2024 Round 5 v Eels: Teams and Previews *Teams p1*

[Canberra Milk]

I didn’t actually watch the press conference so only just saw this:

“Usually when our bench go on, we’ve been keeping the momentum over the the start of the season.

“When Joe and Papa went off tonight. I’ve got trust in those players to go on.

“But (against Cronulla) we lost everything. We lost all momentum. The whole game changed.”

More reason to split them up imo and despite Saulo improving his game, he doesn’t make enough metres and I can’t see that changing.

The momentum player for the Raiders in NSW Cup is Mooney. If the Coach is looking to maintain momentum then pick the player who can provide it.

On a completely separate note, there has just been a replay of the Good Friday match between St Helens and Wigan. That was as tough and hard as any NRL game I've watched this year. St Helens won 12-4. Played at high intensity and good pace. Based on that game the standard of footy in ESL for the top sides, is very high. They played it out at high tempo for the full 80 minutes too. Something for the Raiders players to learn from.

Mitchell Pearce said the standard of the top few teams is really good, but then drops away fast

[The Nickman]

In general, team selections in 2024 have been good. We’ve seen players dropped and cup form rewarded but it’s just the Mooney non selection (amplified by him being off contact) which is puzzling and frustrating.

Sasagi has been playing very will at second row in cup and I suspect he will come on after 20 minutes with Ata to move into the middle rotation if this side is to remain as named.

That, and the hooker rotation. Just blows my mind that Starling is just rusted on there, when he’s clearly much worse than both Levi and Woolford.

What has to happen for this to change?

[Rickmando]

In general, team selections in 2024 have been good. We’ve seen players dropped and cup form rewarded but it’s just the Mooney non selection (amplified by him being off contact) which is puzzling and frustrating.

Sasagi has been playing very will at second row in cup and I suspect he will come on after 20 minutes with Ata to move into the middle rotation if this side is to remain as named.

That, and the hooker rotation. Just blows my mind that Starling is just rusted on there, when he’s clearly much worse than both Levi and Woolford.

What has to happen for this to change?

A cannon directed sun-wards?

[Neeeegz]

So which club do we think Mooney will be carving up at next year?

Get your guesses in…

Dogs or Knights

Dragons

Storm, big Nelson to the dragons

[papabear]

My few thoughts on some players:-

Guler - His play the balls / mistakes arent what kills me. Although they dont appear to be particular good. For someone so pedestrian in attack he is really pedestrian in defence. Since he isn't young anymore it is a whats the point unless everyone else is injured sort of thing.

When I say defence its not his mistackles /stats, we let a try in earlier this year where he should have been trekking across to make a tackle if the play came back inside, he didn't and he wasnt even in the frame for the try. Add to that he doesnt appear to tackle particular hard or dominant either.

Other few worth commenting on this year - Hudson Young - Didn't watch the warriors game but in the highlights there try to go up he fell of a pretty regulation tackle which seemed a bit pathetic for a second rower. All season and even last season he feels to have lost the hard edge and now he just occasionally moves into the grubby territory. For our best second rower this is a bit sad. Honestly I am not rusted on to him.

Ethan Strange - I think he has been excellent for a first year player in a spine. However our spine without woolford lacks heaps of direction, expecially when starling is on. But Kris had a quiet game largely because of ethan strange, he has a great edge outside him and needs to mix up his run game with feeding them early ball. Savage had a great try from a scrum play and a great run from dummy half... he and kris need to touch the ball.

Line speed and effort - were all pretty ****.

kick offs / penalty kicks, we have been gutless on our penalty kicks for a while now. But our kick offs are far too shallow.... most teams are aiming to start a defensive set from a kick off at the ten or inside it... we are lucky to keep teams in the 20 - see also comment above.

Cotric - I would have him in for his defence over schiller

Sharks tries
1st try - right side second rower / half
2nd try - schiller / maybe timoko a little bit
3rd try - savage
4th try - timoko
5th try - schiller / timoko
6th try - games already over - whole left side finishing on savage (although he followed his whole left defence by coming in)

[Travis]

The middle rotation, which should be one of our strengths (it's certainly identified as the biggest strength by the media), has been pretty disappointing the last few weeks. As many frequently point out, the use of the bench hasn't been effective. Having looked at the first month of games, this is the apparent trend / mindset of Stuart's middle rotations:

Papalii to play the first 20 and last 20. Guler was his partner in Rounds 1-3 and Horsburgh in Round 4.
Tapine to play the first 25 to 30 and the last 25 to 30. Saulo has been his partner.
Smithies to play until he needs a break. Mariota to be his partner in Rounds 1,2 and 4, Whitehead in Round 3.
Levi to play until he needs a break. Starling to be his partner.

What has disrupted the above plan is that most weeks (Rounds 1,2 and 4) there has been a HIA-forced change. This has meant that Mariota has been the HIA replacement and predominantly played on an edge (though in Round 1 he replaced Smithies and played in the middle).

So basically, Stuart wants 4 props, 2 lock / edge options and 2 hookers. At the moment, this is the pecking order:

Props
1 = Tapine (50 - 60 minutes)
2 = Papalii (40 - 45 minutes)
3 = Saulo (25-30 minutes)
4 = Horsburgh (35 - 45 minutes)
5 = Guler
6 = Mooney

Lock / Edge utility
1 = Smithies (60 - 70 minutes)
2 = Whitehead (20 - 30 minutes - some of these minutes on an edge)
3 = Mariota

Hooker
1 = Levi (55 - 65 minutes)
2 = Starling (15 - 25 minutes)
3 = Woolford

I'm hopeful that Mooney is on a management / transition plan to ease him into the Prop #3 spot, as his game best supports Tapine's when he is off the field. I suspect that the coaching staff are well-aware of this and would hope they are communicating this to Mooney regularly. I also think Mariota's long-term spot is above Whitehead (similarly, I would think the coaching staff are communicating with him and telling hm to expect the odd game in NSW Cup to play longer minutes while Whitehead's final year is managed). I'd love to see Woolford take on the hooker #1 role and Levi to replace Starling.

[Andymachine]

Agree on all of the above. Line speed and effort in defence were a big issue on the weekend and something the Raiders haven't been very good with over quite a long time. It was frustrating watching the Sharks running 60-70m on every set as the game wore on. I also noticed the shallow kick offs and the Sharks usually crossing the 20m line on their first tackle. It's why I knew we weren't going to come back and win as soon as the Sharks went ahead because by that stage the game was being played at our end of the field.

- I think Ethan Strange is a great prospect but right now he's playing too much like a centre and not enough like a 5/8. We've seen the skillset so this is a coaching issue.
- Hudson looks best when he's spearing in behind the markers. He's too small to play like a prop and not many of his big plays are coming off at the moment. He just needs to be given a role and told to stay in his lane.
- Guler - looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane. He's Aaron Woods with half the work rate. Thankfully he's lost his automatic selection for now.
- Starling - he unfortunately hasn't lost his automatic selection somehow. Woolford to start with Levi on the bench would be my pick for now (need to see whether Puru is capable at hooker before I advocate it).

[gerg]

I think Hudson-Young has drifted away from what made him successful and reverted to that guy that debuted - the one that looked for the big play, easy option too often. Trying to strip the ball every tackle and get away with it. The niggle, the hands in the face, on the ball, trying to be a pest.

When he stopped doing all that nonsense and focused on running good lines/angles (at gaps instead of through people), folding attackers with good tackling technique, being a good support player etc. This is how he improved. We'll never know what that (boofhead) Fittler camp did to him but it sure wasn't positive.

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[dubby]

If we play with the energy, discipline and attitude we did in our first 3 games, we should win this.

[-PJ-]

If we play with the energy, discipline and attitude we did in our first 3 games, we should win this.

There’s always a IF with our team eh dubs ?

[Rickmando]

If we play with the energy, discipline and attitude we did in our first 3 games, we should win this.

So basically, if we “bleed green”

[dubby]

If we play with the energy, discipline and attitude we did in our first 3 games, we should win this.

There’s always a IF with our team eh dubs ?

Always

[GreenMachine]

Slowly but surely, we will drift towards where I thought we would end up this season - bottom 4...

We're just not that good a team (personnel wise) and we have horrible coaching and recruitment and retention.

But our poker machines have never been healthier...

[Seiffert82]

All I can think re Mooney, maybe once Stick picks him, he'll pick him forever, like he does with other favourites

But it's very unlikely other clubs wouldn't be knocking and fairly hard

Exactly. There are a few clubs that need middle forwards. Some cough Melbourne cough could get him at an absolute bargain

I don’t believe Mooney is going anywhere for a bargain. His manager is after a solid contract upgrade from an above base contract current wage.

Mooney 100% knows he's in line to replace Papa in a year or so.

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Might be worth re-signing him long term then.

Well, he's off contract at the end of the year and is free to sign elsewhere... but hasn't.

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[Seiffert82]

I think Hudson-Young has drifted away from what made him successful and reverted to that guy that debuted - the one that looked for the big play, easy option too often. Trying to strip the ball every tackle and get away with it. The niggle, the hands in the face, on the ball, trying to be a pest.

When he stopped doing all that nonsense and focused on running good lines/angles (at gaps instead of through people), folding attackers with good tackling technique, being a good support player etc. This is how he improved. We'll never know what that (boofhead) Fittler camp did to him but it sure wasn't positive.

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Totally agree.

And it sucks, because I'm a huge fan of his. His effectiveness has nothing to do with the "lines he runs". He's just got to cut out the crap.

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[Seiffert82]

Slowly but surely, we will drift towards where I thought we would end up this season - bottom 4...

We're just not that good a team (personnel wise) and we have horrible coaching and recruitment and retention.

But our poker machines have never been healthier...

Haha. Did Ricky run over your cat before or after Savage and Mooney ran over his cat?

Bit pessimistic there Greenie!

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[Bluesbrother]

I think Hudson-Young has drifted away from what made him successful and reverted to that guy that debuted - the one that looked for the big play, easy option too often. Trying to strip the ball every tackle and get away with it. The niggle, the hands in the face, on the ball, trying to be a pest.

When he stopped doing all that nonsense and focused on running good lines/angles (at gaps instead of through people), folding attackers with good tackling technique, being a good support player etc. This is how he improved. We'll never know what that (boofhead) Fittler camp did to him but it sure wasn't positive.

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I'd agree with that. We don't need him to be a hero for us. We've got enough talent elsewhere. He just needs to do what you say - simplify his game and be smarter about his involvements. The thing with Hudson that seems obvious is that he has a huge desire to improve. I'll back him because of that.

[gangrenous]

When he stopped doing all that nonsense and focused on running good lines/angles (at gaps instead of through people), folding attackers with good tackling technique, being a good support player etc. This is how he improved. We'll never know what that (boofhead) Fittler camp did to him but it sure wasn't positive.

So much this. It’s like he went to camp and Fittler told him “you want to go to the next level like these Penrith guys? You’ve got to be the enforcer”

Then ever since he’s been upping the stupid **** and doing less of what saw him picked in the first place…

[greeneyed]

'We were poor': Canberra Raiders cop criticism on the chin

Ricky Stuart was right - the Canberra Raiders players agree they were poor. But they've vowed to repay the faith shown by their coach against the Parramatta Eels at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

"We're not hitting the panic button - we know we're better than that. We'll correct that this week with our performance this weekend. I'm confident in this group that we can do that. Stick said it how it is and rightfully so, but we'll bounce back," Tom Starling said.

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

Josh Papalii reassures Raiders youngsters over capitulation



Canberra are ready to ride the bumps of an NRL season and get back to winning ways against Parramatta on Sunday, veteran enforcer Josh Papalii says.

“I’ve been in this position many times before in my playing career, but I think the biggest thing is just being there for the young boys that haven’t experienced back-to-back losses like this or a slow start to the season,” he said. “Those boys have come in today, trained well, and hopefully can take it out on Sunday.”

Read more: https://canberradaily.com.au/josh-papal ... itulation/

The 'stray dogs' looking to give the Canberra Raiders bite

It's the pack of "stray dogs" gathering to give the Canberra Raiders bite. Simi Sasagi's the latest Newcastle product set to make his Raiders debut as the Green Machine looks to bounce back to winning ways.

"I think there's a fair few of us now from Newcastle. We call ourselves the 'stray dogs' and always end up down here," Starling said. "Simi's settled in well and played some good footy so it's good to see him make his debut."

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



MATCH PREVIEW: Raiders v Eels: viewtopic.php?t=36052

https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2024/04 ... rs-v-eels/

[Dusty]

I'm not confident at all.


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[President Clinton]

I'm not confident at all.


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We gave up a 18 point lead to a side lead by a 25 year old, who looks 50.

I don’t blame you for not being confident. That was the most atrocious performance we have dished up in a while and anyone feeling confident is a joker.

Raiders 13+.

[Neeeegz]

Says a bloke that plays 15 minutes a game, **** has he got to speak to the media about it ?

[BadnMean]

Slowly but surely, we will drift towards where I thought we would end up this season - bottom 4...

We're just not that good a team (personnel wise) and we have horrible coaching and recruitment and retention.

But our poker machines have never been healthier...

How far off that do we have to be for a mea culpa later on?

[CrabLord]

We beat Parra this week with ease.

Then lose to the Titans the next week when the team rocks up thinking they have already won the comp to even it all out.

[Rickmando]

We beat Parra this week with ease.

Then lose to the Titans the next week when the team rocks up thinking they have already won the comp to even it all out.

We’ve seen this happen too many times over the past 10 years for it to be simply bad luck!

[Azza]

We beat Parra this week with ease.

Then lose to the Titans the next week when the team rocks up thinking they have already won the comp to even it all out.

Peak raiders

[Bluesbrother]

I’m not going to argue about hypotheticals, it’s pointless. Objectively when the two clubs played two weeks ago the talent gap was massive.

Time isn’t a straight line though is it. Just because something happened two or three weeks ago doesn’t automatically mean that same occurrence would happen now. Sometimes teams are off one week. Teams improve and teams regress.

Yeah - and just because a team has put 2 wins together doesn't mean much either. The Tigers have done well but to suggest as a club they are in the same ballpark as us, across the grades, shows how little you understand or just factually look at. The gulf was on show in round 2 - across all 3 of the top grades.

[Canberra Milk]

A genuine young superstar can change everything. If Galvin is that, not to mention Bula, the Tigers could leapfrog us. Add Luai and I'm very much looking over my shoulder

I don't think they're far away from us at all. If you're not reading much into their two wins, then you shouldn't read much into our single win over them either

We're actually pretty average overall, other than the cheat code of Tapine/Papalii. Spine is less than average

After the initial euphoria of our first two wins, I now again think scraping into the 8 would be a solid achievement for this squad

Hopefully Sanders/Stewart lift our spine and therefore our ceiling in the next couple of years, but that's a big if, there's a looot of variability with youngsters, especially halves

[LimeGreenMachine]

Put Api in our team then we smash whatever the Tigers have got left and few other teams.
It purely highlights our weakest link. The hooker position.

[NoMan]

A genuine young superstar can change everything. If Galvin is that, not to mention Bula, the Tigers could leapfrog us. Add Luai and I'm very much looking over my shoulder

I don't think they're far away from us at all. If you're not reading much into their two wins, then you shouldn't read much into our single win over them either

We're actually pretty average overall, other than the cheat code of Tapine/Papalii. Spine is less than average

After the initial euphoria of our first two wins, I now again think scraping into the 8 would be a solid achievement for this squad

Hopefully Sanders/Stewart lift our spine and therefore our ceiling in the next couple of years, but that's a big if, there's a looot of variability with youngsters, especially halves

Not far away how though? The Tigers know they have had a **** pathways systems that's why their strategic plan is based around trying to fix them. They are years behind the Raiders in that area and pathways is overwhelmingly the strategic direction clubs are going in because it's won most of the comps in the last decade. It's the only path to sustainable success for most clubs.

I mean It's one thing to think the Tigers might have some more short term success, brave but not the strangest thing to have happened. It's another to think that because Gutho shanked a kick that they have gone from perennial basketcases with busted systems to somehow surpassing the Raiders as a club who are now instead a relative "basketcase".

The Raiders are far from perfect, especially at the top, but some of the stuff said about it is just ignorant and involves a lot of ass talking (not suggesting you did).

[Bluesbrother]

A genuine young superstar can change everything. If Galvin is that, not to mention Bula, the Tigers could leapfrog us. Add Luai and I'm very much looking over my shoulder

I don't think they're far away from us at all. If you're not reading much into their two wins, then you shouldn't read much into our single win over them either

We're actually pretty average overall, other than the cheat code of Tapine/Papalii. Spine is less than average

After the initial euphoria of our first two wins, I now again think scraping into the 8 would be a solid achievement for this squad

Hopefully Sanders/Stewart lift our spine and therefore our ceiling in the next couple of years, but that's a big if, there's a looot of variability with youngsters, especially halves

I agree with that - a superstar can change everything. They have some good ones there - I agree. I don't think Luai is going to do much for them though. Paying any one player 1.4m is dangerous- see the knights.

We also have some superstar potential on our books - Strange has shown as much as Galvin IMO. Just not at a Sydney club. Stewart and Sanders could/should be just as good.

Mariota is going to be a top 3 front rower IMO in a matter of years.

If you look underneath our NRL 17 it's very positive and it's very young. Our strategy at this point is very promising. Doesn't mean it will work but I think we're as competitive as any other club moving into the next decade.

[Dylan’s Raiders]

Just on that quietly, I think Strange has looked great but he will go under the radar the whole year because of Galvin.

Don’t get me wrong, Galvin has looked bloody terrific but I’m pleased with Strange and the fact he just has no pressure or commentary and can develop in the background is great.

[thevikingclap on ig]

That’s how we like it in Canberra.

I must say that could be part of the reason why we’ve seen Cotric’s downfall being due to the fact that he was highly spoken about and regarded coming into grade.

[Regs Revolution]

Just on that quietly, I think Strange has looked great but he will go under the radar the whole year because of Galvin.

Don’t get me wrong, Galvin has looked bloody terrific but I’m pleased with Strange and the fact he just has no pressure or commentary and can develop in the background is great.

Vossy was praising Strange in the Tigers/Parra game. They will both get a lot of attention this year cause they’re both pretty good players starting out.

[Coastalraider]

Strange will go under the radar a bit because of the style of footy he’s playing - different coaching approaches. Sticky has usually been one to restrict the input of kids while they find their feet. - ie limited movements around him, no kicking etc. Benji has thrown Galvin the keys and said go nuts, play what you see.