil lead. Who knows...

[Dr Zaius]

I've got no issue with Johnny Bateman heading home. I love the guy. But he was not the same player for us this year that he was last year. Not even close.

his shoulder was cooked, he carried it all year.
His impact on this teams menality in undeniable.

We'll miss him. We dont think we will right now because there isnt the splash plays. But we will.

I'm not sure what menality means. Does it have something to do with him not passing the ball in a 3 on 1 situation?

You know what it means
Fans are welcome to remember him however they wish.

For me, ill miss watching him play for us, and i know this team is not better for his absence.

I honestly don't. It doesn't come up on Urban Dictionary.

[moto748]

I've enjoyed chatting to you guys, I'll still pop in from time to time. Challenge Cup Final tomorrow, anyone be watching? I suppose it's in the middle of the night for you. There was a piece on TV last night, saying the last time Salford were in the Final, the average house cost £4000 and the Beatles were top of the charts!

[Begbie]

I've enjoyed chatting to you guys, I'll still pop in from time to time. Challenge Cup Final tomorrow, anyone be watching? I suppose it's in the middle of the night for you. There was a piece on TV last night, saying the last time Salford were in the Final, the average house cost £4000 and the Beatles were top of the charts!

Go Salford!

[Mullos]

Our biggest loss of the season, 20 points. The boys were gallant but the first 15 cost us. Rapana made 2 bad reads which cost us early, corkers defence on Vunivalu was not existent. And nick then under fatigue took a poor option to swing and miss.. game over. But the Raiders as we know dont ever give up and preceded to win the next 60 mins but the damage was done. As another poster said papa should have come off the bench which may have slightly changed things. We were beaten by the better team tonight. Some really gutsy performances in JB, GW amd starling adder spark. Looking ahead we need centres with size and speed, raps played his worst game in a while - his execution was below average and toots while I love him is not up to the mark - both players need to either change the way they approach the game or miss out. We have some promising young talent that needs to be promoted. Out forwards can’t hang their heads and carried the team. Ah well 27 years next year and counting.. not much to be happy about

[pacman]

That was hard to watch. The complete other end of the spectrum to what any of us were hoping to see from the team.

- Our two big name players (Wighton and Papalii) were both non existent tonight.
- Rapana had probably the worst game of his career and shows that he is not a centre.
- Admire Bateman's passion but I'm pretty happy that he's going home. This season has been a shimmer of his form last year and looks a bit like second year syndrome.
- Croker.. Well, Croker was Croker. All I'll say is that it's not surprising in the least.

I think there were some positives to take away from tonight though. CHN was great and I really hope we'll see him as our starting back rower next year. I thought Williams tried as hard as he could and looking forward to seeing him improve next year as well.

Overall, pretty disappointing but to be honest, this finals series was a bit of a dream after quite a mediocre season. Here's to Ricky and a big off season required with some tough decisions. Our best back leaving the club leaves many questions to be answered on how we will get our attacking mojo back next season.

[BadnMean]

Very disappointed.

But I really thought CHN, Lui and Soliola were great off the bench. They added a lot of energy and stopped the rot.

George Williams probably the only back who was near his best.

I’d have to watch again but I don’t think Sia brought much. Lui- ok. But if one is my 4th prop next season it’s Lui by a mile.

CHN was lively.

[BadnMean]

Jack ran the pants off it in the GF. What was he waiting for tonight?

[Begbie]

That was hard to watch. The complete other end of the spectrum to what any of us were hoping to see from the team.

- Our two big name players (Wighton and Papalii) were both non existent tonight.
- Rapana had probably the worst game of his career and shows that he is not a centre.
- Admire Bateman's passion but I'm pretty happy that he's going home. This season has been a shimmer of his form last year and looks a bit like second year syndrome.
- Croker.. Well, Croker was Croker. All I'll say is that it's not surprising in the least.

I think there were some positives to take away from tonight though. CHN was great and I really hope we'll see him as our starting back rower next year. I thought Williams tried as hard as he could and looking forward to seeing him improve next year as well.

Overall, pretty disappointing but to be honest, this finals series was a bit of a dream after quite a mediocre season. Here's to Ricky and a big off season required with some tough decisions. Our best back leaving the club leaves many questions to be answered on how we will get our attacking mojo back next season.

Thanks Pac - a good analysis.