2021 Rd 3 V Warriors: Game Day

[simo]

Some pathetic people on here really. Down to 14 after 13 minutes with scott playing on with a broken rib. Warriors getting away with at least 5 clearly forward passes including one for a try where the ref stops in line with the play giving everyone the impression hes finally called one. And here some of you are banging on about what the players could have done better. You’re pathetic.

[greeneyed]

Ricky Stuart refuses questions but lauds brave Canberra Raiders

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart was blunt in his assessment of the standard of officiating in his side's 34-31 loss to the New Zealand Warriors – saying he could not comment on how he really felt for fear of being fined by the NRL.

"In all my years of coaching, I've never been involved in a greater team performance," he said. "From whatever minute it was when we only had one player on the interchange bench, I have never seen a group of individuals, given we were down to 14, play so well but yet play to such adversity and play for each other.

Read more: https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/03/27/stu ... e-raiders/

Canberra Raiders show Warriors where they need to be

The New Zealand Warriors might've got the two points, but their coach Nathan Brown points to the Green Machine's effort as where they need to be if they want to be a top-four team.

"The opposition clearly showed why they've been a top-four team. Their effort to lose three players and have a bloke with a floating broken rib probably showed what they've created down here [in Canberra].

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

Forward thinking Ricky Stuart bites tongue after Canberra Raiders loss to Warriors: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

[Rick]

Nice comments from
brown.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Raiders666]

Some pathetic people on here really. Down to 14 after 13 minutes with scott playing on with a broken rib. Warriors getting away with at least 5 clearly forward passes including one for a try where the ref stops in line with the play giving everyone the impression hes finally called one. And here some of you are banging on about what the players could have done better. You’re pathetic.

[Dr Zaius]

Nice comments from
brown.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed. He's always seemed a good fella

[gangrenous]

Right up until he slaps you!

[Perth Raiders]

Disappointed but proud!

Honestly reading some of the comments on here, really shows those that have never played the game! For the Raiders to be even close to the Warriors was a miracle.

The new rules are there to create fatigue, so three games into a season and down to 14 (13 fit) players for over 60 minutes, showed tremendous heart!

[-TW-]

There are some red hot takes in this thread...

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[RedRaider]

IF...Seb Kris had come back on, it would have given us an extra player for rotation and we could have replaced Scott.

One of those days.....we march on

Seb apparently passed his HIA assessment but Doctor's decision was that he could not play again today. So that was that.
In years gone by he would have come back on, probably at right center and the game may have had a different outcome. Long term though, player welfare has to take priority over a single NRL match. Regardless of the game outcome, the club has made the right call imo.

[Scared Hitless]

Some pathetic people on here really. Down to 14 after 13 minutes with scott playing on with a broken rib. Warriors getting away with at least 5 clearly forward passes including one for a try where the ref stops in line with the play giving everyone the impression hes finally called one. And here some of you are banging on about what the players could have done better. You’re pathetic.

No need to call other people pathetic for voicing their opinions. This was a game we were minutes from winning. So a few smarter decisions is all that was required to ice the outcome. No record book keeps track of courage; only results. The boys did so well to get into a winning position but didn't seal it. Everyone, players included, have the right to feel frustrated and question in-game decisions.

[simo]

Some pathetic people on here really. Down to 14 after 13 minutes with scott playing on with a broken rib. Warriors getting away with at least 5 clearly forward passes including one for a try where the ref stops in line with the play giving everyone the impression hes finally called one. And here some of you are banging on about what the players could have done better. You’re pathetic.

No need to call other people pathetic for voicing their opinions. This was a game we were minutes from winning. So a few smarter decisions is all that was required to ice the outcome. No record book keeps track of courage; only results. The boys did so well to get into a winning position but didn't seal it. Everyone, players included, have the right to feel frustrated and question in-game decisions.

You’re pathetic.

[BadnMean]

And some poor psoitional selections being carried cost us (Rapana). Didn't see Scott or Croker delivering much from the back 5 either.

Which guy do you think was more disappointing ... the one with the dislocated finger or the one with a broken rib?

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

Was at the game mate. No idea about any of that until now. Don't you reckon my statement is still valid? Thanks for offering the explanation with sarcasm.

[-TW-]

Some pathetic people on here really. Down to 14 after 13 minutes with scott playing on with a broken rib. Warriors getting away with at least 5 clearly forward passes including one for a try where the ref stops in line with the play giving everyone the impression hes finally called one. And here some of you are banging on about what the players could have done better. You’re pathetic.

No need to call other people pathetic for voicing their opinions. This was a game we were minutes from winning. So a few smarter decisions is all that was required to ice the outcome. No record book keeps track of courage; only results. The boys did so well to get into a winning position but didn't seal it. Everyone, players included, have the right to feel frustrated and question in-game decisions.

"smarter decisions"?

You literally have zero concept of fatigue, do you?

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[Bay53]

IF...Seb Kris had come back on, it would have given us an extra player for rotation and we could have replaced Scott.

One of those days.....we march on

Seb apparently passed his HIA assessment but Doctor's decision was that he could not play again today. So that was that.
In years gone by he would have come back on, probably at right center and the game may have had a different outcome. Long term though, player welfare has to take priority over a single NRL match. Regardless of the game outcome, the club has made the right call imo.

Agree with that and we are seeing a lot more of it. Which is why I think we should be moving along the lines of other sports including the state leagues in our own sports and allowing concussion subs.

[BadnMean]

It was actually -6 points when the injuries happened. I try my very best to not be harsh on this forum but **** me dead. It was a sensational performance and if you can’t understand what happened in game and it’s ramifications I can not help you.

Not a sensational performance at all when you can't control a 21 pt lead, under known circumstances.

Honestly mate, that's a failure to control a game. It's literally in the teams/coaches hands at that point. Hodgo needed to be more at dummy half- Starling could have been the lock- dumb play which had each playing their weaker suit and not their strength. Wighton went missing (impression at the ground).

And some poor psoitional selections being carried cost us (Rapana). Didn't see Scott or Croker delivering much from the back 5 either.

I count that as 2 points we threw away not 2 points lost.

That deserves a Jesus Christ too.

The middle third forwards that were left were Josh Papalii, Ryan Sutton and Sia Soliola. The team had Havili at second row. Both centres injured.

That’s on top of some embarrassing refereeing.

Nickman unfortunately needs to add mate to his list after that post.

Watch the press conference for some reality badnmean

I didn't see the press conference yet or have the benefit of commentary. I go to home games and no one around me had the slightest about centres being injured- we saw James and Kris collide.

I honestly do think with a 21 point lead, we could have done better to manage that game. IMO more Hodgo at #9 and Starling the better suited to grunt hooker work. Wighton taking a lead like he did first half.

The refereeing is aways a weak excuse. Should never be mentioned, it's embarrassing. Every team thinks they are hard done by- even Roosters fans, trust me.

[hobbsy]

Oi its round 3 hey

[BadnMean]

There are some really outraged people who support from their living room thinking they have the right to insult the fans that go to the game for voicing their own impression of the game.

[Ruben Daley]

There are some really outraged people who support from their living room thinking they have the right to insult the fans that go to the game for voicing their own impression of the game.

I think that’s true to an extent but there’s some very harsh assessments of the team and individual players on here tonight, a lot of which are too extreme. And some of which have been made without all the pertinent information.

I always go to games too but couldn’t today. My family came home from the stadium with the same impression as you about Curtis. But when you hear he broke his rib in the sixth minute you have a different impression. Those watching it on TV could see the agony he was in and how he did stuff like make two consecutive tackles on his own in spite of it.

Rapa is copping a pasting but he was outstanding today. Potentially could’ve scored the winner with his left hand but it doesn’t take away from his overall effort.

And to say good teams don’t lose when they’re up by 21 is really simplistic unrealistic stuff.

Not saying you said all or any of that, BnM, by the way. Just responding to your observation.

Personally, I just find it hard to read scathing comments when it just wasn’t a game that deserved them.

[Scared Hitless]

Some pathetic people on here really. Down to 14 after 13 minutes with scott playing on with a broken rib. Warriors getting away with at least 5 clearly forward passes including one for a try where the ref stops in line with the play giving everyone the impression hes finally called one. And here some of you are banging on about what the players could have done better. You’re pathetic.

No need to call other people pathetic for voicing their opinions. This was a game we were minutes from winning. So a few smarter decisions is all that was required to ice the outcome. No record book keeps track of courage; only results. The boys did so well to get into a winning position but didn't seal it. Everyone, players included, have the right to feel frustrated and question in-game decisions.

You’re pathetic.

Sound like a top bloke. Can't wait to meet in person.

[simo]

Some pathetic people on here really. Down to 14 after 13 minutes with scott playing on with a broken rib. Warriors getting away with at least 5 clearly forward passes including one for a try where the ref stops in line with the play giving everyone the impression hes finally called one. And here some of you are banging on about what the players could have done better. You’re pathetic.

No need to call other people pathetic for voicing their opinions. This was a game we were minutes from winning. So a few smarter decisions is all that was required to ice the outcome. No record book keeps track of courage; only results. The boys did so well to get into a winning position but didn't seal it. Everyone, players included, have the right to feel frustrated and question in-game decisions.

You’re pathetic.

Sound like a top bloke. Can't wait to meet in person.

Haha no thanks. You seem like a complete flog

[simo]

There are some really outraged people who support from their living room thinking they have the right to insult the fans that go to the game for voicing their own impression of the game.

Na youre right.
Im sorry for living further away than you and having a 3 month old. Guess youre a much better supporter that deserves the right to bag out players that played on through injury and under fatigue. Please, continue like its not completely idiotic

[RedRaider]

There are some really outraged people who support from their living room thinking they have the right to insult the fans that go to the game for voicing their own impression of the game.

I think that’s true to an extent but there’s some very harsh assessments of the team and individual players on here tonight, a lot of which are too extreme. And some of which have been made without all the pertinent information.

I always go to games too but couldn’t today. My family came home from the stadium with the same impression as you about Curtis. But when you hear he broke his rib in the sixth minute you have a different impression. Those watching it on TV could see the agony he was in and how he did stuff like make two consecutive tackles on his own in spite of it.

Rapa is copping a pasting but he was outstanding today. Potentially could’ve scored the winner with his left hand but it doesn’t take away from his overall effort.

And to say good teams don’t lose when they’re up by 21 is really simplistic unrealistic stuff.

Not saying you said all or any of that, BnM, by the way. Just responding to your observation.

Personally, I just find it hard to read scathing comments when it just wasn’t a game that deserved them.

I watched the game on Kayo. For the Warriors first try it initially looked like an arm grab from Scott and no real effort. But he came away from that attempt with his hand on his back so there was something wrong from the get go.

I understand that Sticky is upset and can't say what he wants to say, but through the week I hope he works on communication between the players at a kick off which is coming down close to the side line. We were on the back foot with a line drop out when we should have had the ball settling into our set. It was no surprise after that we went behind early. Similar with Jacks kick out on the full and the Warriors scored soon after. We did not defend the set back well. These are areas of the Raiders game Sticky can influence. I hope he focusses on those things we need to be better at, during the week.

[raiderskater]

I disagree with the idea that no-one at the game knew anything was wrong with Scott. I was at the game and it was very, very obvious that something was very wrong with Scott. His body language was wrong, the way he was carrying his upper body was wrong. I actually texted my dad just after half time and asked if they'd said on the broadcast what Scott's injury was.

They also showed Croker having his fingers relocated on the big screen, which was probably also audible to folks at home because when they first showed Croker with his arm out at an odd angle with the trainer the ground announcer was trying to rev the crowd and the big cheer turned into this odd horrified choked noise from the crowd because I was sure - and I am equally sure I wasn't alone - that he'd done his shoulder again. The relocation of his fingers got an audible groan from the crowd.

So to me, it was obvious both centres were, to a degree, injured, though Croker seemed fine after the relocation (just tired late in the game, like everyone else).

I think it was around 30-25 minutes to go that I looked up and down our line and saw our forwards completely exhausted and realised we didn't have enough points. And we still came within a whisker of winning. I don't care if some amoeba brains in here are sick of hearing it:

I'M FRICKIN PROUD OF OUR BOYS.

They never gave up. They kept trying. They didn't roll. They fought on. They fought on against a much fresher, much less tired Warriors and an absolute cheating wankstain of a referee. And they nearly did it.

Yeah, I'm gutted tonight - probably more gutted than I should be after a round 3 game where we nearly pulled off nothing short of heroics. But I am still proud of them.

And at the end of the day, after 3 rounds we're still 2-1, and we were able to limit the damage to our F/A to just 3 lost points. If Taps' ankle is okay and James and Kris recover well from their headclashes, we should bounce back strongly. Woe betide next week's opponents!

[Scared Hitless]

Some pathetic people on here really. Down to 14 after 13 minutes with scott playing on with a broken rib. Warriors getting away with at least 5 clearly forward passes including one for a try where the ref stops in line with the play giving everyone the impression hes finally called one. And here some of you are banging on about what the players could have done better. You’re pathetic.

No need to call other people pathetic for voicing their opinions. This was a game we were minutes from winning. So a few smarter decisions is all that was required to ice the outcome. No record book keeps track of courage; only results. The boys did so well to get into a winning position but didn't seal it. Everyone, players included, have the right to feel frustrated and question in-game decisions.

You’re pathetic.

Sound like a top bloke. Can't wait to meet in person.

Haha no thanks. You seem like a complete flog

"He's a top bloke" - Mum

[Lui_Bon]

I disagree with the idea that no-one at the game knew anything was wrong with Scott. I was at the game and it was very, very obvious that something was very wrong with Scott. His body language was wrong, the way he was carrying his upper body was wrong. I actually texted my dad just after half time and asked if they'd said on the broadcast what Scott's injury was.

They also showed Croker having his fingers relocated on the big screen, which was probably also audible to folks at home because when they first showed Croker with his arm out at an odd angle with the trainer the ground announcer was trying to rev the crowd and the big cheer turned into this odd horrified choked noise from the crowd because I was sure - and I am equally sure I wasn't alone - that he'd done his shoulder again. The relocation of his fingers got an audible groan from the crowd.

So to me, it was obvious both centres were, to a degree, injured, though Croker seemed fine after the relocation (just tired late in the game, like everyone else).

I think it was around 30-25 minutes to go that I looked up and down our line and saw our forwards completely exhausted and realised we didn't have enough points. And we still came within a whisker of winning. I don't care if some amoeba brains in here are sick of hearing it:

I'M FRICKIN PROUD OF OUR BOYS.

They never gave up. They kept trying. They didn't roll. They fought on. They fought on against a much fresher, much less tired Warriors and an absolute cheating wankstain of a referee. And they nearly did it.

Yeah, I'm gutted tonight - probably more gutted than I should be after a round 3 game where we nearly pulled off nothing short of heroics. But I am still proud of them.

And at the end of the day, after 3 rounds we're still 2-1, and we were able to limit the damage to our F/A to just 3 lost points. If Taps' ankle is okay and James and Kris recover well from their headclashes, we should bounce back strongly. Woe betide next week's opponents!

I will watch the replay tomorrow. At the game today, I descended into a fog of "oh this is just schnurr schnurr." I did think our centres were doing little, though my attention was drawn to Croker getting his hand fixed.

I was particularly incensed at the number of 6-agains the Warriors got, when we seemed to get none. AYK it's hard to tell in real time but it seemed like about six nil. I reckon Rick was just as peed off with that as the forward pass. Anyone got a count on them?

And mostly, I love Raiderskater's description of the referee....

[Seiffert82]

I disagree with the idea that no-one at the game knew anything was wrong with Scott. I was at the game and it was very, very obvious that something was very wrong with Scott. His body language was wrong, the way he was carrying his upper body was wrong. I actually texted my dad just after half time and asked if they'd said on the broadcast what Scott's injury was.

They also showed Croker having his fingers relocated on the big screen, which was probably also audible to folks at home because when they first showed Croker with his arm out at an odd angle with the trainer the ground announcer was trying to rev the crowd and the big cheer turned into this odd horrified choked noise from the crowd because I was sure - and I am equally sure I wasn't alone - that he'd done his shoulder again. The relocation of his fingers got an audible groan from the crowd.

So to me, it was obvious both centres were, to a degree, injured, though Croker seemed fine after the relocation (just tired late in the game, like everyone else).

I think it was around 30-25 minutes to go that I looked up and down our line and saw our forwards completely exhausted and realised we didn't have enough points. And we still came within a whisker of winning. I don't care if some amoeba brains in here are sick of hearing it:

I'M FRICKIN PROUD OF OUR BOYS.

They never gave up. They kept trying. They didn't roll. They fought on. They fought on against a much fresher, much less tired Warriors and an absolute cheating wankstain of a referee. And they nearly did it.

Yeah, I'm gutted tonight - probably more gutted than I should be after a round 3 game where we nearly pulled off nothing short of heroics. But I am still proud of them.

And at the end of the day, after 3 rounds we're still 2-1, and we were able to limit the damage to our F/A to just 3 lost points. If Taps' ankle is okay and James and Kris recover well from their headclashes, we should bounce back strongly. Woe betide next week's opponents!

I will watch the replay tomorrow. At the game today, I descended into a fog of "oh this is just schnurr schnurr." I did think our centres were doing little, though my attention was drawn to Croker getting his hand fixed.

I was particularly incensed at the number of 6-agains the Warriors got, when we seemed to get none. AYK it's hard to tell in real time but it seemed like about six nil. I reckon Rick was just as peed off with that as the forward pass. Anyone got a count on them?

And mostly, I love Raiderskater's description of the referee....

NRL.com are now keeping track of ruck infringement stats. Apparently we conceded 5 and the Warriors 2. At least one of the Warriors two infringements was on the first tackle. I can't remember the other one. We seemed to concede all of ours late in the tackle count.

On the other hand we were only penalised once and they were penalised 5 times.

They seemed to be offside much, much more than we were, but maybe that's the green goggles talking.

It's the relentless stream of forward passes that killed us. Some of their 20 offloads were also allowed to happen quite late in the tackle, but that's obviously just my opinion.

[Lui_Bon]

I disagree with the idea that no-one at the game knew anything was wrong with Scott. I was at the game and it was very, very obvious that something was very wrong with Scott. His body language was wrong, the way he was carrying his upper body was wrong. I actually texted my dad just after half time and asked if they'd said on the broadcast what Scott's injury was.

They also showed Croker having his fingers relocated on the big screen, which was probably also audible to folks at home because when they first showed Croker with his arm out at an odd angle with the trainer the ground announcer was trying to rev the crowd and the big cheer turned into this odd horrified choked noise from the crowd because I was sure - and I am equally sure I wasn't alone - that he'd done his shoulder again. The relocation of his fingers got an audible groan from the crowd.

So to me, it was obvious both centres were, to a degree, injured, though Croker seemed fine after the relocation (just tired late in the game, like everyone else).

I think it was around 30-25 minutes to go that I looked up and down our line and saw our forwards completely exhausted and realised we didn't have enough points. And we still came within a whisker of winning. I don't care if some amoeba brains in here are sick of hearing it:

I'M FRICKIN PROUD OF OUR BOYS.

They never gave up. They kept trying. They didn't roll. They fought on. They fought on against a much fresher, much less tired Warriors and an absolute cheating wankstain of a referee. And they nearly did it.

Yeah, I'm gutted tonight - probably more gutted than I should be after a round 3 game where we nearly pulled off nothing short of heroics. But I am still proud of them.

And at the end of the day, after 3 rounds we're still 2-1, and we were able to limit the damage to our F/A to just 3 lost points. If Taps' ankle is okay and James and Kris recover well from their headclashes, we should bounce back strongly. Woe betide next week's opponents!

I will watch the replay tomorrow. At the game today, I descended into a fog of "oh this is just schnurr schnurr." I did think our centres were doing little, though my attention was drawn to Croker getting his hand fixed.

I was particularly incensed at the number of 6-agains the Warriors got, when we seemed to get none. AYK it's hard to tell in real time but it seemed like about six nil. I reckon Rick was just as peed off with that as the forward pass. Anyone got a count on them?

And mostly, I love Raiderskater's description of the referee....

NRL.com are now keeping track of ruck infringement stats. Apparently we conceded 5 and the Warriors 2. At least one of the Warriors two infringements was on the first tackle. I can't remember the other one. We seemed to concede all of ours late in the tackle count.

On the other hand we were only penalised once and they were penalised 5 times.

They seemed to be offside much, much more than we were, but maybe that's the green goggles talking.

It's the relentless stream of forward passes that killed us. Some of their 20 offloads were also allowed to happen quite late in the tackle, but that's obviously just my opinion.

Yeah so the 6 agains are a bit spongey - thanks anyway, when I watch the tape tomorrow I'll try to keep count. And if I can also note when they came up in the tackle count.

As for offside, I have always (well for a few years anyway) been happy to give the ref a pass because usually they drop back 12 or 13 meters, and so while it may look to everyone at the game or viewing the telly that the defence is offside, they usually aren't. Square markers are an entirely different thing of course, and that appears to be utterly subjective for the ref. Similarly with forward passes, it's clearly very hard for a ref backpedalling near the ruck to spot them. Which lead me to...

Why are touch judges getting a salary? I wouldn't feed the scum.

[zim]

Sensational effort by the lads to stay in it. You really need something to go your way when you're down by 4 men and we got **** in that department too. Lucky we've got a lot of depth for next week.

[moto748]

Cracking contest, I don't see any reason to worry too much, though. it probably came down to that 'forward' pass. Perenara looked well=positioned, but it still looked forward for all money. And when it comes to luck lets not forget the very very marginal call against RTS for a tackle in the air. Only an inch or so off the ground. Those sort are let go nine times out of ten. Papa and Sutton were immense.

[Botman]

It was actually -6 points when the injuries happened. I try my very best to not be harsh on this forum but **** me dead. It was a sensational performance and if you can’t understand what happened in game and it’s ramifications I can not help you.

Not a sensational performance at all when you can't control a 21 pt lead, under known circumstances.

Honestly mate, that's a failure to control a game. It's literally in the teams/coaches hands at that point. Hodgo needed to be more at dummy half- Starling could have been the lock- dumb play which had each playing their weaker suit and not their strength. Wighton went missing (impression at the ground).

And some poor psoitional selections being carried cost us (Rapana). Didn't see Scott or Croker delivering much from the back 5 either.

I count that as 2 points we threw away not 2 points lost.

That deserves a Jesus Christ too.

The middle third forwards that were left were Josh Papalii, Ryan Sutton and Sia Soliola. The team had Havili at second row. Both centres injured.

That’s on top of some embarrassing refereeing.

Nickman unfortunately needs to add mate to his list after that post.

Watch the press conference for some reality badnmean

I didn't see the press conference yet or have the benefit of commentary. I go to home games and no one around me had the slightest about centres being injured- we saw James and Kris collide.

I honestly do think with a 21 point lead, we could have done better to manage that game. IMO more Hodgo at #9 and Starling the better suited to grunt hooker work. Wighton taking a lead like he did first half.

The refereeing is aways a weak excuse. Should never be mentioned, it's embarrassing. Every team thinks they are hard done by- even Roosters fans, trust me.

If you watched that game, and you have knowledge and understand the duress our 17 where in, and can clearly see the difference between a W and L was an obvious and egregious refereeing error, and your take away point from that is “we should do better managing the game” then I don’t know what you want from people with that?

Not to be rude, but if you get all that and that is still where you land about this footy game, there is nothing I or anyone can do to help you understand why the game wasn’t “managed” well by the Raiders
You’re just going to have to figure that one out on your own if those reasons are not sufficient for you

[FROG]

Lads I think it's pretty simple. Was that second half tough to watch. Yes it was excruciating. Did the boys play well. Yes, it was the best performance this year. I had my old man criticise parts but like many of you I was having no of it. But frankly deep down I wanted to blame my suffering on someone or something too.

If there was one decision I found perplexing, it was that Kris passed all the tests to return but the dr took one final look at it and decided he shouldn't return. Presumably they have tests to ensure a consistent standard is applied. If he passed all those tests then surely he is allowed to return?

[Seiffert82]

Lads I think it's pretty simple. Was that second half tough to watch. Yes it was excruciating. Did the boys play well. Yes, it was the best performance this year. I had my old man criticise parts but like many of you I was having no of it. But frankly deep down I wanted to blame my suffering on someone or something too.

If there was one decision I found perplexing, it was that Kris passed all the tests to return but the dr took one final look at it and decided he shouldn't return. Presumably they have tests to ensure a consistent standard is applied. If he passed all those tests then surely he is allowed to return?

Yes, a very questionable decision considering we had a centre out there playing 70 minutes with a broken rib.

Who's welfare is more important?

[Seiffert82]

I disagree with the idea that no-one at the game knew anything was wrong with Scott. I was at the game and it was very, very obvious that something was very wrong with Scott. His body language was wrong, the way he was carrying his upper body was wrong. I actually texted my dad just after half time and asked if they'd said on the broadcast what Scott's injury was.

They also showed Croker having his fingers relocated on the big screen, which was probably also audible to folks at home because when they first showed Croker with his arm out at an odd angle with the trainer the ground announcer was trying to rev the crowd and the big cheer turned into this odd horrified choked noise from the crowd because I was sure - and I am equally sure I wasn't alone - that he'd done his shoulder again. The relocation of his fingers got an audible groan from the crowd.

So to me, it was obvious both centres were, to a degree, injured, though Croker seemed fine after the relocation (just tired late in the game, like everyone else).

I think it was around 30-25 minutes to go that I looked up and down our line and saw our forwards completely exhausted and realised we didn't have enough points. And we still came within a whisker of winning. I don't care if some amoeba brains in here are sick of hearing it:

I'M FRICKIN PROUD OF OUR BOYS.

They never gave up. They kept trying. They didn't roll. They fought on. They fought on against a much fresher, much less tired Warriors and an absolute cheating wankstain of a referee. And they nearly did it.

Yeah, I'm gutted tonight - probably more gutted than I should be after a round 3 game where we nearly pulled off nothing short of heroics. But I am still proud of them.

And at the end of the day, after 3 rounds we're still 2-1, and we were able to limit the damage to our F/A to just 3 lost points. If Taps' ankle is okay and James and Kris recover well from their headclashes, we should bounce back strongly. Woe betide next week's opponents!

I will watch the replay tomorrow. At the game today, I descended into a fog of "oh this is just schnurr schnurr." I did think our centres were doing little, though my attention was drawn to Croker getting his hand fixed.

I was particularly incensed at the number of 6-agains the Warriors got, when we seemed to get none. AYK it's hard to tell in real time but it seemed like about six nil. I reckon Rick was just as peed off with that as the forward pass. Anyone got a count on them?

And mostly, I love Raiderskater's description of the referee....

NRL.com are now keeping track of ruck infringement stats. Apparently we conceded 5 and the Warriors 2. At least one of the Warriors two infringements was on the first tackle. I can't remember the other one. We seemed to concede all of ours late in the tackle count.

On the other hand we were only penalised once and they were penalised 5 times.

They seemed to be offside much, much more than we were, but maybe that's the green goggles talking.

It's the relentless stream of forward passes that killed us. Some of their 20 offloads were also allowed to happen quite late in the tackle, but that's obviously just my opinion.

Yeah so the 6 agains are a bit spongey - thanks anyway, when I watch the tape tomorrow I'll try to keep count. And if I can also note when they came up in the tackle count.

As for offside, I have always (well for a few years anyway) been happy to give the ref a pass because usually they drop back 12 or 13 meters, and so while it may look to everyone at the game or viewing the telly that the defence is offside, they usually aren't. Square markers are an entirely different thing of course, and that appears to be utterly subjective for the ref. Similarly with forward passes, it's clearly very hard for a ref backpedalling near the ruck to spot them. Which lead me to...

Why are touch judges getting a salary? I wouldn't feed the scum.

Yep, agree with the general idea that the refs generally stand back 11-12m. I was looking at that, he really wasn't for either team.

Not sure what the touch judges were doing.

[Pete Cash]

I'm pretty much a wins are what matters guy but that right edge had no chance. Havili was gassed and couldn't slide and Scott could barely make his first contact in defence. Just one of those things would be a disaster.

So it's not that we should be "proud" or whatever but it's just one of those games where ya gotta just move on from

[Off]

now ive worked out how to put my sim card into another phone after I smashed the **** into a wall, the halves went missing at the pointy end, yeah yeah a few brave efforts and all that ****.