Through green eyes 2021

All the news on the Canberra Raiders NRL team, all in one place

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zim
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by zim »

Or the exact thing you say to players that are playing panic football instead of getting through their sets.
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gangrenous
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Through green eyes 2021

Post by gangrenous »

One out crash balls are panic football?

This team is better when they play some panic football.
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by Hong Kong Raider »

Papa deserved an 8 - crucial tackle on AFB close to the try line which saved a certain try at 16-0 and led to the subsequent forward pass, and crucial tackle on O'Sullivan in our 20 m zone in second half which led to the ball spilling free. Plus his metres and go forward.
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zim
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by zim »

gangrenous wrote: August 28, 2021, 8:40 pm One out crash balls are panic football?

This team is better when they play some panic football.
Playing expansively is not a prerequisite to playing panic football. They weren't in control at all. Guler couldn't even play the ball properly because he was trying to get through it without thinking about it. They were getting in each other's way and crowding the ball. Too flat. Kept stuffing up because they weren't focused on what the hell they were doing in the moment.
You simplify. Take the score out of the equation. Take next week out of their minds. Focus on the next half.
It's just another way of saying the cliched "Let's get back to our process." Every coach has said that.

Execution was far better in the second. They just started flowing. Even when we were throwing a lot of passes they weren't stupid passes. They got out of each other's way because they went back to their roles and relaxed.
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greeneyed
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by greeneyed »

Through green eyes: What it means to be a Raider

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The Canberra Raiders must head into the final round of the regular season with "hope in their hearts and dreams in their heads" - as legendary long distance runner Emil Zátopek once said.

In their final game of the regular season on Thursday night, the Raiders meet the sixth placed Roosters in Mackay. Their nemesis.

The Roosters are the team that snatched a premiership away from the Raiders in 2019, in a Grand Final marred by officiating controversy. The team that the Raiders stopped from getting a third straight title last year.

It'll be an intense battle, no doubt. The sort of intense game we saw last year in the rematch of the 2019 Grand Final at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In the midst of an injury crisis, and with their backs to the wall, the Raiders were inspiring in a 24-20 victory.

They'll need to be just as good on Thursday night. They'll need to show what it means to be a Raider.

The Green Machine still has the opportunity to make the top eight - or more precisely, to finish in eighth place on the ladder. Their destiny is not in their own hands. They must depend on the Melbourne Storm beating the Cronulla Sharks on Friday night. But before that, the Raiders must beat the Roosters - or at least come up with a draw.

The first placed Storm know they have a top two spot locked in. Storm coach, and Raiders Hall of Famer, Craig Bellamy is resting seven players, wrapping some of his stars in cotton wool for the finals. The Storm is still putting out a strong team. But not the strongest possible.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart isn't holding that against his old mate Bellamy. Not for a moment.

"I think if you've earned the position to rest players this week, well good on you," Stuart said today.

"I was criticised last year for debuting so many young players who went out and beat the Sharks. There wasn't too much criticism after it."

"If we want to start criticising coaches for resting players to give themselves the best shot to win a semi final, it's pretty disappointing. Because you're doing everything you possibly can to win a semi-final. If that means resting players, good on you. You've earned the opportunity to do that throughout a very tough season."

"We've got a game that wants to expand. We've got a game that wants to go and find another club here in Brisbane. Don't you think it's a positive that we can actually rest players and give another young bloke an opportunity to play first grade? Or give another guy who's been sitting in the wings for the last four or five weeks to play first grade? We want to talk about expansion. You can't go criticising coaches for resting players at this stage of the season."

At the start of the season, the Raiders were widely considered to be a top eight squad, possibly a top four squad. Things did not happen as planned.

Coach Stuart knows that the Raiders only have themselves to blame for their shaky position on the ladder. But he also has belief that he has a squad that should be playing finals.

"We are a semi-final team," he said today.

"We're disappointed with where we are on the table and relying on one game and another game's results, that's disappointing. But if we didn't have the strength in the playing group we would have been out of running two or three weeks ago."

The Roosters have had a week in the headlines, following Latrell Mitchell's high shot on Roosters centre Joseph Manu. Manu's cheekbone was fractured and he's been sidelined for the rest of the season. Mitchell will also miss the rest of the season, due to a six week suspension. Trent Robinson and the Roosters have been fined $40,000 following a furious post match press conference from the Roosters' coach.

Stuart doesn't expect the Roosters will be fired up by the week of drama on Thursday night.

"It's another important game of football for both teams. I'm sure they would want to go into the semi finals in good form, playing well, as we do, Stuart said.

Stuart does expect that the Roosters will be giving their left winger Daniel Tupou as many opportunities as they can.

"They kick the ball to him a lot and I can understand that strategy," Stuart said.

"He's very good in the air so we're expecting them to be bombing our right side. I've got young Harley Smith-Shields there. I just said to him, if I wasn't confident in him doing a job I'd swap sides with him with Jordan."

"But I think it's going to be great experience for the young bloke to have a crack at this type of highly intense, important fixture."

"Harley's been really good. He's a centre playing on the wing at the moment and he's been very good for us. So he'll get his opportunity tomorrow night to mark a very experienced first grader."

****

The clash with the Roosters could be Sia Soliola's final game of first class rugby league - should the Raiders miss the finals. It is widely expected that the 35 year old will retire at the end of this season.

Soliola has been a wonderful player for the Raiders, becoming a spiritual leader of the club. A senior mentor for others. A role model in terms of what he does for the community off the field. Sadly he's just lost his mother, who passed away recently in Samoa.

The players in the Raiders' leadership group approached coach Ricky Stuart to support Soliola's selection this week.

"I thought it was a nice gesture yesterday that Elliott Whitehead, after a meeting with the senior players, wanted to make sure of the fact that Sia was going to playing," coach Ricky Stuart said today.

"Because he had a very rough week last week. I just thought it was a great show of mateship. One or two other boys were a bit unlucky, but they understood the situation. We always talk about team. That was a little bit evidence that they're nice and strong and that they've got a good bond."

"I've known Sia since he was 17. I started coaching him at the Roosters. He's trusted. He's been a rock behind the scenes here at the club for me. I bounce a lot of things off Sia and I can trust him on the field as well."



Stuart wouldn't be drawn today on whether Soliola might retire at season's end.

"He's had a very distinguished career. I'm yet to sit down with Sia. It's a really important part of the season and those discussions will be had at a later date," he said.

"As a coach, when you've got a guy like Sia you know what you're going to get, defensively and in attack. It's what I mean by, the fact that you can trust the guy. I've known him for a long time. His off field commitments to the community and the Canberra Raiders... he's very similar on the field. The boys all look up to Sia. They call him "uncle", and that's the type of respect that he's earned."

****

This week, veteran winger Jordan Rapana extended his stay with the Canberra Raiders for another two years. The 32 year old has been one of the best, if not the best, player at the club this year.

When he left for Japanese rugby union at the end of 2019, it seemed like his football career was winding down. As it turned out, he didn't play a game in Japan. When the pandemic intervened, he returned to the national capital, and the club he loves.

It wasn't plain sailing for him in 2020. It took some time for him to get his fitness back. He ended up being an "everywhere man", playing 10 games on the wing, six at centre, two from the bench and one at fullback. He was mostly used on the left wing, rather than his usual right wing spot. He didn't seem to be quite the player he once was.



But he still brought an enormous amount of enthusiasm to the squad, the sort of infectious enthusiasm that rubs off on others. He always tried his heart out. And that's why he's a much loved player, amongst the players and the fans.

This year has been different. With a "full pre-season under his belt", he's produced some vintage form. So far, he's scored 12 tries, the most since he was the Dally M Winger of the Year back in 2017. That year he scored 21. His own record for tries scored in a season (23 in 2016) is the club record. But 2021 is his third best season ever in terms of tries scored.

He's also made 15 line breaks so far this season. He's only produced more back in 2016 (26) and 2017 (24). He's never averaged more running metres in his career than in this season (167 metres per game).

That deserved to be rewarded with a contract extension - and he has been.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart spoke this week about the value that Rapana brings to the club - both on field and off. As a mentor for the young talent coming through the Raiders' ranks in the outside backs.

He's had a really big couple of months, to be honest," Stuart told The Raider Nick podcast.

"He creates a lot of energy around the players. They love playing with him and they were all very excited when Jordy announced that he'd re-signed for another two seasons."

"He's been at the club for a long time now. I think it's nearly nine or 10 years now."

"He's a real Raider and a bloke who we all love playing with and I certainly enjoy coaching."

Stuart also admires the way Rapana spoke this week about the city of Canberra, after his new two year deal was announced.

Rapana was born in Wellington, New Zealand and grew up on the Gold Coast. But Rapana spoke from the heart when saying that he didn't want to be anywhere else but Canberra. That Canberra is now his home.



"That's probably the epitome, when we talk about wanting to be a Raider," Stuart said.

"These players come from outside Canberra and they settle down, they find a partner or they bring their partners, they get married, they have children, they see Canberra as home."

"One day I feel that Kelsey and Jordy will move back closer to family at the Gold Coast."

"But whilst they are in Canberra, they make it home, they buy into family, they buy into the community. It's a good feeling from a coach's point of view because you know they're comfortable and settled outside the game."

When I recently had a stab at a 40 year Canberra Raiders Dream Team, I expressed the view that Jordan Rapana was now one of the two best wingers in the club's history - alongside John Ferguson.

The response from some was, "Haven't you ever heard of Noa Nadruku?"

But I stand by my view. He's now played 153 games for the club. This year, he's surpassed Noa Nadruku and Mal Meninga, and moved into fifth place for most tries scored for the Raiders. No Canberra winger has scored more. He now has 83 tries in green, and has the 87 tries scored by Laurie Daley in his sight. Perhaps the 105 tries scored by Brett Mullins as well.

He's certainly got a place in my Dream Team.

****

Every week I rate the Raiders players on a scale of 0-10... and here is the points tally after the clash with the Warriors. Tell us what you think of the ratings!

Total points

Jordan Rapana 146
Ryan Sutton 139
Josh Papalii 131
Jack Wighton 129
Elliott Whitehead 123
Hudson Young 121
Josh Hodgson 115
Joe Tapine 113
Tom Starling 107
Emre Guler 106
Sebastian Kris 106
Bailey Simonsson 97
Corey Harrawira-Naera 88
Sia Soliola 75
Sam Williams 69
George Williams 65
Ryan James 62
Jarrod Croker 61
Semi Valemei 59
Curtis Scott 58
Dunamis Lui 52
Matt Timoko 48
Siliva Havili 45
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 43
Caleb Aekins 42
Corey Horsburgh 41
Harley Smith-Shields 41
Matt Frawley 22
Xavier Savage 16
Brad Schneider 2
Elijah Anderson 1

Average points per match

Jordan Rapana 7.0
Harley Smith-Shields 6.8
Hudson Young 6.7
Ryan Sutton 6.6
Josh Papalii 6.6
George Williams 6.5
Joe Tapine 6.3
Elliott Whitehead 6.2
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 6.1
Jack Wighton 6.1
Josh Hodgson 6.1
Caleb Aekins 6.0
Matt Timoko 6.0
Semi Valemei 5.9
Emre Guler 5.9
Corey Harrawira-Naera 5.9
Corey Horsburgh 5.9
Curtis Scott 5.8
Sam Williams 5.8
Bailey Simonsson 5.7
Tom Starling 5.6
Matt Frawley 5.5
Xavier Savage 5.3
Sebastian Kris 5.3
Ryan James 5.2
Jarrod Croker 5.1
Dunamis Lui 4.7
Sia Soliola 4.7
Siliva Havili 4.5
Brad Schneider 2.0
Elijah Anderson 1.0

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greeneyed
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by greeneyed »

Through green eyes: As I saw it

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"It's an empty feeling. It's a shocking feeling. Because I think we're a better team than where we've ended up on the table. But we are where we are. It's all because of the middle part of the season when we had a real bad slump. We lost all our mojo and form and I think we were two from 12. Realistically, we probably didn't even deserve to be fighting for the eight tonight. We were poor tonight, we were really poor.

There's games like that where you don't see that coming. We got to the sideline ready to go, the boys prepared well. I can't blame our defence tonight, our attack was dreadful. We had some opportunities in that first half. I think there were two drops there. Poor old Semi had a tough night, and he's a better player than that. I'd pick him again in first grade next week. That's not him. We had a couple of drops there on the right hand side [when there was] a try scoring opportunity. In the second half we just took so many wrong options in attack. We didn't give ourselves the chance to attack because we took the wrong options with the football.

We started so well, we were flying through the middle. Every time we got up their end we created an opportunity to score a try. We had two opportunities dropped. It could have been three tries. I'm not being disrespectful to the Roosters. They've had a tough year and done really well to get where they are, but if we can't beat that team out there tonight, we're only wasting another week being up here. Go home and see the families. If we couldn't beat that team, we'd just be waiting another week to get beaten."

Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart


2021 Round 25. Sydney Roosters 40 - Canberra Raiders 16. With their season on the line, the Canberra Raiders saved one of their worst performances of the year for their last. The Roosters have been ravaged by injury this season, but compared to the Raiders, they looked like world beaters. It was a contest in the early stages, with the Raiders taking a 12-6 lead at the 20 minute mark. It was all downhill from there. The Raiders did not score again until a consolation try for Harley Smith-Shields in the 78th minute. The Raiders produced error after error, bombing their own chances and handing them to the Roosters. Turnovers and penalties meant the the Raiders had little possession - and you can't win football games without the football.



The officiating was as poor as the Raiders. The officials incorrectly awarded an "eight point try" after Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad collided with Matt Ikuvalu - as the Roosters winger crossed in the corner. Nicoll-Klokstad was put on report, and today he's been issued with the fine by the match review committee. Most commentators believe that there was no illegality involved. There were other dud calls, a missed knock on which led to points for the Roosters, a penalty for a "strip" from Elliott Whitehead, a missed shoulder charge on Corey Horsburgh.

The referee effectively also permitted a captain's challenge from the Roosters for an offence that could not be challenged. The Roosters took Matt Timoko over the sideline after the referee had called held. Referee Sutton told Roosters captain James Tedesco that they could not challenge the ruling, that they could only challenge that Timoko had been taken over the sideline. Tedesco said 'yes'. Timoko was obviously taken over the sideline. Then the bunker somehow ruled that the Roosters retained their captain's challenge as the referee's decision could not be challenged. Go figure that. Teams have often retained challenges this year when they should not have. Last night, well that was ridiculous.

However, the Raiders certainly did not lose because of the officiating. Their attack was terrible, but so was their defence.



The Raiders' season is now over. There is a highly remote, mathematical chance left. It requires the Storm to beat the Sharks by 70 odd points and the Titans to lose to the Warriors. Not happening. The Raiders have finished the season where they deserved to finish. They have not been a finals quality side. They were not prepared well for Vlandysball. Their fitness at the start of the season put them behind the eight ball. The faster paced game has left a number of the Raiders' veteran players behind. They did not have enough speed or agility. The grinding game plan that worked so well in 2019, worked no longer in 2021. Other teams have been much quicker to adapt to the new rules. The Raiders are going to have to find a new way in the off season - because what they've been doing this season has not worked. Not at all.

The squad is not a top eight squad right now either. The loss of first choice halfback George Williams was a blow. And while Sam Williams and Matt Frawley are great club men, you're not going to be playing finals football with either of them as your first choice No. 7. The Raiders have some impressive young talent coming through and there needs to be some generational change. That's not going to be an easy thing to do. Some hard decisions are going to have to be taken. But there also needs to be an injection of new blood from outside the club. Certainly, somehow, the Raiders need to find a halfback. Sadly, the rebuild may well take more than one year.

Stats that mattered? These are the stats that mattered for the Raiders:

44 per cent possession share
42 per cent of the territory
Six minutes less with the ball
59 per cent completion rate
582 more running metres conceded than gained
Seven line breaks conceded
41 tackle breaks conceded
50 per cent kick defusal rate
41 missed tackles
19 ineffective tackles
15 errors
Eight penalties conceded
Seven tries conceded

That's a recipe for a paddlin' and it was.

Memorable moments?

The positives were few and far between. It was a good first try for the Raiders, set up by a great, late offload from Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad. Josh Papalii produced a trade mark try, bouncing away from three tacklers on the goal line, and crashing over. Sadly, the things that stuck in the memory were less positive. Semi Valemei was a late replacement for Sebastian Kris. He had a shocker, producing five errors and some critical missed tackles. The Roosters targeted him with the high ball and that was well rewarded for the men in red, white and blue. Hopefully, his confidence can rebound with a strong off season.

Best performers?

Josh Papalii. One try, 14 runs for 144 running metres, 57 post contact metres, one line break, five tackle breaks, one offload, 26 tackles, 96 per cent tackle efficiency, no errors.

Joseph Tapine. 15 runs for 168 running metres, 67 post contact metres, one tackle break, two offloads, 23 tackles, 96 per cent tackle efficiency, no errors.

Harley Smith-Shields. One try, 13 runs for 147 running metres, 49 post contact metres, three tackle breaks, nine tackles, 75 per cent tackle efficiency, one error.

Top tacklers: Josh Hodgson 47, Hudson Young 40, Elliott Whitehead 38
Most metres gained: Joseph Tapine 168, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 157, Harley Smith-Shields 147, Josh Papalii 144, Matt Timoko 141

Josh Hodgson missed seven tackles, and Matt Timoko missed five.

My player ratings:

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 6
Harley Smith-Shields 7
Matt Timoko 4
Jordan Rapana 6
Semi Valemei 1
Jack Wighton 6
Matt Frawley 5
Josh Papalii 8
Josh Hodgson 5
Joseph Tapine 8
Hudson Young 5
Elliott Whitehead 6
Sia Soliola 3

Emre Guler 4
Ryan Sutton 6
Corey Horsburgh 3
Siliva Havili 4

Do you agree with the ratings? Let us know what you think!

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RedRaider
Laurie Daley
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by RedRaider »

GE, extremely disappointing way to end a disappointing season. Semi seemed to get stage fright on the night when everyone had to be at their best. I don't know what happened to Seb Kris which meant Semi came into the side. Do you know what the issue was with Kris?

I don't blame the officials for the outcome of the match either but there was an incident where Havili was penalised for the lightest of touches near the end of the match which even had Fatty Vautin incredulous. It came just after Rapa's flick pass which went forward. Sure the game was done and dusted by then but what on Earth did the Ref think he saw that warranted a penalty?

The loss of George Williams was a crippling blow to our season. There is no doubt it unsettled the side mentally imo. On the footy side of things we did not have a replacement 7 capable of playing consistent FG football. CNKs injury also left us without a FG quality fullback. Aekins is not a FGer. Simmo is a fill in at best. Savage looked good until injured. Then Rapa was put at the back and showed what could be achieved with enthusiasm and will to win. The Curtis Scott saga did not help or the loss of Captains through the year. The side did not adapt to the fitness needed for Vlandysball and the roster was so stacked with middles that we were able to lend 2 Props to the Dogs. Toughest pre-season ever coming up.
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greeneyed
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by greeneyed »

All the Raiders said was that Kris was ruled out “medically”.
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LastRaider
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Through green eyes 2021

Post by LastRaider »

GE, for a 40 - 16 flogging with our team at full strength and Roosters at half strength, those player scores are far to high! Unless, now our expectations of performance have moved to a lower standard where losses like this are considered a ok performance


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zim
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by zim »

The loss didn't happen because the whole team was poor. There were a few great individual performances in that game and the scores reflect that.
RedRaider
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by RedRaider »

greeneyed wrote: September 4, 2021, 9:14 am All the Raiders said was that Kris was ruled out “medically”.
Thanks GE. Who would've thought that one rookie replacing another rookie would have had such an outcome. Hopefully all rookies now have things to focus on in the off season. I did feel for Timoko in the first half. He had another rookie beside him who was having an unhappy match and he was asked to think and position himself for both of them. Meanwhile his opposite number Keighran was turning the situation to gold for himself. Even the touch judges were awarding a goal for him that looked like it missed.
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by Begbie »

Fair scores overall imo. Although Semi may have been a couple of point too high.
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greeneyed
Don Furner
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by greeneyed »

Through green eyes: 2021 Season Review

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2021. Thud. It was a year when things went wrong at the Canberra Raiders. Terribly wrong. The Green Machine was expected by many to finish in the top four, and to again challenge for a long awaited premiership. At the very least, most expected the Raiders would be a top eight side and playing finals football. Instead, Canberra finished in 10th, and with a whimper in the final round of the season.

What went wrong? There is no one answer and there is no simple answer. There is no doubt a complex combination of reasons for the team's fall. We cannot know for sure what happened this season in the "inner sanctum". But we can observe how the team performed on the field. And we can try to interpret the facts, as best we know them.

A major issue was disruption in the spine. Fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad suffered a serious neck injury in the Round 5 clash with the Panthers. He required surgery and spent months on the sidelines before an unexpected, late season return. The Raiders ended up trying four other players in the role - with Jordan Rapana the most successful by far. In early May, news broke that English halfback George Williams was homesick. By June, after a messy couple of months, he'd been released.

It is tough winning games without your first choice fullback and halfback. But the 2020 Dally M Player of the Year, Jack Wighton, was also seriously out of form. Hooker Josh Hodgson struggled in his comeback from a second ACL injury. He stood himself down from his role as co-captain when he was set to be dropped to the bench - following the Round 6 loss to the Eels. It appears that was because he felt he could not be a co-captain, starting on the bench. Eventually, coach Stuart found a good formula at hooker, with Hodgson starting and Tom Starling being injected after 25 minutes. Sadly, Starling suffered a season ending, fractured jaw in the Round 22 loss to the Storm.

Another major problem was the "second half fades". At the mid-point of the season, the Raiders had outscored their opposition by 51 points in the first half of their matches, holding three teams scoreless. In the second half of those matches, the Raiders conceded 205 points, while scoring just 64. They were held scoreless after the break five times. The Raiders won just three times between Round 3 and 16. Two of those wins were against teams towards the very bottom of the ladder - the Bulldogs and Broncos. By season's end, the Raiders had lost seven games after leading by double digits.

In the first half of the year, it looked like the team was repeatedly "gassed" as games wore on - and it's hard to come to any other conclusion than fitness was the issue. The early season performances of some of the forwards, in particular, was affected. Josh Papalii and Joe Tapine - who were both in career best form in the second half of 2020 - were briefly benched or rested. Some of the young middle forwards like Corey Horsburgh and Emre Guler showed the signs of not having full pre-seasons. The top teams in the competition looked to be miles ahead in the fitness stakes. Reportedly, they were aggressive in adjusting their pre-season regimens to "Vlandysball" - to more new rules designed to speed the pace of the game.

Along with the early to mid season losses, and players struggling for form, there clearly was trouble in the camp. As mentioned, Josh Hodgson stood down as co-captain and George Williams was released. Curtis Scott was also stood down and eventually sacked, after he was involved in a nightclub incident. There was a lot of "noise" coming out of Raiders HQ in the media, including from players. Comments from partners on social media. Losing is a disease. It impacts confidence, it creates a pressure cooker. And at one point, the club culture was looking a bit fragile. It took a while for the apparent discontent to settle, and for the ship to get back on course.

Apart from fitness, the Raiders were left behind by Vlandysball in other ways. The grinding, defensive game plan that was so successful in 2019 no longer worked in 2021. The tactics were slow to change. Interchanges were sometimes baffling. The composition of the squad was an issue. The team has been ageing and there wasn't enough new blood this year, after the departures of John Bateman and Nick Cotric. The game seems to have passed by some of the club veterans. The squad looked to be short on agility and speed, even though Ricky Stuart has looked to inject more of both in recent years.

The team's performances picked up towards the end of the season. They seemed to benefit from being transplanted into camp in Queensland - along with all the other teams - following the COVID outbreak in Sydney. There was a hearty effort in Round 17 against the Sea Eagles at Brookvale, in a game devoid of Origin representatives. The 12-10 win over the top eight Eels was probably the best of the season. It was full of courage, determination and grit. But against better teams, those sort of tactics didn't come up trumps. For example, the Raiders played some good football in losing to the Storm in Round 22, and the following week against the Sea Eagles. They even led, 12-10, against a Manly team missing Tom Trbrojevic - but went on to lose, 19-18.



Sadly, there were a lot more horror games. All those second half fades. One that really sticks in the mind is the three point loss to the Warriors in Round 3, after the Raiders led 25-6 at half time and by 31-10 at the 50 minute mark. There was a reason, in that case, with the Raiders playing with just 14 men for 65 minutes. It was even more heartbreaking that the NRL later admitted that one Warriors try should have been disallowed, due to a forward pass.



It is hard to go past the 44-6 loss to the Titans in Round 16 as the worst of the year. That match saw the Raiders fans leaving Canberra Stadium in droves from the 60th minute onward. There were some boos for the home team at the end.





But I think the Raiders probably left their worst until last. They needed to beat the Roosters in the final round of the regular season in Mackay to qualify for the top eight. The Roosters were ravaged by injury. But the Raiders produced an error-ridden, ill-disciplined performance with their season on the line. Beyond the 20 minute mark, they never looked like they were in the game. If they had got the victory, they would have finished eighth. It ended in a 40-16 defeat. As Ricky Stuart admitted after the game, if they could not beat that Roosters team, they were wasting their time in the finals.

****

So what do the statistics tell us about the team's season?

In 2021, the Raiders averaged 20 points and 3.4 tries scored per match. That compares to 22 points and almost four tries per game scored in 2020. That isn't too far off the attacking record of the team that made the Grand Final in 2019 - when Canberra averaged 22 points and 3.5 tries per match. But in the era of Vlandysball, when teams and players have been smashing all time point scoring records, that was not anywhere near good enough. The Raiders ranked 12th in attack this year (sixth in 2020) on the basis of tries scored.

Overall, the Raiders remained a conservative team in attack. In the second half of the year, the Raiders started to produce more offloads, in a bid to get some more second phase. But they didn't do that consistently enough. Only the Cowboys threw fewer general play passes than the Raiders. The Raiders ranked fourth for one pass hit ups and eighth for offloads. They were in the bottom four teams for line breaks and mid table for tackle breaks. They ranked fourth for dummy half runs - down from first place in 2020. A lot of the attack still went down the middle of the field - and only the Dragons, Titans and Storm scored more tries through the middle third (28 per cent of the total). The Raiders still loved going left, scoring over 40 per cent of their tries on that edge.

Despite the conservatism, the Raiders were poor in terms of controlling possession. They finished in the bottom four teams in terms of possession share (48 per cent), completing sets at 78 per cent. Benchmark teams like the Storm, Rabbitohs and Panthers averaged possession shares of 53 per cent. The Raiders ranked sixth for errors and fourth for most penalties conceded. They were middle of the pack for set restarts conceded. In Vlandysball, possession is absolutely crucial, because of the momentum that delivers. The bottom line is, you rarely win without the ball.

Too often, the Raiders struggled to make metres with the ball in hand. They ranked 11th in the NRL in that department (1404 metres per game) and in kick return metres (91 per game). They were also mid table for kicking metres (524 metres per game) and forced line drop outs (one per game) - and 11th for total kicks (20 per game). George Williams' good short kicking game was sorely missed in the second half of the season.

At times there were some vicious circles happening. The Raiders pack would struggle to make territory with the ball and get out of their own end. The kicks were often taken early and didn't compensate for the lack of running metres gained. If kicks were long, they didn't find grass or corners often enough. If the kicks were bombs, they didn't end on the goal line often enough. Kicks rarely put much pressure on the opposition. Turnovers of possession would see the vicious circle entrenched further. The Raiders won the battle for territory in only seven matches, and lost it in 13.

The Raiders' defence was better than their attack. But it was certainly not as good as the previous two seasons. That's not a surprise, given the lack of control of possession and territory. The Raiders often found it tough to wrest back momentum, and that is clear in the defensive numbers.

Canberra ranked ninth for the fewest points (24.1 per game) and eighth for fewest tries (4.1 per game) conceded. Last year they had the third best defence, conceding just 2.8 tries per game. They let in just under 17 points per match in 2020. Missed tackles went up (32 per match, compared with 28 in 2020), along with ineffective tackles (16 per match, 14 in 2020). In 2019, the Raiders had the best effective tackle rate in the competition. They've now fallen to 10th in that department. They continued to give up more running metres than in 2019 (1442 per game, 1368 in 2019), but ranked sixth for fewest line breaks conceded (five per game, compared with the benchmark of three set by the Panthers). The right side was where oppositions made most hay. That edge conceded almost half of the tries scored against the Raiders.

Canberra ended with a negative points differential of 97 - compared with a positive differential of 128 in season 2020. That's a fairly big turnaround in the club's attacking and defensive fortunes - with both attack and defence regressing.

****

So, the Raiders are going to have to find some fresh ideas in the off season - because what they've been doing this season has not worked. The attack needs some desperate attention. The premiership window that opened in 2019 is now firmly shut.

Some fresh players are needed too. The squad is not a top eight squad right now. The loss of first choice halfback George Williams was a blow. And while Sam Williams and Matt Frawley are great club men, you're not going to be playing finals football with either of them as your first choice No. 7. Somehow, the Raiders need to find a halfback - in a player market that has very few options available.

The Raiders have some impressive young talent coming through. Players like Xavier Savage, Harley Smith-Shields and Matt Timoko in the outside backs. The likes of Trey Mooney up front. There will need to be some generational change in 2022. That's not going to be an easy thing to do. Some hard decisions are going to have to be taken.

In the forwards, it looks like Siliva Havili is heading to the Rabbitohs, while I'll be surprised if Sia Soliola does not retire. Ryan James has been given permission to talk to other clubs, while Dunamis Lui is also still without a contract for next year. There is also a cloud over the future of co-captain Jarrod Croker, because of his chronic knee injury. This year, he clearly was not the player he once was. He's reportedly looking at novel knee surgery in the off season. I hope that will work for him.

When Sia Soliola and Jarrod Croker do decide to step away from the playing field, they will be Raiders legends. Soliola has become the spiritual leader of the club, while Croker is already the club's top point scorer and try scorer of all time. In fact, Croker became the third highest point scorer of all players in Australian rugby league history this year. They are two of the best in the Green Machine's 40 year history. Two of the most admired, as well, because of the sort of people they are away from the field.

In any case, a handful of spots in the top 30 are now open. The job of rebuilding football squads is an ongoing process, but we're probably about to see the start of a significant transformation. It'll no doubt take more than a year. But hopefully, the team can quickly become competitive again.

SEASON REPORT CARD

Attack: C-
Defence: B-
Forwards: B
Backs: C
Spine: C
Overall: C

****

Every week I rate the Raiders players on a scale of 0-10... and surprise! Jordan Rapana takes out my player of the year. He won the 2021 Meninga Medal and the Fans' Choice Player of the year by some very clear margins.

Rapana, 32, recently extended his stay with the Canberra Raiders for another two years. When he left for Japanese rugby union at the end of 2019, it seemed like his football career was winding down. As it turned out, he didn't play a game in Japan. When the pandemic intervened, he returned to the national capital, and the club he holds dear.



It wasn't plain sailing for him in 2020. It took some time for him to get his fitness back. He ended up being an "everywhere man", playing games on the wing, centre, fullback and from the bench. He was mostly used on the left wing, rather than his usual right wing spot. He didn't seem to be quite the player he once was.

But this year has been different. With a "full pre-season under his belt", he's produced some vintage form. It sure has been some comeback.

He was the Raiders' top try scorer of the year with 12 tries - his best tally since the halcyon years of 2016 (23) and 2017 (21). He was also the second highest point scorer for the club (66 points), after taking on goal kicking duties in four matches (nine goals). He ranked second in the NRL for tackle breaks (138), behind David Fifita, fourth for total runs and sixth for running metres. He averaged 165 running metres per match, more than he ever has in a season. He also finished first at the club for line breaks (15), second for try involvements (17) and fourth for offloads (18).

"He creates a lot of energy around the players. They love playing with him and they were all very excited when Jordy announced that he'd re-signed for another two seasons," Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said.

"He's been at the club for a long time now. I think it's nearly nine or 10 years now. He's a real Raider and a bloke who we all love playing with and I certainly enjoy coaching."



Rapana brings an enormous amount of enthusiasm to the squad, the sort of infectious enthusiasm that rubs off on others. He always tries his heart out. He loves the club and what is now his home. And that's why he's a much loved player, amongst the players and the fans.

Josh Papalii won the Fans' Choice Forward of the Year - and he was also runner up in the Meninga Medal tally. I have to say, I'm finding it very hard to split Papalii and Ryan Sutton as my runner up. They have the same number of average points per match. Papalii had a slow start, but finished the season well. But reflecting Sutton's strong, consistent season, I'm going to rank my top three this way:

1. Jordan Rapana
2. Ryan Sutton
3. Josh Papalii

Tell us what you think!

Total points:

Jordan Rapana 152
Ryan Sutton 145
Josh Papalii 139
Jack Wighton 135
Elliott Whitehead 129
Hudson Young 126
Joe Tapine 121
Josh Hodgson 120
Emre Guler 110
Tom Starling 107
Sebastian Kris 106
Bailey Simonsson 97
Corey Harawira-Naera 88
Sia Soliola 78
Sam Williams 69
George Williams 65
Ryan James 62
Jarrod Croker 61
Semi Valemei 60
Curtis Scott 58
Dunamis Lui 52
Matt Timoko 52
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 49
Siliva Havili 49
Harley Smith-Shields 48
Corey Horsburgh 44
Caleb Aekins 42
Matt Frawley 27
Xavier Savage 16
Brad Schneider 2
Elijah Anderson 1

Average points per match:

Jordan Rapana 6.9
Harley Smith-Shields 6.9
Hudson Young 6.6
Josh Papalii 6.6
Ryan Sutton 6.6
George Williams 6.5
Joe Tapine 6.4
Elliott Whitehead 6.1
Jack Wighton 6.1
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 6.1
Caleb Aekins 6.0
Josh Hodgson 6.0
Corey Harawira-Naera 5.9
Curtis Scott 5.8
Emre Guler 5.8
Matt Timoko 5.8
Sam Williams 5.8
Bailey Simonsson 5.7
Tom Starling 5.6
Corey Horsburgh 5.5
Semi Valemei 5.5
Matt Frawley 5.4
Xavier Savage 5.3
Sebastian Kris 5.3
Ryan James 5.2
Jarrod Croker 5.1
Dunamis Lui 4.7
Sia Soliola 4.6
Siliva Havili 4.5
Brad Schneider 2.0
Elijah Anderson 1.0

****

That’s the last regular column of the year. Thanks to all who have been readers and contributors to the discussion this year. I might feel moved to write some one off columns over the off season. But if not, "Through green eyes" will definitely be back early next year, with a preview of the 2022 season.

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If you can put some sentences together and you'd like to write a regular column for The Greenhouse, let us know! We are keen to have more contributing writers!
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User avatar
BadnMean
Steve Walters
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by BadnMean »

Well you went in pretty light GE.

One could argue that finding a "good combination" of Hodgo starting and minimal Starling removed our best hooker from the field at the expense of carrying a poorly performing player. Which by any measure, Hodgo was. P

art of a pattern of pandering to coach favourites- in fear of losing the dressing room- that ultimately saw the farcical option of a clearly past it Sia coming out again for a farewell game in a do or die match. Combined with the stupid contract extensions here it's a stink that threatens to extend, if not until the end of religion, then the end of this era.

You could say the "fade out" period was exacerbated by the coaches stubborn refusal to acknowledge he faster game and HIA era by picking a single back on the bench.. That cost us 6 points, close games we lost playing a ragged, makeshift edge when we barely had middle/edges let alone edge/centres in the 17- again... and again... and again...

The kicking game plan? Awful.

I think you've gone in with a wet lettuce leaf there GE and skirted over the bitter truth.
Billy Walker
Laurie Daley
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by Billy Walker »

Very comprehensive GE! Hopefully next years will be more enjoyable for you to write
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Roger Kenworthy
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by Roger Kenworthy »

I couldn't give the forwards a B. I'd actually be more inclined to give them a D. I can't think of any game this year where we really rolled through the opposition, and I can think of plenty where they did this to us in the second half. I think we desperately need a prop to partner Papa who just tucks the ball under their wing and rolls down the ground. Sutton could do it if he gets a bit stronger in contact and can make 2-3 post contact metres more often than not. Tapa as a prop just doesn't do it for me, he has a few nice runs per game but doesn't have the workrate, much prefer him at lock.
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BadnMean
Steve Walters
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Re: Through green eyes 2021

Post by BadnMean »

Roger Kenworthy wrote: September 10, 2021, 8:58 am I couldn't give the forwards a B. I'd actually be more inclined to give them a D. I can't think of any game this year where we really rolled through the opposition, and I can think of plenty where they did this to us in the second half. I think we desperately need a prop to partner Papa who just tucks the ball under their wing and rolls down the ground. Sutton could do it if he gets a bit stronger in contact and can make 2-3 post contact metres more often than not. Tapa as a prop just doesn't do it for me, he has a few nice runs per game but doesn't have the workrate, much prefer him at lock.
Yeah Papa might just squeak an A, Tapine a B overall but the rest, well Lui and Sia would be a D. Horse a D. Hodgo a D.

Sutton is just a bit limited, but he'll give you a high C or low B every game.

Starling a C but only because he was underused by Ricky. Guler- C at best.

Young inconsistent, awful and dropped for a period but had some better games end of year- B or C. CHN same boat.

Can't see how they add up to a B, with so many D level performances and only one A dragging them up (and even he had a doldrums patch).
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