Rd 14 V Bulldogs: Game Day and Live Updates

Post by **greeneyed** » June 10, 2006, 6:31 pm

Time to build a season

CANBERRA RAIDERS v BULLDOGS
Telstra Stadium, Monday, June 12, at 3pm
Referee: Gavin Badger

*'s AT STAKE

The Raiders have the chance on Monday to put three wins together, and put themselves firmly back in the hunt for a top eight position. The green machine was running a little slow in their 24-22 win over Souths last weekend, so they will be looking at this Monday as a chance to return to the form that saw them upset the Cowboys 15-14 a fortnight ago.

There will be five players from this weeks match on Origin duties, with the Dogs missing forwards Willie Mason, Andrew Ryan, Mark Oâ€™Meley and Nate Myles, while the Raiders will be without in form centre Adam Mogg.

Despite the loss of key forwards the Bulldogs will be no pushovers, and with players such as Sonny Bill Williams, Reni Matua and Roy Asotasi in the side, the Raiders will still have their hands full on Monday.

For the Raiders they welcome back to top grade big prop Michael Weyman for the first time in 2006, while Trevor Thurling has been recalled to face his old club after a series of solid performances in Premier League.

STATS BOX

Head to Head
Overall: Raiders 20, Bulldogs 27
At Telstra Stadium: Raiders 2, Bulldogs 0
Last time they met: Bulldogs 30 def Raiders 12 at Canberra Stadium

Recent Form
Raiders: (14pts, 10th)
Bulldogs: (18pts, 3rd)
Formlines: Raiders WLLWLWBLWLLWW; Bulldogs LWLBWWLWWWWLW
Last Week: Raiders beat Cowboys 15-14; Bulldogs beat Newcastle 38-22

MATCH-UPS

Phil Graham â€“ Sonny Bill Williams
Two contrasting styles of centre see the lightning fast Phil Graham up against the man mountain of Sonny Bill Williams. Graham has been a sensation since his return from a thumb injury earlier in the season, and has started to build a healthy combination with winger David Howell.

Graham has the ability to score a long range try, and is a hard man to peg back if he finds some open grass in his sights. Williams is starting to strike fear in to opposition coachesâ€™ hearts, after a series of damaging displays in recent weeks.

With raw power to complement silky smooth ball skills, Williams can single handedly tear a side apart. Watch for the big Kiwi to move into the forward pack to cover for the Bulldogs missing origin players.

Todd Carney â€“ Daniel Holdsworth
Round one of this contest went to Holdsworth, when the Bulldogs defeated an out of sorts Raiders 30-12 in round 5 at Canberra Stadium. Since that match Carney has spent some time in Premier League and was only recalled into the top side due to an injury to veteran playmaker Jason Smith.

But Carney has taken the opportunity by both hands and has been one of the Raiders best over the past fortnight, playing an instrumental role in the win over Souths, and kicking the golden point field goal against the Cowboys.

In contrast Holdsworth has struggled for consistent form since the pair last met, and with momentum favouring Carney, expect a big performance from the Raiders number six on Monday.

Alan Tongue â€“ Reni Maitua
Tongue has been one of if not the Raiders best so far in 2006. With a work rate that can be topped by next to no-one in the NRL, Tongue has shown this season he has the attack to go with his trademark dogged defense.

Scoring seven tries so far this season Tongue leads that category for the Raiders, and with an average of 38 tackles a game so far, the Raiders defense always looks a little stronger with Tongue taking them off the line.

After a run in with the law earlier in the season, Maitua has put his head down and concentrated on his foot balling ability. A shift to lock forward has seen some attacking pressure lifted from the up and coming Bulldog, and the Raiders will need to keep an eye on where he is in relation to the Bulldogs attacking formation.

INSIDE INFORMATION â€“with Todd Carney

â€*'s good to build some momentum, and I still feel like we have a lot more to do this year.â€

â€œTheir halves are certainly a danger for us, but hopefully we can shut them down and put another good performance on the board.â€

WORTH NOTING

The Raiders are chasing three wins in a row for the first time in 2006

Only four Raiders (Howell, Withers, Tongue and Croker) have played every NRL match for the Raiders this season

The Bulldogs are without Origin players Mark Oâ€™Meley, Willie Mason, Nate Myles and Andrew Ryan

Adam Mogg is the first Raiders Origin representative since Ryan Oâ€™Hara in game one 2004

Former Raiders junior Nick Kouparitsas makes his first grade debut for the dogs

The Bulldogs have never beaten the Raiders at Telstra Stadium

The Raiders Premier League plays the Bulldogs at 1.10 on Monday at Telstra Stadium, while the Raiders Jersey Flegg plays the Bulldogs at 2.30pm at Belmore Oval on Sunday.

www.raiders.com.au

Post by **greeneyed** » June 12, 2006, 11:28 am

Tom's injury means any advantage goes to the Dogs
Peter Fitzgerald
Monday, 12 June 2006

Canberra forward Tom Learoyd-Lahrs failed to overcome a knee injury yesterday, diminishing any advantage the Raiders held over the Bulldogs for today's clash.

The Bulldogs will be without their four State Of Origin stars, but Learoyd-Lahrs' withdrawal means Canberra will be anything but full-strength itself.

He joins teammates Jason Smith (thumb), Troy Thompson (eye), Andrew Lomu (neck) and Adam Mogg (Origin) as key figures watching today's match from the sidelines.

Learoyd-Lahrs tore his knee capsule early in the second half of Canberra's 24-22 victory against South Sydney nine days ago.

He also had a small amount of floating bone in the knee.

He was unable to take any further part in the contest and failed to complete a training session during the week.

Club doctors and selectors were initially prepared to give the 20-year-old until this morning to prove his fitness, but realised yesterday the swelling in the knee was not going to drop to a level which would allow him to compete.

Alan Rothery comes into the side as Learoyd-Lahrs' replacement.

Learoyd-Lahrs rated his knee as "80 per cent recovered" but was advised not to take any risks.

"It's really disappointing I can't play because I thought early in the week that I would be fine and the swelling would go away and I'd be able to run pain-free again," he said. "I tried to run [yesterday] but couldn't do much. I can jog a bit but if I was to try to run at 100 per cent in a game and try different angles and whatever else, I'd be no chance.

"The way the swelling was going down through the week the physio thought I'd be right too, but he didn't want to push me."

Today's match will be the third Learoyd-Lahrs has missed this season through injury.

The former Brisbane Bronco suffered a slight hamstring tear at training three days after the Raiders beat Manly in March.

He missed the next two matches, which were humiliating losses to Newcastle (70-32) and the Sydney Roosters (56-20).

"But I'm really confident it will only be one week this time and I'll be right to play the Storm on Sunday," he said.

The Bulldogs will be without Origin representatives Willie Mason, Andrew Ryan, Mark O'Meley and Nate Myles.

Despite the Bulldogs' forward pack today resembling nothing of the one which led the side to a comfortable win over Newcastle last week, Raiders coach Matt Elliott knows his players can ill-afford to underestimate their less-experienced replacements.

The last time the Raiders played during the Origin period was against the Knights three weeks ago.

Newcastle lost Steve Simpson and Danny Buderus to representative duties, but still managed a 10-point win over Canberra.

And when the Raiders hosted Cronulla in round 10, the Sharks were without first-choice halves Adam Dykes and Brett Kimmorley, yet easily accounted for Canberra.

"Obviously if you take the quality of those players out it's certainly not going to improve your side but we don't focus on that," Elliott said.

"[Bulldog Roy] Asotasi is a fair player, [Tony] Grimaldi and [Corey] Hughes have been going well, and there's a kid called [Sonny Bill] Williams who goes alright as well.

"We're still playing a very, very good football team."

Today's match at Telstra Stadium begins at 3pm.

The Canberra Times

pacman · Post by **pacman** » June 12, 2006, 11:34 am

He also had a small amount of floating bone in the knee.

bonehead · Post by **bonehead** » June 12, 2006, 12:49 pm

pacman wrote:
He also had a small amount of floating bone in the knee.

That's not bad, a quick arthroscope and you're running again in 4 -5 days and it doesn't slow you up when you are going just the next day you generally get some swelling

Tina Furner · Post by **Tina Furner** » June 12, 2006, 1:54 pm

Telstra should be in top shape. There's only been a Rugby Union test match, and Souths vs Broncos, plus the apalling weather in Sydney all week.

I've lost count... is this the week where we go to our secret play?

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:03 pm

im at uni, can anyone give me a radio feed for the game? trying to find one but i cant : /

Sasha · Post by **Sasha** » June 12, 2006, 3:04 pm

www.2gb.com ?

click on listen live, that should work

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:07 pm

trying now, gotta download real player lol

Sasha · Post by **Sasha** » June 12, 2006, 3:10 pm

hope it works 8)

Hodgson injured

Sasha · Post by **Sasha** » June 12, 2006, 3:14 pm

Utai scores, El Masri misses

4-0

willeyd · Post by **willeyd** » June 12, 2006, 3:14 pm

who came into the squad for hodgo?

Sasha · Post by **Sasha** » June 12, 2006, 3:16 pm

Hodgo was injured after kick off.

Now Woolford has gone off injured, down to 15 men at the moment

willeyd · Post by **willeyd** » June 12, 2006, 3:18 pm

farrrrrrrk

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:19 pm

armit scores, el masri converts, 10-0 - Raiders down to 15 men

****

Sasha · Post by **Sasha** » June 12, 2006, 3:20 pm

10-0

Howell trips over from dummy half falls right on his face

Sasha · Post by **Sasha** » June 12, 2006, 3:21 pm

Woolford possible dislocated shoulder

Peter · Post by **Peter** » June 12, 2006, 3:22 pm

Gee it's a possibility that we might not see Germ in green ever again.

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:22 pm

Raiders with the pill with territory

Raiders disorganised

Peter · Post by **Peter** » June 12, 2006, 3:23 pm

GO SCHIF

willeyd · Post by **willeyd** » June 12, 2006, 3:23 pm

RAIDERS SCORE **** YEAH

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:23 pm

SCHIF SCORTES
1ASDASDLAKDKLSA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sasha · Post by **Sasha** » June 12, 2006, 3:23 pm

SCHIFCOFSKE SCORES A BRILLIANT TRY!!!

10-4 kick to come..

Peter · Post by **Peter** » June 12, 2006, 3:25 pm

thats 13 in a row for Schif

Sasha · Post by **Sasha** » June 12, 2006, 3:25 pm

Schifcofske converts from the sideline 8)

10-6

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:25 pm

schif converts 10-6

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:26 pm

raiders get a penalty - 35 out from the dogs line

Peter · Post by **Peter** » June 12, 2006, 3:26 pm

I think we can honestly win this match. Schif, Withers and Toots need to lift.

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:29 pm

another raiders penalty

huge kick for touch, raiders with good territory - 40 out

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:30 pm

tongue forward pass, dogs get it back

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:32 pm

Withers forward pass, dogs oin the attack

Peter · Post by **Peter** » June 12, 2006, 3:33 pm

Weyman on

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:33 pm

weyman on, raiders take it, frawley taken in the ingoal, raidres drop out

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:34 pm

dogs on the attack 30 metres out

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:34 pm

graham defuses the kick, raiders get the ball back, need to settle here

DJ Raida · Post by **DJ Raida** » June 12, 2006, 3:35 pm

croker big game in defence