2024 Round 3 v Warriors: Teams and Previews *Teams p1*

[Finchy]

It's just frustration boiling over from fans because we want the team to be the best it can be but year after year we see team selections that are objectively stupid and doesn't make use of the full potential of the squad. The stupid team selections also always take a long time to correct and often it's had to be injuries that eventually force the 'correction'. Switching Cotric and Rapa to their weaker sides for no reason, Valemei having diabolical extended runs at wing and centre, Tapine wasting on the bench all game, Starling to lock, Elliot to hooker, Kris to fullback and then wing, a prop at lock for years when EVERY other team has moved on from that strategy and plenty more.

There's no consistency in the way that some players are given a mortgage on a spot in the 17 no matter how poorly they perform, while others can play well but still get dropped for no reason. If Ricky wants to whinge about consistency in refereeing and judiciary, he should think about how some of the players in his squad must feel about his own consistency.

You're making these comments without the full picture though. Definitely entitled to your opinion but you can't make claims like "for no reason". The reality is you know nothing about the inner workings, people/players and their discussions with the coaches.

The big picture is that the raiders have consistently overperformed with their roster when you compare us to other clubs. Yet that consistently gets ignored and fans still aren't happy with that and actively look to bag what the coaches are doing.

If you go out and ask fans from other clubs and followers of the NRL generally you would find that most consider us to consistent over achievers.

Imagine how much more we could “overachieve” with sensible roster decisions and bench usage? Like instead of giving old and underperforming players like Whitehead a 4 year big money extension, maybe promote young guys like Mooney and keep Hosking in the starting side?

[NoMan]

NRL prop power rankings: Have your say on the best and worst in the competition

Rank 2: RAIDERS

Joe Tapine, Josh Papali’i, Ata Mariota, Emre Guler, Pasami Saulo

The one-two punch of Tapine and Papalii is elite. They put the Raiders in a position to win every game they play. Guler from the bench adds another round of pain.

Read more: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport ... 83de0fef26

There is an interactive poll. The fans vote has the Raiders ranked 16th presently.

Who's ranked first? There's a few clubs with equally strong starting props but not any with the depth.

[greeneyed]

NRL prop power rankings: Have your say on the best and worst in the competition

Rank 2: RAIDERS

Joe Tapine, Josh Papali’i, Ata Mariota, Emre Guler, Pasami Saulo

The one-two punch of Tapine and Papalii is elite. They put the Raiders in a position to win every game they play. Guler from the bench adds another round of pain.

Read more: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport ... 83de0fef26

There is an interactive poll. The fans vote has the Raiders ranked 16th presently.

Who's ranked first? There's a few clubs with equally strong starting props but not any with the depth.

They ranked Penrith first.

[gangrenous]

We are so screwed…

[zim]

NRL prop power rankings: Have your say on the best and worst in the competition

Rank 2: RAIDERS

Joe Tapine, Josh Papali’i, Ata Mariota, Emre Guler, Pasami Saulo

The one-two punch of Tapine and Papalii is elite. They put the Raiders in a position to win every game they play. Guler from the bench adds another round of pain.

Read more: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport ... 83de0fef26

There is an interactive poll. The fans vote has the Raiders ranked 16th presently.

Who's ranked first? There's a few clubs with equally strong starting props but not any with the depth.

They ranked Penrith first.

Well I guess we know whose fans are voting most

[greeneyed]

NRL prop power rankings: Have your say on the best and worst in the competition

Rank 2: RAIDERS

Joe Tapine, Josh Papali’i, Ata Mariota, Emre Guler, Pasami Saulo

The one-two punch of Tapine and Papalii is elite. They put the Raiders in a position to win every game they play. Guler from the bench adds another round of pain.

Read more: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport ... 83de0fef26

There is an interactive poll. The fans vote has the Raiders ranked 16th presently.

Who's ranked first? There's a few clubs with equally strong starting props but not any with the depth.

They ranked Penrith first.

Well I guess we know whose fans are voting most

No the journalist rated them first. The fans currently have… wait for it… the Dolphins first.

[greeneyed]

Zac Hosking reveals why he almost gave up on NRL dream



The Canberra Raiders have been the surprise packet of the 2024 NRL season, sitting at the top of the ladder on the back of two strong showings from the forward pack. New recruit Zac Hosking has stood out and quickly emerged as one of the best signings of this season.

“There was a lot times there where I was about to throw the towel in, I actually did at one stage before the Brisbane opportunity came up and I almost didn’t take that as well. I’m really, really glad that I did that because it’s turned out pretty well.”

Read more: https://www.sen.com.au/news/2024/03/20/ ... nrl-dream/

[gangrenous]

I assume it’s because no one could spell his name?

[zim]

NRL prop power rankings: Have your say on the best and worst in the competition

Rank 2: RAIDERS

Joe Tapine, Josh Papali’i, Ata Mariota, Emre Guler, Pasami Saulo

The one-two punch of Tapine and Papalii is elite. They put the Raiders in a position to win every game they play. Guler from the bench adds another round of pain.

Read more: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport ... 83de0fef26

There is an interactive poll. The fans vote has the Raiders ranked 16th presently.

Who's ranked first? There's a few clubs with equally strong starting props but not any with the depth.

They ranked Penrith first.

Well I guess we know whose fans are voting most

No the journalist rated them first. The fans currently have… wait for it… the Dolphins first.

Incredible on both counts

[Neeeegz]

Great forward packs win you premierships. And we have a great forward pack. And Rapana will play another year and so will Papa, and we now have a premiership window opening again

[Azza]

How can she slap me sir etc?

[Lui_Bon]

It's just frustration boiling over from fans because we want the team to be the best it can be but year after year we see team selections that are objectively stupid and doesn't make use of the full potential of the squad. The stupid team selections also always take a long time to correct and often it's had to be injuries that eventually force the 'correction'. Switching Cotric and Rapa to their weaker sides for no reason, Valemei having diabolical extended runs at wing and centre, Tapine wasting on the bench all game, Starling to lock, Elliot to hooker, Kris to fullback and then wing, a prop at lock for years when EVERY other team has moved on from that strategy and plenty more.

There's no consistency in the way that some players are given a mortgage on a spot in the 17 no matter how poorly they perform, while others can play well but still get dropped for no reason. If Ricky wants to whinge about consistency in refereeing and judiciary, he should think about how some of the players in his squad must feel about his own consistency.

You're making these comments without the full picture though. Definitely entitled to your opinion but you can't make claims like "for no reason". The reality is you know nothing about the inner workings, people/players and their discussions with the coaches.

The big picture is that the raiders have consistently overperformed with their roster when you compare us to other clubs. Yet that consistently gets ignored and fans still aren't happy with that and actively look to bag what the coaches are doing.

If you go out and ask fans from other clubs and followers of the NRL generally you would find that most consider us to consistent over achievers.

I don't want to say "what a load of carp" but that is. I mean, fair dinkum, "You're making these comments without the full picture though"... and you actually know more? Then why don't you eff off and continue your job with the club instead of wasting your time on a fan forum.

Ditto the rest of your utterly pointless first paragraph.

"the raiders have consistently overperformed with their roster when you compare us to other clubs" - in the opinion of who? Oh yes, "fans from other clubs and followers of the NRL generally" - you mean other league fans with inbuilt biases, and then apart from them I guess you mean league media, who are of course both objective and infallible.

You try to project some kind of aura of objectivity yourself, EDIT

[InFernos_Raiders]

So here we go again Stuart making another stupid call. Hosking should start Whitehrad should be on the bench or NSW Cup. Also, Smithers will rotate with a Corey. Why change such a strong winning side just because, he tends to do this a lot. If Stuart had any balls he would dump Whitehead to NSW Cup to at least get some fitness and form. Bring in Mooney He is killing in the NSW Cup. Simply put Stuart should stick with the exact team he has had for the last two weeks. It’s a kick in the guts to Hosking because there is noway Whitehaed can tackle leap in the air have the speed as Hoskimg.

[Billy Walker]

A load of carp you say…. Certainly sounds fishy!

Always bemused by some folks reaction to an opinion that doesn’t align with their own. Lui your post is essentially berating Blues for having the audacity to support the club and coach on a fan forum. You are demanding that he fall into line and adopt your negativity or he should bugger off.

[Finchy]

So here we go again Stuart making another stupid call. Hosking should start Whitehrad should be on the bench or NSW Cup. Also, Smithers will rotate with a Corey. Why change such a strong winning side just because, he tends to do this a lot. If Stuart had any balls he would dump Whitehead to NSW Cup to at least get some fitness and form. Bring in Mooney He is killing in the NSW Cup. Simply put Stuart should stick with the exact team he has had for the last two weeks. It’s a kick in the guts to Hosking because there is noway Whitehaed can tackle leap in the air have the speed as Hoskimg.

Whitehrad? Whithaed? Smithers? Hoskimg?

Mike is that you?

[Lui_Bon]

A load of carp you say…. Certainly sounds fishy!

Always bemused by some folks reaction to an opinion that doesn’t align with their own. Lui your post is essentially berating Blues for having the audacity to support the club and coach on a fan forum. You are demanding that he fall into line and adopt your negativity or he should bugger off.

Well you know I would be edited for using the non-piscean word.

I'm not berating the other poster for having an opinion, be it supportive or otherwise of either the club, the coach, the players or anything else; I'm simply pointing out my dislike of their positioning themselves as somehow having some kind of better knowledge of the whole system than anyone else having an opinion. The fact that I think they're wrong is beside the point.

I am, however, pointing out that they are basing their entire position on two things: first, that we the general public have no idea what's going on, and I'm ok with that, but the smugness of tone suggesting they know more is just bloody pathetic, and second, that we should care about the predictions of a bunch of no-nothings from either other clubs' supporter bases or the clowns in the media and then temper our expectations accordingly is downright stupid. This is a forum for Raiders fans, and the chances are that they have watched the team they support more than fans of other teams have. I will not accept an argument from some fool that I should bow to the general consensus of some other bunch of idiots.

I've got a consensus of a bunch of idiots here that I respect a lot more...

[gerg]

A load of carp you say…. Certainly sounds fishy!

Always bemused by some folks reaction to an opinion that doesn’t align with their own. Lui your post is essentially berating Blues for having the audacity to support the club and coach on a fan forum. You are demanding that he fall into line and adopt your negativity or he should bugger off.

Well you know I would be edited for using the non-piscean word.

I'm not berating the other poster for having an opinion, be it supportive or otherwise of either the club, the coach, the players or anything else; I'm simply pointing out my dislike of their positioning themselves as somehow having some kind of better knowledge of the whole system than anyone else having an opinion. The fact that I think they're wrong is beside the point.

I am, however, pointing out that they are basing their entire position on two things: first, that we the general public have no idea what's going on, and I'm ok with that, but the smugness of tone suggesting they know more is just bloody pathetic, and second, that we should care about the predictions of a bunch of no-nothings from either other clubs' supporter bases or the clowns in the media and then temper our expectations accordingly is downright stupid. This is a forum for Raiders fans, and the chances are that they have watched the team they support more than fans of other teams have. I will not accept an argument from some fool that I should bow to the general consensus of some other bunch of idiots.

I've got a consensus of a bunch of idiots here that I respect a lot more...

If we're being realistic fans of other clubs don't give a **** about our club. Just like most of us don't give a **** about their club. How many of us reminisce about the wonderful season the Warriors had last year. Nobody, because they didn't win **** at the end of the day.

There is the more hardcore fans of other clubs - like the ones that post on their respective clubs' forum, like us, will know that the Raiders haven't truly been a successful club for 30 years. We all loved the run in 2019 but it came to nothing. It was fun but without that premiership it really doesn't mean that much five years on.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

[Billy Walker]

A load of carp you say…. Certainly sounds fishy!

Always bemused by some folks reaction to an opinion that doesn’t align with their own. Lui your post is essentially berating Blues for having the audacity to support the club and coach on a fan forum. You are demanding that he fall into line and adopt your negativity or he should bugger off.

Well you know I would be edited for using the non-piscean word.

I'm not berating the other poster for having an opinion, be it supportive or otherwise of either the club, the coach, the players or anything else; I'm simply pointing out my dislike of their positioning themselves as somehow having some kind of better knowledge of the whole system than anyone else having an opinion. The fact that I think they're wrong is beside the point.

I am, however, pointing out that they are basing their entire position on two things: first, that we the general public have no idea what's going on, and I'm ok with that, but the smugness of tone suggesting they know more is just bloody pathetic, and second, that we should care about the predictions of a bunch of no-nothings from either other clubs' supporter bases or the clowns in the media and then temper our expectations accordingly is downright stupid. This is a forum for Raiders fans, and the chances are that they have watched the team they support more than fans of other teams have. I will not accept an argument from some fool that I should bow to the general consensus of some other bunch of idiots.

I've got a consensus of a bunch of idiots here that I respect a lot more...

Both fair points Lui. I don’t disagree with you and Gergs that fans of other clubs may not hold the in-depth knowledge of others clubs as their own, but I’d argue the 3 of us are likely united in our views that over the last 3 years the Tigers and saints are hot rubbish, the Panthers are flying and South’s are very up and down. We may not know the intimate detail why but our views are valid.

The point you make that really resonates though is the smugness of tone. I think that is what is getting under your skin and I can appreciate that. By my estimates, there are only a handful of posters who respectfully put forward their positions. The majority more righteously assert their positions as fact and there are a handful that do post with a rude disrespectful tone. The last category are the ones I like to call out and stand up to.

I thought BluesBrother was more in the middle category than the last but we all interpret things differently and I respect that he’s clearly rubbed you the wrong way.

[dubby]

Posting to forums makes communication difficult at times.

The Mehrabian communication model says content is only 7% of communication is based on content, 38% on tone of voice and 55% body language.

Without 93% of effective communication, we can read posts the wrong way.

I totally get the point Lui is making.

We all fall guilty of occasionally reading an post the wrong way.

Add in passion, alternate opinions and ideas and it gets interesting

[Botman]

Bluesbrother is no different to the people he calls out
He's simply at the opposition end of the Raiders political spectrum so to speak... he's on the extreme of Pro Stuart. Where by he can't and won't accept any criticism, fair or not, about the coach and some of the decisions he makes. Which is really no different to what he claims are people who just bag the guy no matter what. He engages with the same level of objectivity as the people he's calling out. Which is to say he has very little objectivity as it relates to the coach.

Which to me personally, is fine, this is a fan forum, people put their opinions down and others can agree, disagree and indeed challenge those opinions when they're put down. That's the entire point of the place. Drive conversation, engagement and when it comes to sport, a lot of the time that's the back and forth of two different opinions.

What I won't accept is that opinions are invalidated or shouldn't be put forth on the basis that you're not in the building and don't see what happens at the club every moment of the day. Whilst I have strong suspicions on what drives this extremism from Bluesbrother, I'm pretty sure it's not that he's at the club either, so he is operating on roughly then same level of information as the rest of us have (and if that's not true and he is involved in the FG coaching... that's alarming to say the least!)

But I don't need to see the ingredients and watch the chef cook to tell you if I like how the food tastes. And i might love one aspect of a meal and critic another.

And to continue the analogy there is an end product to eat. We fans get that meal every week and we can taste every aspect of the end product. And we get 15 other meals a week to compare ours too. We have enough information to put forth opinions on the end product and where we are letting ourselves down.

Team selections and not putting the best 17 footballers on the field has been a long standing issue that i and many others feel have let this team down in Stuart's tenure. And there maybe reasons why he's not putting the best 17 players on the field and they might be valid... but if it doesn't translate into results on game day and into trophy's, which is what the man is employed to deliver, then people will have something to say.

[Love4Noa]

Here's my 8 cents.

Not many people actually understand what happens at training and behind closed doors.
The majority of people I talk to who know of the Greenhouse view it as angsty people with agendas that the recreational fan either disagrees with or stays away from because it impacts their enjoyment of just watching the footy.

The BIg Rick is exactly right in saying that it's great we have depth.
Remember 18 weeks ago when we thought we had no depth and the club had no idea?

Suddenly we've got a bloke who came to the club to play first grade sitting in reggies because Strange has laid down excellent markers.
We've got AN INTERNATIONAL AND CLUB CAPTAIN being hammered for being named in front of a bloke who's had a stellar 2 weeks and people are complaining.
We've got more forwards than Jackie Boi has kicks out on the full, and a hooker that continually gets bashed on this forum doing absolutely no worse than the other 2 or 3 that loiter around without grabbing a hold of the jumper.

Elliott deserves his chance - there were noises here in the off season that J Paps was done and dusted and suddenly he's in near career best form.

But I keep reading on here that the fans know better than someone who's coached 250 games and been involved in rugby league PROFESSIONALLY since 1988.

Silly buggers the lot of you. (and me included when I see something I don't like - but do as I say, not as I do)
Love you all long time.

[Rickmando]

Why this obsession to keep telling us Whitehead is the England captain?

Are they playing in Christchurch this week trying to get the 2 competition points???

Whitehead has played one good game for the Raiders in roughly 2 or 3 years. Making him the skipper was bonehead move #1, then blindly picking him over a bloke who’s nearly a decade younger and has been our best player the opening two rounds just further compounds the original mistake. Why is that so hard for some to understand??

[NoMan]

But I keep reading on here that the fans know better than someone who's coached 250 games and been involved in rugby league PROFESSIONALLY since 1988.

The only ones saying this are the ones accusing others of it.

This place is just like other hardcore sports forums and subreddits. I get that it can be off putting for casual fans but the unique thing on here is actually having people thinking the coach is infallible. I haven’t seen it elsewhere.

I’ve also seen fan sentiment be right over professionals all the time. US teams have 100x the resources to make objective decisions but Ego and personality derail them all the time. Ricky isn’t short on both.

Time will tell if Ricky is making the right call and I hope he is, but if you’re insulting people over having a view on it (not saying you did), you better front up if it goes south.

[Bluesbrother]

It's just frustration boiling over from fans because we want the team to be the best it can be but year after year we see team selections that are objectively stupid and doesn't make use of the full potential of the squad. The stupid team selections also always take a long time to correct and often it's had to be injuries that eventually force the 'correction'. Switching Cotric and Rapa to their weaker sides for no reason, Valemei having diabolical extended runs at wing and centre, Tapine wasting on the bench all game, Starling to lock, Elliot to hooker, Kris to fullback and then wing, a prop at lock for years when EVERY other team has moved on from that strategy and plenty more.

There's no consistency in the way that some players are given a mortgage on a spot in the 17 no matter how poorly they perform, while others can play well but still get dropped for no reason. If Ricky wants to whinge about consistency in refereeing and judiciary, he should think about how some of the players in his squad must feel about his own consistency.

You're making these comments without the full picture though. Definitely entitled to your opinion but you can't make claims like "for no reason". The reality is you know nothing about the inner workings, people/players and their discussions with the coaches.

The big picture is that the raiders have consistently overperformed with their roster when you compare us to other clubs. Yet that consistently gets ignored and fans still aren't happy with that and actively look to bag what the coaches are doing.

If you go out and ask fans from other clubs and followers of the NRL generally you would find that most consider us to consistent over achievers.

I don't want to say "what a load of carp" but that is. I mean, fair dinkum, "You're making these comments without the full picture though"... and you actually know more? Then why don't you eff off and continue your job with the club instead of wasting your time on a fan forum.

Ditto the rest of your utterly pointless first paragraph.

"the raiders have consistently overperformed with their roster when you compare us to other clubs" - in the opinion of who? Oh yes, "fans from other clubs and followers of the NRL generally" - you mean other league fans with inbuilt biases, and then apart from them I guess you mean league media, who are of course both objective and infallible.

You try to project some kind of aura of objectivity yourself, EDIT

Lui, I'm certainly not saying that I know more. The fact is I don't comment on selections on the basis that I know how difficult it is to make decisions about selection. Whether that's in a workplace or a sports team there is always an immeasurable amount of variables that equate to the decisions.

I definitely don't agree with all of Ricky's selections. This weekend is just 1 example. I think Ata should be in our 17 every single week. However, I also acknowledge I don't know what's going on. Ata could have a sick child or relative that he needs to prioritise. It could also be that he is carrying a niggling injury that would benefit from a rest. The fact is I don't know. On that basis, I don't make comment. And I certainly don't make comments that are personally pointed at the coach because I think that would be unfair but mainly, downright illogical.

The tone at which people criticise Ricky really does disappoint me because he has done a lot for the Raiders as a player and coach. The club is in an objectively better position because of him and I'm grateful that we have him. Berating a bloke in an online forum who is an emphatic net positive for the club is again, downright illogical in my books.

Entitled to your opinion but I hope that clarifies my position.

[pickles]

Bluesbrother is no different to the people he calls out
He's simply at the opposition end of the Raiders political spectrum so to speak... he's on the extreme of Pro Stuart. Where by he can't and won't accept any criticism, fair or not, about the coach and some of the decisions he makes. Which is really no different to what he claims are people who just bag the guy no matter what. He engages with the same level of objectivity as the people he's calling out. Which is to say he has very little objectivity as it relates to the coach.

Which to me personally, is fine, this is a fan forum, people put their opinions down and others can agree, disagree and indeed challenge those opinions when they're put down. That's the entire point of the place. Drive conversation, engagement and when it comes to sport, a lot of the time that's the back and forth of two different opinions.

What I won't accept is that opinions are invalidated or shouldn't be put forth on the basis that you're not in the building and don't see what happens at the club every moment of the day. Whilst I have strong suspicions on what drives this extremism from Bluesbrother, I'm pretty sure it's not that he's at the club either, so he is operating on roughly then same level of information as the rest of us have (and if that's not true and he is involved in the FG coaching... that's alarming to say the least!)

But I don't need to see the ingredients and watch the chef cook to tell you if I like how the food tastes. And i might love one aspect of a meal and critic another.

And to continue the analogy there is an end product to eat. We fans get that meal every week and we can taste every aspect of the end product. And we get 15 other meals a week to compare ours too. We have enough information to put forth opinions on the end product and where we are letting ourselves down.

Team selections and not putting the best 17 footballers on the field has been a long standing issue that i and many others feel have let this team down in Stuart's tenure. And there maybe reasons why he's not putting the best 17 players on the field and they might be valid... but if it doesn't translate into results on game day and into trophy's, which is what the man is employed to deliver, then people will have something to say.

I agree with most of this. It is a forum for discussion and everyone is entitled to an opinion. The important thing to understand is that everyone's opinion is based in incomplete evidence and saying that watching 80 minutes of the team once a week is all you need to see is a bit of a stretch.

There are a lot of things that contribute to that 80 minutes of game time that we get to see that may or not be related to things that we attribute them too and my perspective is that the interpersonal elements of managing a football team are highly under rated as a contributing factor and probably play a much larger part of decisions that are made than what many people would believe.

One tangible example is Savage and Kris approaching Ricky about wanting to play on an edge together and this being accommodated or Tapine and Papalii wanting to be on the field together. I doubt any fans knew that Kris and Savage were good mates prior to this revelation in the same way we have almost no insight into the social dynamics within the team.

Especially with senior players and captains there are roles that they play within the club both on the training paddock, through the preparation and on the field that are not visible to fans but can play an extremely important role in team performance.

I'm certain that Ricky get's things wrong at times. He is stubborn and emotional and that isn't always going lead to the best process for making decisions. I don't always agree with his decisions and I don't always like the outcomes but I can also admit that I don't know the full picture of why that decision was made and I am certain that there are times when a right decision was made for the wrong reasons and wrong decisions were made for the right reasons. Mainly because I've worked with people and they are complicated!

[zim]

My advice would be on extremely rare occasions to use the ignore button to smooth out the peaks a little. My forum experience improved quite a bit when I ignored 2 trolls and 1 poster who twice couldn't stand having to justify their incessantly negative ideas on the team. I'd say their forum experience is better for it too given they haven't taken their ball home since they went on ignore.

[greeneyed]

[Green Blogger]

Hudson Young at the end of that interview when Fletch asks him about when he is off contract - "Milk for life".

[zim]

Congrats on the 100 Young. Feels like he's been around forever but he's only 25.

[Finchy]

We've got AN INTERNATIONAL AND CLUB CAPTAIN being hammered for being named in front of a bloke who's had a stellar 2 weeks and people are complaining.

Making the England squad doesn't mean squat. Blake Austin was playing wing for them a couple of years ago and wasn't NRL standard by that stage. EW also shouldn't have been named captain when he was declining as fast as Croker was, yet we gave him a 4 year big money extension! The bloke has been poor for the past 3 years. The bloke who's had a stellar two weeks has shown more than EW has in the past 3 years. Maybe EW should earn his way back through reserve grade, much like current Origin player Horsburgh has to do.

We've got more forwards than Jackie Boi has kicks out on the full, and a hooker that continually gets bashed on this forum doing absolutely no worse than the other 2 or 3 that loiter around without grabbing a hold of the jumper.

Woolford and Starling may not have been banging the door down, but why sign (and then re-sign) one of the worst hookers in the comp statistically speaking? Why run with 3 below average hookers instead of trying to sign a gun? Bulldogs signed Mahoney for about $650k. Tigers signed Koroisau for about $650k. We were paying a busted Hodgson north of $900k. Wighton turned down $1.2mill. Surely we could do better than Danny **** Levi.

Elliott deserves his chance - there were noises here in the off season that J Paps was done and dusted and suddenly he's in near career best form.

The only noise I hear about J Paps being "done and dusted" is Foxsports who keep telling us he's retiring at the end of the year. I haven't heard a single person on this forum spouting such nonsense.

But I keep reading on here that the fans know better than someone who's coached 250 games and been involved in rugby league PROFESSIONALLY since 1988.

Yeah, nah. Disagreeing with coaching decisions doesn't mean we necessarily think we know more than the coach. We can be more objective than him though. How many times over the years have fans called for something, then Ricky does it weeks/months/years later?

Ricky finally pulled Wighton from the five eighth role at the end of last year. Pulled Kris from the fullback role at the end of last year. There's countless other examples of selections he's made over the years that he's ended up changing which fans were calling for all along.

Remember, even Papa and Taps other halves called out his bench usage on Insta, and they're closer to Ricky than anyone here.

I've used this example before and I'll use it again. When judging a singer on Australian Idol many years ago, Dicko was brutally honest. The contestant told him to get on stage and do a better job. His reply was that he didn't need to be able to sing it better to know she was singing it badly. Likewise, I don't need to be able to play better or coach better to be able to see that someone else is doing it badly or could do better.

[Bluesbrother]

Bluesbrother is no different to the people he calls out
He's simply at the opposition end of the Raiders political spectrum so to speak... he's on the extreme of Pro Stuart. Where by he can't and won't accept any criticism, fair or not, about the coach and some of the decisions he makes. Which is really no different to what he claims are people who just bag the guy no matter what. He engages with the same level of objectivity as the people he's calling out. Which is to say he has very little objectivity as it relates to the coach.

Which to me personally, is fine, this is a fan forum, people put their opinions down and others can agree, disagree and indeed challenge those opinions when they're put down. That's the entire point of the place. Drive conversation, engagement and when it comes to sport, a lot of the time that's the back and forth of two different opinions.

What I won't accept is that opinions are invalidated or shouldn't be put forth on the basis that you're not in the building and don't see what happens at the club every moment of the day. Whilst I have strong suspicions on what drives this extremism from Bluesbrother, I'm pretty sure it's not that he's at the club either, so he is operating on roughly then same level of information as the rest of us have (and if that's not true and he is involved in the FG coaching... that's alarming to say the least!)

But I don't need to see the ingredients and watch the chef cook to tell you if I like how the food tastes. And i might love one aspect of a meal and critic another.

And to continue the analogy there is an end product to eat. We fans get that meal every week and we can taste every aspect of the end product. And we get 15 other meals a week to compare ours too. We have enough information to put forth opinions on the end product and where we are letting ourselves down.

Team selections and not putting the best 17 footballers on the field has been a long standing issue that i and many others feel have let this team down in Stuart's tenure. And there maybe reasons why he's not putting the best 17 players on the field and they might be valid... but if it doesn't translate into results on game day and into trophy's, which is what the man is employed to deliver, then people will have something to say.

I agree with most of this. It is a forum for discussion and everyone is entitled to an opinion. The important thing to understand is that everyone's opinion is based in incomplete evidence and saying that watching 80 minutes of the team once a week is all you need to see is a bit of a stretch.

There are a lot of things that contribute to that 80 minutes of game time that we get to see that may or not be related to things that we attribute them too and my perspective is that the interpersonal elements of managing a football team are highly under rated as a contributing factor and probably play a much larger part of decisions that are made than what many people would believe.

One tangible example is Savage and Kris approaching Ricky about wanting to play on an edge together and this being accommodated or Tapine and Papalii wanting to be on the field together. I doubt any fans knew that Kris and Savage were good mates prior to this revelation in the same way we have almost no insight into the social dynamics within the team.

Especially with senior players and captains there are roles that they play within the club both on the training paddock, through the preparation and on the field that are not visible to fans but can play an extremely important role in team performance.

I'm certain that Ricky get's things wrong at times. He is stubborn and emotional and that isn't always going lead to the best process for making decisions. I don't always agree with his decisions and I don't always like the outcomes but I can also admit that I don't know the full picture of why that decision was made and I am certain that there are times when a right decision was made for the wrong reasons and wrong decisions were made for the right reasons. Mainly because I've worked with people and they are complicated!

Well said, Pickles.

[Bluesbrother]

We've got AN INTERNATIONAL AND CLUB CAPTAIN being hammered for being named in front of a bloke who's had a stellar 2 weeks and people are complaining.

Making the England squad doesn't mean squat. Blake Austin was playing wing for them a couple of years ago and wasn't NRL standard by that stage. EW also shouldn't have been named captain when he was declining as fast as Croker was, yet we gave him a 4 year big money extension! The bloke has been poor for the past 3 years. The bloke who's had a stellar two weeks has shown more than EW has in the past 3 years. Maybe EW should earn his way back through reserve grade, much like current Origin player Horsburgh has to do.

We've got more forwards than Jackie Boi has kicks out on the full, and a hooker that continually gets bashed on this forum doing absolutely no worse than the other 2 or 3 that loiter around without grabbing a hold of the jumper.

Woolford and Starling may not have been banging the door down, but why sign (and then re-sign) one of the worst hookers in the comp statistically speaking? Why run with 3 below average hookers instead of trying to sign a gun? Bulldogs signed Mahoney for about $650k. Tigers signed Koroisau for about $650k. We were paying a busted Hodgson north of $900k. Wighton turned down $1.2mill. Surely we could do better than Danny **** Levi.

Elliott deserves his chance - there were noises here in the off season that J Paps was done and dusted and suddenly he's in near career best form.

The only noise I hear about J Paps being "done and dusted" is Foxsports who keep telling us he's retiring at the end of the year. I haven't heard a single person on this forum spouting such nonsense.

But I keep reading on here that the fans know better than someone who's coached 250 games and been involved in rugby league PROFESSIONALLY since 1988.

Yeah, nah. Disagreeing with coaching decisions doesn't mean we necessarily think we know more than the coach. We can be more objective than him though. How many times over the years have fans called for something, then Ricky does it weeks/months/years later?

Ricky finally pulled Wighton from the five eighth role at the end of last year. Pulled Kris from the fullback role at the end of last year. There's countless other examples of selections he's made over the years that he's ended up changing which fans were calling for all along.

Remember, even Papa and Taps other halves called out his bench usage on Insta, and they're closer to Ricky than anyone here.

I've used this example before and I'll use it again. When judging a singer on Australian Idol many years ago, Dicko was brutally honest. The contestant told him to get on stage and do a better job. His reply was that he didn't need to be able to sing it better to know she was singing it badly. Likewise, I don't need to be able to play better or coach better to be able to see that someone else is doing it badly or could do better.

I didn't see Hors in the NSW Cup line up? Where are you getting that info from?

[Finchy]

I didn't see Hors in the NSW Cup line up? Where are you getting that info from?

He isn't named, but the info came from here: viewtopic.php?p=1980553#p1980553

[greeneyed]

Stuart delivers message to top-of-the-table Raiders



A reeling Warriors outfit stands between Canberra and their first 3-0 start to an NRL season since 2020. Canberra coach Ricky Stuart said his team would be punished if they are complacent and has called for the same steely resolve shown in the opening matches.

“They’ll be desperate, they won’t want to lose three in a row, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to be more desperate – that’s a choice for us,” he said.

Read more: https://canberradaily.com.au/stuart-del ... e-raiders/

'Hudson lives it': the qualities that make a Raiders star tick



Passionate. Emotional. Makes things personal. That could just as easily be about Ricky Stuart, as it is the Canberra Raiders coach talking about Hudson Young.

"He's a passionate rugby league person and even more of a passionate Raider. I love it how he's green," Stuart said. "He's so what you want in terms of a Raiders player. He's passionate, emotional, makes things personal. He's very much team-first and he works hard. Of our club values and being a Raider, Hudson lives it."

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

Faith behind the fasting: Guler balancing rugby league and Ramadan



Ramdan has always been an important time of the year for the Guler family, who are of Turkish descent, and the 26-year-old Raiders forward ensures he too finds days to fast around his training and game day schedule.

“I only do it on the days off because it's pretty hard on our big days and game days,” Guler said. “It can get complicated if you’re travelling, so I just try to manage it and do the best I can with the situation I’m in. If I can handle what I’m doing now, then I’d like to eventually do a day of training with it and build my way up, but I think I’ll have to get used to it a bit more before I take it to that next step.

Read more: https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/03/21/fai ... d-ramadan/





MATCH PREVIEW: Raiders v Warriors: viewtopic.php?t=36036

https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2024/03 ... -warriors/

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Instagram Stories telling that at least Ata Mariota and Zac Woolford on the plane back to Canberra for NSW Cup.