2024 Round 8 v Sharks: Game Day

[gerg]

Honest question. Who do we beat in this competition playing that style? Even putting aside the Levi bombed try, we're not threatening any side with that attack. The red zone attack is disgusting. Crash ball after crash ball.

Terribly coached team and it was clearly on display today. We threw absolutely nothing at them. We have zero structure. I've whinged before but you can't have a team setup like this with a team full of young guys. Nobody just slots into our NRL side and plays their role because they don't know what their role is. It's setting them all up for failure.

Five more years coach.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

[lightning]

Is anyone surprised? Fair dinkum look at the youth and injuries. Anyone who thinks Flegg/Cup players can slot in and we put on points against the ladder leaders and even win is delusional. This is what blooding youth en masse looks like, especially without the experience and leadership around them.

You're right to a certain extent, but our starting front row are all internationals; Young has played Origin; Smithies has won a premiership with Wigan; and our centres have represented NZ. There's enough experience there that today's **** shouldn't have happened.

Yeah, I suspect if the middles turned up it wouldn’t have been a win but it wouldn’t have been a flogging. The young blokes never even had a chance to lose that game.

Agree. Way too easy for them through the middle in that first half, they were always kicking in good field position early on we never wrestled it back.

[Colk]

Levi is nauseatingly bad. Never want to see him in green again.

When it's all said and done and the careers are in the books, we're going to have to have a serious chat about Glenn Buttriss's strangehold on being the least talented footballer to ever play 100 games.

Glen Buttriss is Steve Walters compared to Danny Levi. I literally can’t remember a worse long term first grade footballer than Danny Levi. He has been released by three other NRL clubs ****

Seriously how was he ever signed by us is beyond me.

[RedRaider]

Levi is off!

Yes, yes he is.

[Raidernation]

We simply cannot run out next week with Levi and Starling in FG
they're simply not NRL level footballers. With the spine being so young and inexperienced we can no longer afford to carry these guys. Woolford is no great shakes but he's better than these guys. Get Puru into the #14, he only needs to give us 15-20 minutes of hooker play, and what ever he gives us could not possibly be worse than what we're getting from Levi and Starling.

100% this needs to happen. Woolford is average but still our best dummy half. Starling at 14 has been a waste for several seasons now. can't remember the last time he provided any "spark" off the bench. Puru can give Woolford a short spell and provide some impact on the middle.

$20 in my pocket says this isn’t happening

Nor should it. If Puru is going to be the 9 then he needs to show it in cup and not a expect a hail Mary from a rookie.
Hoppa in and maybe Ata to 12 and Simi to the bench.
Then captain turbo for supercoach!

[Mickey_Raider]

Levi is nauseatingly bad. Never want to see him in green again.

When it's all said and done and the careers are in the books, we're going to have to have a serious chat about Glenn Buttriss's strangehold on being the least talented footballer to ever play 100 games.

Glen Buttriss is Steve Walters compared to Danny Levi. I literally can’t remember a worse long term first grade footballer than Danny Levi. He has been released by three other NRL clubs ****

Seriously how was he ever signed by us is beyond me.

He would have said and would be saying all of the right things to Ricky, much like Starling. Loving the club, brawling, bleeding green etc.

It’s like that harp that puts the 3 headed dog to sleep in Harry Potter. Works every time.

[The Greenhouse]

MATCH REPORT: Levi bombs certain try as Sharks thrash Raiders



Oh Danny boy, the stripe, stripe was calling. But unfortunately it didn't turn into an Irish ballad for Canberra Raiders hooker Danny Levi. He dropped the ball cold with the tryline begging in the first half as the Raiders were on the wrong end of a Sharks attack. Cronulla thrashed them 40-0 at Canberra Stadium on Sunday, the home team plagued by simple errors.

CRONULLA SHARKS 40 (Sione Katoa 2, Cam McInnes, Thomas Hazelton, Briton Nikora, Nicho Hynes, Jesse Ramien tries; Hynes 6 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 0 at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Peter Gough. Crowd: 15,820

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14280

Stuart ‘hurting’ for young Raiders after Sharks mauling: https://canberradaily.com.au/stuart-hur ... s-mauling/

'We've got two to three months of this': Stuart warns of hard times ahead



The Canberra Raiders coach took the 40-0 loss to the Sharks hard and felt for the 15,820 fans who turned up to Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

"I'm not backtracking from the path we've taken with a lot of those younger players," Stuart said. "But I didn't expect at this stage of the season to have to play so many of them all together. Don't see this as an excuse because the young boys are all good football players - there's some really poor football performed out there today.

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

Sharks spoil Ricky’s milestone, dismantle Raiders on back of Nicho masterclass: https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 918abb62a7

MATCH REPORT: Shark attack: Cronulla dominate Raiders in Canberra: https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/04/28/sha ... -canberra/

MATCH REPORT: Raiders suffer disappointing loss to Sharks: https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2024/04 ... to-sharks/

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: Raiders v Sharks: https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/04/28/Rai ... nd-8-2024/





PRESS CONFERENCES: Raiders v Sharks: https://www.nrl.com/watch/matches/telst ... nd-8-2024/

GALLERY: Raiders v Sharks: https://www.gettyimages.com.au/photos/n ... =776062916

[Colk]

Yep - don’t want to see Levi in firsts for a long time after today.

I don’t want to see him ever again. NSW Cup you go. Make him captain if you want and leave him there

[The Nickman]

Remember when DL dropped it cold with the line wide open with the chance to get back in the game at 12-6.

Nah it was the **** pass from Savage... apparently

Come on now, Billy was clearly trolling with that comment, and you blokes all took it hook, line and sinker

[Finchy]

Remember when DL dropped it cold with the line wide open with the chance to get back in the game at 12-6.

Nah it was the **** pass from Savage... apparently

Come on now, Billy was clearly trolling with that comment, and you blokes all took it hook, line and sinker

Fair. But he’s clearly trolling with his faux-love for Levi in the first place.

[The Nickman]

You’ve got to laugh. Weakes half beats Hynes near the try line. Hynes is left on the wrong side of the ruck yet is allowed to hold onto his jersey, basically climb over Weakes and get to marker without being penalised….

Bloody refs cost us again today!

Shame there’s no one else to enjoy the hilarity down there in your mums basement.

Looks like Billy’s enjoying it!

And it’s good to see too

[The Nickman]

Remember when DL dropped it cold with the line wide open with the chance to get back in the game at 12-6.

Nah it was the **** pass from Savage... apparently

Come on now, Billy was clearly trolling with that comment, and you blokes all took it hook, line and sinker

Fair. But he’s clearly trolling with his faux-love for Levi in the first place.

Yes.

[-PJ-]

I’ve gained 30+ posts tonight and my thumbs are very very tired..

[Colk]

The recruitment has been appalling ever since George Williams has left and it is starting to show. You shouldn’t ever be in the position that you have no back up halfback, a 18 year old fullback who is clearly not ready, a shortage of second rowers to such a degree that you can’t drop a seriously out of form player whilst also playing another bloke who is clearly not good enough and having Levi/Starling as your hookers.

The squad needs a complete overhaul and we need a new coach and a different mindset to run it as well.

[-PJ-]

The recruitment has been appalling ever since George Williams has left and it is starting to show. You shouldn’t ever be in the position that you have no back up halfback, a 18 year old fullback who is clearly not ready, a shortage of second rowers to such a degree that you can’t drop a seriously out of form player whilst also playing another bloke who is clearly not good enough and having Levi/Starling as your hookers.

The squad needs a complete overhaul and we need a new coach and a different mindset to run it as well.

The squad is going through a complete overhaul numbnuts..

[Botman]

Is anyone surprised? Fair dinkum look at the youth and injuries. Anyone who thinks Flegg/Cup players can slot in and we put on points against the ladder leaders and even win is delusional. This is what blooding youth en masse looks like, especially without the experience and leadership around them.

You're right to a certain extent, but our starting front row are all internationals; Young has played Origin; Smithies has won a premiership with Wigan; and our centres have represented NZ. There's enough experience there that today's **** shouldn't have happened.

Yeah, I suspect if the middles turned up it wouldn’t have been a win but it wouldn’t have been a flogging. The young blokes never even had a chance to lose that game.

Agree. Way too easy for them through the middle in that first half, they were always kicking in good field position early on we never wrestled it back.

I agree that the middles were disappointing and that is LARGELY on them... but i do think it is underestimated how the lack of control, direction and general NRL skill in the passing game at hooker is impacting them. We saw this last year too... the forwards just werent achieving at the level we thought they were capable of and when the change in hooker came, suddenely it started to get better.

Im not absolving the middles for thier performance. They own that ****, but our **** show at hooker is a small contributing factor imo

[Finchy]

The recruitment has been appalling ever since George Williams has left and it is starting to show. You shouldn’t ever be in the position that you have no back up halfback, a 18 year old fullback who is clearly not ready, a shortage of second rowers to such a degree that you can’t drop a seriously out of form player whilst also playing another bloke who is clearly not good enough and having Levi/Starling as your hookers.

The squad needs a complete overhaul and we need a new coach and a different mindset to run it as well.

The squad is going through a complete overhaul numbnuts..

We need to overhaul the overhaul!

[Colk]

The recruitment has been appalling ever since George Williams has left and it is starting to show. You shouldn’t ever be in the position that you have no back up halfback, a 18 year old fullback who is clearly not ready, a shortage of second rowers to such a degree that you can’t drop a seriously out of form player whilst also playing another bloke who is clearly not good enough and having Levi/Starling as your hookers.

The squad needs a complete overhaul and we need a new coach and a different mindset to run it as well.

The squad is going through a complete overhaul numbnuts..

Borne out of necessity and a lack of strategy. That’s why it needs to be blown up

[jamie2580]

Probably about what we expected without a genuine 7/playmaker. Really sad to see without Fogarty or someone to give such a young team some direction. Also we should never wear a special jersey again.

[Colk]

Is anyone surprised? Fair dinkum look at the youth and injuries. Anyone who thinks Flegg/Cup players can slot in and we put on points against the ladder leaders and even win is delusional. This is what blooding youth en masse looks like, especially without the experience and leadership around them.

You're right to a certain extent, but our starting front row are all internationals; Young has played Origin; Smithies has won a premiership with Wigan; and our centres have represented NZ. There's enough experience there that today's **** shouldn't have happened.

Yeah, I suspect if the middles turned up it wouldn’t have been a win but it wouldn’t have been a flogging. The young blokes never even had a chance to lose that game.

Agree. Way too easy for them through the middle in that first half, they were always kicking in good field position early on we never wrestled it back.

I agree that the middles were disappointing and that is LARGELY on them... but i do think it is underestimated how the lack of control, direction and general NRL skill in the passing game at hooker is impacting them. We saw this last year too... the forwards just werent achieving at the level we thought they were capable of and when the change in hooker came, suddenely it started to get better.

Im not absolving the middles for thier performance. They own that ****, but our **** show at hooker is a small contributing factor imo

Of course it is. You have two blokes who don’t have the basic skill set to pass the ball correctly. Starling doesn’t even know what he is doing half the time: how are the forwards supposed to know

[Canberra Milk]

More than ok with a loss against the ladder leaders, but just looking flat and crap, especially in attacking zones, that's more concerning

[Raider47]

The recruitment has been appalling ever since George Williams has left and it is starting to show. You shouldn’t ever be in the position that you have no back up halfback, a 18 year old fullback who is clearly not ready, a shortage of second rowers to such a degree that you can’t drop a seriously out of form player whilst also playing another bloke who is clearly not good enough and having Levi/Starling as your hookers.

The squad needs a complete overhaul and we need a new coach and a different mindset to run it as well.

The squad is going through a complete overhaul numbnuts..

I see what you mean but you should never be in a position where a squad needs a complete overhaul when your coach has been in the role for 11 years.

At fullback we shouldn't be relying on a 35 year old winger or calling upon a talented, yet clearly not ready 18 year old.

At halfback we should have a back up especially when our game is pretty much dead without anything short of a brilliant kicking game.

At hooker... well bar Hodgo we haven't had a competent one in nearly 20 years.

In the second row we only have one competent player, who sadly seems injury prone.

I understand we're going to have teething problems but after 11 years in the role we shouldn't be having such deep problems. There is no guarantees either that any of this investment in youth works either.

This also completely neglects the fact that regardless of experience in our team over the past 11 years we have never had a coherent attack, nor decent goal line defence. It's pretty ballsy to suggest it's changing anytime soon.

[NoMan]

Is anyone surprised? Fair dinkum look at the youth and injuries. Anyone who thinks Flegg/Cup players can slot in and we put on points against the ladder leaders and even win is delusional. This is what blooding youth en masse looks like, especially without the experience and leadership around them.

You're right to a certain extent, but our starting front row are all internationals; Young has played Origin; Smithies has won a premiership with Wigan; and our centres have represented NZ. There's enough experience there that today's **** shouldn't have happened.

Yeah, I suspect if the middles turned up it wouldn’t have been a win but it wouldn’t have been a flogging. The young blokes never even had a chance to lose that game.

Agree. Way too easy for them through the middle in that first half, they were always kicking in good field position early on we never wrestled it back.

I agree that the middles were disappointing and that is LARGELY on them... but i do think it is underestimated how the lack of control, direction and general NRL skill in the passing game at hooker is impacting them. We saw this last year too... the forwards just werent achieving at the level we thought they were capable of and when the change in hooker came, suddenely it started to get better.

Im not absolving the middles for thier performance. They own that ****, but our **** show at hooker is a small contributing factor imo

Yeah, with the ball for sure. The bigger issues were defensive. They were constantly late and not sticking their tackles at all. They really struggle against the quicker sides unless they drop the footy.

[Hong Kong Raider]

Tapine had one of his worst games that I've seen. Papa was quiet with his run metres.

Young and Smithies didn't have much positive impact. Levi was rubbish.

Kris was too quiet, didn't get involved and didn't defend well.

We cannot blame it on youth when unfortunately it was the senior players that let us down.

WE also had even ball in Cronulla's 20 to at least score 5 times. We couldn't even score once. That's due the the systems and processes of our attack which hasn't improved.

[afgtnk]

This thought crossed my mind today, and despite it being at the risk of a classic 'move ordinary half into dummy half' take , I wonder what others think - should Weekes consider a transition to 9?

Ball playing ability isn't quite there as a first receiver, but he's an explosive baller runner who can sniff in and around the ruck and look for a hole. Stocky with a low centre of gravity, so size shouldn't be an issue - he's bigger than our existing options.

Would need to upgrade defence and fitness, but that comes part of the transition. Decent enough kick on him for him to jump out occasionally and pin the left winger back.

When comparing him to Starling and Levi, he's got a lot more going for him. Certainly his distribution would be no worse, and likely an upgrade.

[-PJ-]

Look..

After last week v Donkeys I was calm and understanding of our situation.

Our transition will be long and painful.

Unfortunately we will cop many more pastings until our very young and inexperienced spine get a feel.

I’m prepared for that, weve waited a very very long time..a couple more seasons won’t kill me.

[Green Taipan]

Is anyone surprised? Fair dinkum look at the youth and injuries. Anyone who thinks Flegg/Cup players can slot in and we put on points against the ladder leaders and even win is delusional. This is what blooding youth en masse looks like, especially without the experience and leadership around them.

You can blood youth while still instilling basic concepts like defensive effort, line speed, and basic attacking formation.

You also could not shoot yourself in the foot by holding some weird vendetta against the best hooker (by some margin too) that this club currently has on its books.

[Colk]

The recruitment has been appalling ever since George Williams has left and it is starting to show. You shouldn’t ever be in the position that you have no back up halfback, a 18 year old fullback who is clearly not ready, a shortage of second rowers to such a degree that you can’t drop a seriously out of form player whilst also playing another bloke who is clearly not good enough and having Levi/Starling as your hookers.

The squad needs a complete overhaul and we need a new coach and a different mindset to run it as well.

The squad is going through a complete overhaul numbnuts..

I see what you mean but you should never be in a position where a squad needs a complete overhaul when your coach has been in the role for 11 years.

At fullback we shouldn't be relying on a 35 year old winger or calling upon a talented, yet clearly not ready 18 year old.

At halfback we should have a back up especially when our game is pretty much dead without anything short of a brilliant kicking game.

At hooker... well bar Hodgo we haven't had a competent one in nearly 20 years.

In the second row we only have one competent player, who sadly seems injury prone.

I understand we're going to have teething problems but after 11 years in the role we shouldn't be having such deep problems. There is no guarantees either that any of this investment in youth works either.

This also completely neglects the fact that regardless of experience in our team over the past 11 years we have never had a coherent attack, nor decent goal line defence. It's pretty ballsy to suggest it's changing anytime soon.

100%. It’s not that hard to see. These holes shouldn’t eventuate if you can just recruit at a basic level.

Also before anybody says but Canberra they don’t have to be stars they just have to be competent first graders. We should not be in the position, as you say, after 11 years of the same coach, to have these positions filled by blokes who are either not good enough or aren’t ready.

[Colk]

Is anyone surprised? Fair dinkum look at the youth and injuries. Anyone who thinks Flegg/Cup players can slot in and we put on points against the ladder leaders and even win is delusional. This is what blooding youth en masse looks like, especially without the experience and leadership around them.

You can blood youth while still instilling basic concepts like defensive effort, line speed, and basic attacking formation.

You also could not shoot yourself in the foot by holding some weird vendetta against the best hooker (by some margin too) that this club currently has on its books.

[-PJ-]

This thought crossed my mind today, and despite it being at the risk of a classic 'move ordinary half into dummy half' take , I wonder what others think - should Weekes consider a transition to 9?

Ball playing ability isn't quite there as a first receiver, but he's an explosive baller runner who can sniff in and around the ruck and look for a hole. Stocky with a low centre of gravity, so size shouldn't be an issue - he's bigger than our existing options.

Would need to upgrade defence and fitness, but that comes part of the transition. Decent enough kick on him for him to jump out occasionally and pin the left winger back.

When comparing him to Starling and Levi, he's got a lot more going for him. Certainly his distribution would be no worse, and likely an upgrade.

I’d consider anything right now. Starling and Levi ain’t getting me hard.

Short term Weekes could work at #9. It was only yesterday we(not me)we’re talking up Fog to #9 after the news The Colonel was coming.

I’m very disappointed..we shouldn’t be bashed at home like this..it’s embarassing.

[Botman]

This thought crossed my mind today, and despite it being at the risk of a classic 'move ordinary half into dummy half' take , I wonder what others think - should Weekes consider a transition to 9?

Ball playing ability isn't quite there as a first receiver, but he's an explosive baller runner who can sniff in and around the ruck and look for a hole. Stocky with a low centre of gravity, so size shouldn't be an issue - he's bigger than our existing options.

Would need to upgrade defence and fitness, but that comes part of the transition. Decent enough kick on him for him to jump out occasionally and pin the left winger back.

When comparing him to Starling and Levi, he's got a lot more going for him. Certainly his distribution would be no worse, and likely an upgrade.

Im on board with any out of the box hooker suggestions given what we're working with right now. I still think Puru should be getting some minutes at 9 in cup because i think he'd be more than capable and would solve our #14 problem instantly if he could prove that he can play a little hooker.
He's got a great build for it, and he's a deceptively good ball runner himself, he's got a little first step quickness to him and has leg drive to power through weak tacklers.

But Weekes? Sure why not. Literally could not be any worse than Danny Levi and Tom Starling. These are arguably the two worst hookers in the entire competition right now.

[Colk]

Look..

After last week v Donkeys I was calm and understanding of our situation.

Our transition will be long and painful.

Unfortunately we will cop many more pastings until our very young and inexperienced spine get a feel.

I’m prepared for that, weve waited a very very long time..a couple more seasons won’t kill me.

The problem is that the team still has to be competitive for this idea to work. You bring young players in that’s fine (and that is the way we should go in order to get a superstar or two) but putting them in before they are a) ready or b) in an absolute EDIT side which is getting pasted every week is absolutely counterproductive. They either don’t reach their potential because their confidence is completely shot or they leave at the first offer they get

[Finchy]

Is anyone surprised? Fair dinkum look at the youth and injuries. Anyone who thinks Flegg/Cup players can slot in and we put on points against the ladder leaders and even win is delusional. This is what blooding youth en masse looks like, especially without the experience and leadership around them.

You can blood youth while still instilling basic concepts like defensive effort, line speed, and basic attacking formation.

You also could not shoot yourself in the foot by holding some weird vendetta against the best hooker (by some margin too) that this club currently has on its books.

[Ultima]

At least Levi is on report so might not play next week... I assume for impersonating an NRL player? EDIT

[Seiffert82]

Definitely a few changes to be made next week.

Cook needs to be our 7. Unfortunately Weekes is not a halfback. A bit unfair as he's being asked to perform a role that doesn't suit his skill set.

Woolford back at dummy half. The other key change. We can't take that spine into another game.

As for the pack. Send them all out there next week and tell them to redeem themselves.

Yeah, I'd be OK with Cook coming in. Woolford too.

I expect Sasagi to be replaced by Mariota in the starting side. You can't have an edge forward missing 8 tackles. He is consistently poor in defence.

I know I bang on about Schiller too, but he was horrific out there in all aspects of the game. He was lucky to get a penalty when he lost the ball cold. He's an absolute muppet and is leaving anyway. Cotric was good in NSW cup. I'd definitely make that change.

Poor old Timoko was surrounded by absolute gumbies in defence. It was hard to watch.