Through green eyes 2022

All the news on the Canberra Raiders NRL team, all in one place

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greeneyed
Don Furner
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

Through green eyes: What the numbers are telling us

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The Raiders have probably put together one good game of football in the 240 minutes they've played so far in season 2022.

It is clear that they came into this season with a new plan for the attack. The forwards have actually started to pass the ball to each other, to offload much more. They have also looked to use much more width in the attack, spreading the ball from side to side at times. If there have been new plans for the defence, they're not quite as easy to discern.

In any case, as is the way in rugby league, the best laid plans often go awry. The Raiders' season has quickly pushed off course by injury and suspension. The loss of two key play makers, half Jamal Fogarty and hooker Josh Hodgson, has been a major disruption. Before the second game of the year, there were only 24 fit players available to take to Townsville. So it is no wonder that the first three games have not gone smoothly. The two wins have been last gasp wins, while the loss to the Cowboys was embarrassing. But two out of three ain't bad, all things considered.

Normally I'd wait a month to start looking at team statistics, to see what trends can be gleaned. But as the Raiders are about to head to Mudgee for a clash with the Sea Eagles, I couldn't resist any longer. What do the numbers tell us?

Attack: The Raiders have averaged just over three tries per match, ranking ninth in the competition. Completions have been the biggest issue. At 69 per cent, Canberra has the worst completion rate in the league. They rank fifth for errors (12 per game) and are middle of the pack for penalties conceded (six per game).

The Raiders have posted a better possession share than those numbers might suggest - 49 per cent. In part that's due to the Raiders' new found predilection to pass the ball around. They rank first for offloads (14 per game). But more passing does come with increased risk of handling errors.

Try assists and line break assists are mid table or a bit worse. Obviously, that marries up with a ranking of ninth for tries scored. Line breaks are below average (3 per game), and the Raiders are ahead of only the Broncos and Sea Eagles in that department.

The running numbers are worse. The Raiders currently sit in last place for running metres per game (1408 per game), last for post contact metres (464 per game) and 11th for kick return metres (132 per game). Given the Raiders have made more tackle breaks than any other team (37 per game), that's a poor return for post contact metres. The Raiders still run from dummy half a lot - an average of 13 times per game, second only to the Storm. Tom Starling showed in the second half last week how dangerous that can be. The decoy running is up. They're averaging 40 per game (sixth in the league), compared with 33 in 2021 (14th).

Defence: The Raiders rank in the bottom four teams for fewest points conceded (13th, 22 points per game). The Raiders have had a lot to do in defence, but their tackle efficiency has been pretty good (88.6 per cent, ranked fourth). The missed tackle count is relatively low (27 per game, ranked 13th). So is the ineffective tackle count (14 per game, ranked 10th). But like last year, the Raiders are probably conceding too many running metres (1479 per game). That number is affected by the whopping 1739 running metres conceded against the Cowboys. But they have still conceded more, on average, than they have gained, so far, and that's an issue.

The Raiders' right side defence is another issue. 55 per cent of the tries conceded have come on that edge and 27 per cent in the middle. Only 18 per cent have come through the left edge. Semi Valemei isn't on his own, and decisions inside often create problems for centres and wingers. There have been disruptions to combinations. But Valemei has struggled with his positioning at times. Fixing the defensive combinations on the right is no doubt something on the minds of the Raiders' coaches. By the way, 50 per cent of the tries scored are coming on the Raiders' left edge, and only 30 per cent on the right.

Kicking: The Raiders are last for kicks per game (14) - and second last for kicking metres gained per game (374). I'd like to see some more detailed breakdowns of what is happening there. But the NRL doesn't publish them, and the Fox Sports Lab has not yet produced statistics for 2022.

Overall, there is still a lot to work on for the Raiders. There's also plenty of time left to do that. But completions and turnovers are the one thing they will need to address quickly. Because you can't score points without the ball - and handing the ball to the opposition puts too much pressure on the defence.

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How do those numbers compare to this week's opponents, the Sea Eagles?

They haven't had the best start, their only win coming last week against the Bulldogs. And they only won by a point. They rank 15th in attack (less than two tries per game). They are second last for possession share and line breaks. Only the Titans, Dragons, Tigers and Raiders have conceded more points. So it has been a slow start for Manly.

Why is it so?

The winning margins in matches have contracted this year. Last year, blow outs were common and margins blew out to 18 points on average. Three rounds in, the average winning margins have fallen to just under 10 this year. That's the lowest margins have been since the NRL started in 1998. The number of tries per game have also fallen slightly, from eight per game to just under seven.

Most commentators are attributing that to the further change to the "six again" rule this year - after the NRL went too far in extending "six again" calls last year. This year we have returned to penalties for ruck and 10 metre infringements, when the team in possession is inside its own 40 metre zone. It has added to complexity, but at least it is ameliorating the worst aspects of the "six again" rule.

“It’s pretty clear in the first three rounds that the games have been much more competitive," the NRL's head of football, Graeme Annesley said this week.

"There’s a long way to go and who knows what the rest of the season will have in store but I’d like to think the tweak of the rules around the penalties inside the 40 have given teams the opportunity to get themselves into better position and mount counter attacks."

“It allows the team in possession, who are trying to get the ball out of their own territory, to kick for touch and mount some sort of counter attack in the opposition half.”

This, after he spent all last year telling us how wonderful the new "six again" rules and the blowouts were. But I digress.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart believes there are also other reasons for the decline in margins. He suggests that the lower ranked teams have improved their rosters, and have caught up in their preparation as well.

But the rule change probably has disrupted some of tactics of coaches like Des Hasler. Manly were one of the teams exploiting the "six again" rule last year. Possibly, the rule change has also helped other teams to contain the attacking brilliance of Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans and to slow the momentum of Manly's attack.

If the Raiders are to win on Saturday, that's going to be crucial. They can't give Trbojevic and Cherry-Evans any space. And the Raiders will have to be spot on in their defence. They'll need line speed, and they can't concede lots of metres.

Oh... and don't drop the ball, please.

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The Canberra Raiders Cup kicks off on Saturday - with hopes we'll see a completed season in 2022. The past two years have been unfortunately disrupted by the pandemic. But hopefully, we will get to Grand Final day this year. Check out our season preview here. And remember, if you can't get to a local ground, all matches are live streamed by Bar TV Sports. One match is streamed free each week. Other matches can be viewed for a subscription fee, with some of the proceeds helping the local rugby league club of your choice. Whatever way you can, make sure you support the Canberra region's grass roots footy! It produces the Raiders of the future.



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Every week I rate the Raiders players on a scale of 0-10... and here is the latest points tally. Tell us what you think of the ratings!

Total points

Jack Wighton 22
Joe Tapine 21
Corey Harawira-Naera 20
Josh Papalii 20
Corey Horsburgh 19
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 18
Hudson Young 18
Matt Timoko 18
Tom Starling 18
Elliott Whitehead 17
Semi Valemei 16
Adam Elliott 14
Brad Schneider 14
Emre Guler 14
Sebastian Kris 11
James Schiller 10
Matt Frawley 9
Jordan Rapana 7
Nick Cotric 6
Adrian Trevilyan 4
Josh Hodgson 1

Average points per match

Jack Wighton 7.3
Brad Schneider 7.0
Joe Tapine 7.0
Jordan Rapana 7.0
Corey Harawira-Naera 6.7
Josh Papalii 6.7
Corey Horsburgh 6.3
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 6.0
Hudson Young 6.0
Matt Timoko 6.0
Nick Cotric 6.0
Tom Starling 6.0
Elliott Whitehead 5.7
Sebastian Kris 5.5
Semi Valemei 5.3
James Schiller 5.0
Adam Elliott 4.7
Emre Guler 4.7
Matt Frawley 4.5
Adrian Trevilyan 4.0
Josh Hodgson 1.0

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greeneyed
Don Furner
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

Through green eyes: As I saw it

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"I'll go back and have a look at it and chat to the boys about it. It is [about picking the moments for offloads]. A couple of them weren't in the moment, and it hurt us. Execution of the correct play [is what is needed]. We know what's hurting us and we've just spoken about it very briefly, but we'll talk about again tomorrow after I've seen the game. At 10-6, we were definitely in it. And I thought we probably finished that half off very well. I thought we were probably the stronger team coming into that half time break. We spoke about that and wanted to bounce off it into the second half.

It was [a masterclass from Daly Cherry-Evans]. And if I'm the Manly boss, Sean Penn, I'd be going down there and putting a fresh bunch of flowers on Bob Fulton's grave every day. It's the smartest play that club's ever made is pinching him back off the Titans and offering him $1 million for 10 years. Everybody bagged Bozo for it - it was a masterstroke."

Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart


2022 Round 4. Manly Sea Eagles 25 - Canberra Raiders 6. Coming into their clash with the Sea Eagles, the Canberra Raiders had played two halves of good football. The Canberra Raiders have still only played two halves of good football. The team has probably been worse at stages this season than they were tonight. But all round, the performance was very poor, dispiriting. Two last gasp wins in the opening month of the season has papered over some cracks. Coach Ricky Stuart has some very serious problems on his hands.

That's not surprising, when you lose your first choice half before a game has been played. And you lose your first choice hooker for the whole season after 10 minutes of football. Other injuries been crucial. The loss of young centre Harley Smith-Shields to an ACL injury has seriously disrupted the plans for the backs. But some of the problems might have been avoided, too.



The Raiders went into the game with the aim of addressing one major issue: the completion rate. And in the first half, the Green Machine completed 19 of 21 sets. That was despite the fact that the Raiders continued with their new strategy of throwing lots of offloads. But the Raiders rarely looked like being a threat in attack. One key reason for that was the forwards did not get on top in the middle. They weren't making enough metres. No one seemed to be running onto the ball. The attack had no depth. Often the offloads were to players who were not in a better position to do something with the ball.

By the end of the game, only one Raiders forward, Joe Tapine, had made more than 100 metres with the ball in hand. Manly had four forwards breaking 100 metres gained and Josh Aloiai ran for almost 200 metres himself.

In the second half, the Raiders didn't hold onto the ball either. They completed seven of 16 sets after the break - a completion rate of less than 45 per cent. That is when things went seriously awry.

Prior to the game, everyone knew that the Raiders' defence would have to be spot on if they were to contain the Sea Eagles' momentum in attack. They would have to ensure Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic had no space. They would have to have good line speed and not give up cheap metres. The Raiders' right side, which had leaked 55 per cent of the tries so far this year, would have to shut down Trbojevic - because Turbo loves chiming in on the left in attack. None of that really happened.

The relative performances of the two forward packs gave the Manly play makers plenty of space. Daly Cherry-Evans was at his absolute best, kicking a rare 20/40 as well as a 40/20, in the second half. A field goal to boot. Two Manly tries came off his kicks. One issue for the Raiders so far this year has been kick defusals. The Raiders defused only half of Manly's kicks. Sea Eagles winger Jason Saab regathered at least a couple of bombs, which the Raiders didn't attempt to defuse - and he set up one try for Morgan Harper as a result. Then there was Trbojevic. He ran for around 290 metres. Manly scored two tries on the Canberra right edge, with Trbojevic scoring one of them.

So all that is pretty grim. Ricky Stuart can't afford to start another game with Matt Frawley at dummy half. He doesn't offer enough in terms of good, quick service, or in other areas. It blunts the start. Tom Starling came on at around the 20 minute mark, but wasn't as effective as he was against the Titans. The coach will surely have to think seriously about bringing up specialist hooker, Adrian Trevilyan, in some capacity.

Something has to change with the right edge defence. I've little doubt Semi Valemei is under instruction to come out of the line to shut down attack. It looks good when it works. But too often the players on that edge are out of position - and the defensive combinations look vulnerable.

Finally, the bench forwards aren't delivering enough when Joe Tapine and Josh Papalii take a break. The starting props played around 45 minutes against the Sea Eagles. That probably was not enough in the context of the game. If the benchies are playing big minutes, they need to produce more oomph. It is time to consider including players like Ryan Sutton, Harry Rushton and Trey Mooney in the interchange line up.

There is an even bigger challenge than the Sea Eagles next week. The Raiders have given up their home ground advantage in Round 5 - goodness knows why - and will meet the Melbourne Storm in Wagga Wagga. Some changes to the team line up will need to be given serious consideration - because after a month, it is clear some things just are not working.

One other thing. It sure is frustrating to see the Raiders play their opposition into good form. How often does it happen? There is a long term problem with consistency of performance at the Raiders.

Stats that mattered? The Raiders finished with a 46 per cent share of possession and a 70 per cent completion rate. That was after they posted a 90 per cent completion rate in the first half. Manly had eight more sets with the ball. The Sea Eagles had 32 tackles in the Raiders' red zone by the end of the game, compared with 20 for the Raiders. But Canberra had a meagre four tackles in Manly's 20 metre zone in the second half. Yes, things certainly came unstuck for the Raiders in the second half.

The Sea Eagles made more runs (186-167), running metres (1648-1425) and post contact metres (581-499). Line breaks were level (2-2) and tackle breaks were almost level (Sea Eagles 25, Raiders 24). The Raiders had a slight advantage in metres per set (39-37) and kick return metres (162-147).The Raiders produced 25 offloads and the Sea Eagles just seven. But few of Canberra's offloads were effective. As well as producing more running metres, Manly made more kicking metres - a lot more (722 from 24 kicks, Raiders 471 from 17 kicks). Cherry-Evans really took advantage of the wind in the second half. The Sea Eagles got two forced drop outs, the Raiders one. Manly defused 75 per cent of Canberra's kicks (Raiders 50 per cent).

The Raiders had to do more tackling (352 tackles made, compared with 276 for the Sea Eagles), and posted a better effective tackle rate (90 per cent, 82 per cent for the Sea Eagles). That outcome was driven by Manly's ineffective tackle count (35, Raiders 13). But it was no skin off Manly's nose. Canberra's offloads mostly posed little threat. The missed tackle count was almost level (Raiders 25, Sea Eagles 24).

Memorable moments? Jack Wighton scored a try in the first half, as Jack Wighton does. Through great running. But the game really was one to forget for Raiders fans.

Best performers?

Jack Wighton. One try, 11 runs for 94 metres, one line break, one line break assist, five tackle breaks, two offloads, 22 tackles, seven kicks for 232 kicking metres, one forced line drop out.

Joe Tapine. 14 runs for 120 metres, 42 post contact metres, three offloads, 27 tackles, 96 per cent tackle efficiency,

Matt Timoko. Two tries, 13 runs for 145 metres, 52 post contact metres, seven tackle breaks.

Top tacklers: Hudson Young 39, Corey Harawira-Naera 34, Tom Starling 33, Brad Schneider 33
Most metres gained: Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 192, Matt Timoko 142, Jordan Rapana 134

My player ratings:

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 6
Nick Cotric 5
Matt Timoko 6
Semi Valemei 4
Jordan Rapana 6
Jack Wighton 7
Brad Schneider 5
Josh Papalii 5
Matt Frawley 2
Joe Tapine 7
Hudson Young 5
Corey Harawira-Naera 5
Elliott Whitehead 4

Tom Starling 6
Emre Guler 4
Adam Elliott 4
Corey Horsburgh 6

Do you agree with the ratings? Let us know!

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Billy Walker
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Billy Walker »

I don’t think you could objectively watch Semi’s performance and give him a 4. Take a look at his stats this year - that’s a wrong call.
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Hong Kong Raider »

Billy Walker wrote: April 2, 2022, 10:41 pm I don’t think you could objectively watch Semi’s performance and give him a 4. Take a look at his stats this year - that’s a wrong call.
Agree with this. He wasn't a 4
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by -PJ- »

That’s a grim read.
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RedRaider
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by RedRaider »

Possession such a factor in Rugby League. We chose to throw it away and it gave Manly such a leg up in areas such as total runs and running meters. Ryan Sutton must be back next week for Guler. We need a player who will take the ball and run hard and straight at the opposition once Papa and Taps need to be spelled. The decision to manufacture Frawley as a hooker means he is no threat from dummy half. He does the same thing every ruck and he does it slowly. Trevilyan needs some time on the park. I know we have the Storm, Cowboys and Panthers in the next 3 matches but if we are to make best use of the time until Starling comes on, then it has to be Trevilyan to start imo.
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gangrenous
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by gangrenous »

Hong Kong Raider wrote:
Billy Walker wrote: April 2, 2022, 10:41 pm I don’t think you could objectively watch Semi’s performance and give him a 4. Take a look at his stats this year - that’s a wrong call.
Agree with this. He wasn't a 4
Get this fixed GE, make it a 3
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greeneyed
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

gangrenous wrote: April 3, 2022, 2:28 pm
Hong Kong Raider wrote:
Billy Walker wrote: April 2, 2022, 10:41 pm I don’t think you could objectively watch Semi’s performance and give him a 4. Take a look at his stats this year - that’s a wrong call.
Agree with this. He wasn't a 4
Get this fixed GE, make it a 3
I thought a 3 was a bit harsh. I did look at the statistics for this game, I always do before making the ratings. It could be argued I'm a bit too influenced by the numbers. In any case, I struggle to see how some people were giving Valemei points in the Fans' Choice voting. He made just 79 metres from 10 runs. The rest of the back five broke 100 metres at least. CNK clocked up 192 metres. Valemei made zero line breaks and one tackle break. He did make 18 tackles (that happens when opposition runners target a defender) and had an 86 per cent tackle efficiency rate, missing two and making one ineffective tackle. For mine he has one try cause at least. No errors yesterday, which makes a change, but conceded a penalty. But the defensive positioning vulnerablities are the main issue for me.
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Billy Walker
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Billy Walker »

Would you be confident if we went back over old threads and stats there weren’t games in recent seasons where Mr Croker had worse outputs and higher scores? Sometimes the eyes see what the heart wants.
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by gangrenous »

gangrenous wrote:
Hong Kong Raider wrote:
Billy Walker wrote: April 2, 2022, 10:41 pm I don’t think you could objectively watch Semi’s performance and give him a 4. Take a look at his stats this year - that’s a wrong call.
Agree with this. He wasn't a 4
Get this fixed GE, make it a 3
My reply was largely tongue in cheek given the other responders were agitating for an increase, but hadn’t explicitly said that.

Very funny now I explain it Image
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greeneyed
Don Furner
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

gangrenous wrote: April 3, 2022, 7:42 pm
gangrenous wrote:
Hong Kong Raider wrote:
Billy Walker wrote: April 2, 2022, 10:41 pm I don’t think you could objectively watch Semi’s performance and give him a 4. Take a look at his stats this year - that’s a wrong call.
Agree with this. He wasn't a 4
Get this fixed GE, make it a 3
My reply was largely tongue in cheek given the other responders were agitating for an increase, but hadn’t explicitly said that.

Very funny now I explain it Image
I did get that. But I also took the opportunity to explain my rating... given it was suggested I had had not looked at statistics or considered it carefully. I will admit that I generally like to do the ratings the next morning, as that takes the emotion out, and adds to objectivity. I also make sure I've looked at how all the players compared statistically. But of course, the ratings are ultimately subjective. In any case, I had to write the review last night, as I was going to Junior Reps today.
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by gangrenous »

greeneyed wrote: I had to write the review last night, as I was going to Junior Reps today.
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greeneyed
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

gangrenous wrote: April 3, 2022, 9:20 pm
greeneyed wrote: I had to write the review last night, as I was going to Junior Reps today.
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by BadnMean »

greeneyed wrote: April 3, 2022, 5:48 pm
gangrenous wrote: April 3, 2022, 2:28 pm
Hong Kong Raider wrote:
Billy Walker wrote: April 2, 2022, 10:41 pm I don’t think you could objectively watch Semi’s performance and give him a 4. Take a look at his stats this year - that’s a wrong call.
Agree with this. He wasn't a 4
Get this fixed GE, make it a 3
I thought a 3 was a bit harsh. I did look at the statistics for this game, I always do before making the ratings. It could be argued I'm a bit too influenced by the numbers. In any case, I struggle to see how some people were giving Valemei points in the Fans' Choice voting. He made just 79 metres from 10 runs. The rest of the back five broke 100 metres at least. CNK clocked up 192 metres. Valemei made zero line breaks and one tackle break. He did make 18 tackles (that happens when opposition runners target a defender) and had an 86 per cent tackle efficiency rate, missing two and making one ineffective tackle. For mine he has one try cause at least. No errors yesterday, which makes a change, but conceded a penalty. But the defensive positioning vulnerablities are the main issue for me.
When Semi ridiculously leaps clear over a bloke who was already on the ground and just needed a hand on him to be held, who then gets up to score, what stat is that under :roflmao Does it even go as a miss? Innefective? He leapt over and away from the tackle...

On the plus side for him, he is occasionally making solid contact in defence now. He and Rapa whacked a few blokes. It's just a long, arduous journey watching Semi learn to play footy in FG.
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by gangrenous »

greeneyed wrote:
gangrenous wrote: April 3, 2022, 9:20 pm
greeneyed wrote: I had to write the review last night, as I was going to Junior Reps today.
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You’re killing me GE Image
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

Through green eyes: The unconsciousness of bias

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Seven years ago, I wrote a Through green eyes column titled The unconsciousness of bias.

The key proposition was that the Canberra Raiders of 2015 were a casualty of the unconscious or unrecognised biases of the NRL officials. It was controversial. Some people rejected the idea that unconscious or unrecognised bias was "even a thing". Others argued that there was no evidence that the Canberra Raiders were being affected by it.

Fast forward seven years, and now everyone in rugby league is talking about unconscious bias. Even "Blake and the Pork" are talking about it.

It has been triggered by comments from Titans coach Justin Holbrook and Cowboys coach Todd Payten following recent matches.

"I'm not here to take anything away from Parramatta, it's about us not being one of the big clubs and not getting anything. If they are 50/50 then make them 50/50s. Give us a couple and give them a couple and we are happy. I’m not asking for 7-1 and 3-0 in the captain’s challenges," Holbrook said after a controversial, narrow loss to the Eels.

Todd Payten supported Holbrook after his team's subsequent loss to the Roosters.

"Teams that have been up the pointy end of the competition for a while now or have higher profile players get the benefit of the doubt too often and that's frustrating. That's my opinion over watching footy for a long time," Payten said.

That's generated a fair bit of debate. Because these sorts of comments come after a frustrating loss, a lot of people just dismiss them as a case of sour grapes. That would be a mistake.

"I think it's an unconscious bias, I don't think they're deliberately doing it, but the referees have an expectation that the better teams do things better and when those 50-50 calls — I'm not talking about deliberate penalties or anything like that — I think they just fall the way of the better teams more often," journalist Paul Kent said on Fox League's NRL 360.

"It's an unconscious bias, it's there, the lower teams are all aware of it and I've spoken to coaches in the past about it and they've said it's our job to try and turn it around. But they do feel like they're fighting an uphill battle to try and become one of the better teams, therefore they can get the benefit of the doubt in those situations."

Commentator and Canterbury general manager of football, Phil Gould, joined in the debate as well.

"I know a coach, and I spoke about this last week, but I know a coach from one of the lower sides who actually rang NRL head of football, Graham Annesley, one day and just said we don't get the rub of the green," Gould said on Channel Nine's 100% Footy.

"Graham Annesley in his own words said that there is an intrinsic bias towards the better teams. There is an intrinsic, nitpicking of the lower teams."

A recent paper from Katherine A. O'Brien and John Mangan of the University of Queensland looked at "The issue of unconsicious bias in referee decisions in the National Rugby League". The paper points out that there's a now a large body of academic studies which show that there are implicit or unrecognised biases in sports officiating from around the world.

Quite a number of those studies indicate star teams and athletes are favoured in decision making. That probably happens because prior knowledge distorts decisions. In the NBA, the star status of basketballers has been found to influence the decisions of officials; in MBL, the reputation of pitchers influences umpires' ball-strike judgements; in soccer, the reputation for aggressiveness impacts decisions; and gymnasts who have performed strongly previously are scored more favourably.

We need to remember that's not the result of deliberate bias. As the paper makes clear, "implicit biases occur below the level of consciousness. Their signature feature is that they represent automatic and unconscious cognitive processes; they are not direct, deliberate, controlled, or intentional."

The University of Queensland paper doesn't look at the "star team/athlete" effect directly. But, for me, the most interesting finding of the University of Queensland paper is that NRL clubs "fare significantly better or worse under particular referees". The authors conclude those differences reflect "unconscious bias on the part of referees in the way they interpret and police particular aspects of the game and their reaction to team styles, particular players, and unfolding on-field events."

In blunt terms, you're probably justified in groaning when you see certain referees appointed on Teamlist Tuesday. You're not imagining things.

The paper sensibly reminds us that officiating in NRL matches is not easy and that mistakes are inevitable. But it also valuably points out that sporting organisations need to recognise that unconscious biases exist in the ongoing development of their officials. It is no doubt a tough task. Understanding and accepting that referees have unrecognised biases is the first step. If we are to believe Phil Gould's earlier account, the NRL knows there is an issue. But are they doing anything about it? I'm not at all sure of that.

****

A crack down. Another one.

Last week, I wrote about how winning margins had declined in the opening rounds of the 2022 competition - after the NRL went far too far in expanding the "six again" rule last year.

Remember how uninteresting the footy was in 2021, with all the blow outs? (That's until the referees quietly put their whistles in their pockets just in time for the finals series.)



Most welcomed the NRL's decision to wind back the "six again" rule over the off season. I hoped it might return the game of rugby league to us.

The NRL tinkered with the rule in the silliest, most complex way possible - by splitting the field into two zones. Inside a team's own 40 metre zone we've gone back to penalties. In the rest of the field, it's still "six again".

It was bound to create problems. In Canberra's clash with the Sea Eagles last weekend, referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski awarded the Raiders a penalty near half way. The Raiders wanted to take two points. Then all of a sudden... sorry, it's half time, it was a six again call. "Someone" had changed his mind. (Let's not forget the much ignored rule that says that referees can't change their decisions...)

In any case, two weeks ago, ARLC Chairman Peter V'landys told us that the off season tinkering with "six again" had produced the desired result. He told us that "the footy has been great".

"I think we've got the balance right now. I think the rule change this year where you get a penalty in your own 40 metres for a ruck infringement or not standing back the 10 metres, it's balanced it back a little bit," V'landys said. "Maybe the balance wasn’t quite right last year but I think the balance is right now."

Last week, NRL football boss Graeme Annesley was extolling the virtues of the new "six again" rule. Games were competitive again.

Penalties are, of course, up. Six again calls are down. That was the very intent of the changes. Sure, there was a nasty game last Thursday night between the Titans and Tigers in which only one try was scored. But the Storm and Eels scored lots of tries and won by big margins as well, in Round 4.

All seemed to be well with the world.

But it appears some clubs and their coaches, were not happy.

On Sunday, Danny Weidler published a column that contained the details of a "document prepared by a leading coach" provided to him "on condition of anonymity".

We were told that "leading coaches are privately fuming at the way the game’s most exciting players are being strangled by defence and the wrestle as time-wasting resurfaces in the game".

By Monday morning, we were told an angry Peter V'landys had "put every coach and player in the NRL on notice – continue to wrestle and slow down the ruck and expect severe ramifications. And V’landys wants referees to immediately start issuing more ‘six again’ calls to allow strangled superstars, including Tom Trbojevic and James Tedesco, to be given the freedom to ignite rugby league this season."

I guess that gives a fair indication of which coaches and clubs were unhappy.

Talk about shooting from the hip as soon as a power broker or two gets in the ear of the Chairman.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said on Monday that he didn't want further tinkering with the interpretations. Neither did Dragons coach Anthony Griffin. There's since been a host of players and commentators saying the same thing.

“I’m enjoying the game as a spectacle a lot more than what I was at this time last year,” Stuart said. “It’s self invested interest from a coach, or coaches, that are talking to the media.”

"If we get a Magic Round crackdown this weekend, I’m going to be that dirty," Griffin said. "I’m really enjoying the footy this year. I don’t think we need it."

Last year's Magic Round was ruined by a rash of sin bins.

Peter V'landys is now promising us that there won't be a repeat of Magic Round.

"All they are going to do is make sure the rules are followed," V'landys said.

"If the players are breaching the rules, you have to take action. Those concerns [about a Magic Round crack down] are coming from the Twitter brigade who don’t represent the majority of fans. There have been a lot of letters coming in that we are letting the wrestle back in. We have noticed it ourselves through the statistics. We log on as directors to the statistics. They were alarming."

I couldn't find Anthony Griffin on Twitter.

And seriously. Letters? Who writes letters these days? Well I guess maybe the bloke who wrote to V'landys with the idea for two point field goals. A rule change nobody else in the game asked for. He writes letters. I guess that the people who do indeed write letters are the ones who get listened to.

We can now just wait and see what happens.

But I will say this. We need a much less reactive NRL. One that resists the urge to constantly tinker with everything. And one that listens to a broad range of views in the game.

****

Every week I rate the Raiders players on a scale of 0-10... and here is the latest points tally. Tell us what you think of the ratings!

Total points

Jack Wighton 29
Joe Tapine 28
Corey Harawira-Naera 25
Corey Horsburgh 25
Josh Papalii 25
Matt Timoko 24
Tom Starling 24
Hudson Young 23
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 22
Elliott Whitehead 21
Semi Valemei 20
Brad Schneider 19
Adam Elliott 18
Emre Guler 18
Jordan Rapana 13
Matt Frawley 11
Nick Cotric 11
Sebastian Kris 11
James Schiller 10
Adrian Trevilyan 4
Josh Hodgson 1

Average points per match

Jack Wighton 7.3
Joe Tapine 7.0
Jordan Rapana 6.5
Brad Schneider 6.3
Corey Harawira-Naera 6.3
Corey Horsburgh 6.3
Josh Papalii 6.3
Matt Timoko 6.0
Tom Starling 6.0
Hudson Young 5.8
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 5.5
Nick Cotric 5.5
Sebastian Kris 5.5
Elliott Whitehead 5.3
James Schiller 5.0
Semi Valemei 5.0
Adam Elliott 4.5
Emre Guler 4.5
Adrian Trevilyan 4.0
Matt Frawley 3.7
Josh Hodgson 1.0

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greeneyed
Don Furner
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

Through green eyes: As I saw it

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"It's a frustrating time for us at the moment because we're just not putting any team under any pressure. We're not building pressure. I feel for the boys because I see how close we are. As I just said to them in there, 'You're allowed to enjoy your football'. But they're not enjoying their football at the moment because they're not putting teams under pressure and because we're not building pressure. There's ways to build pressure, but we're not doing it. And until we do, we're not going to enjoy our football.

All our effort... and there's a ton of effort, let me tell you. The so-called experts are into me all the time about not changing my 17. When I'm getting the effort I'm getting, and I can see how close we are, that's why I keep faith in the 17. But, we're just not building pressure and we're not putting other teams under the spotlight the way they're doing it to us. And we're making it easy for opposition teams. And that's why we're frustrated and that's why the boys out there are not enjoying their play.

At times it's execution, other times it's bad luck. But I know we're just not going to win games of football or enjoy ourselves... It doesn't matter what we do at training, what we do in video, what we do in our meeting and say. If it's not done it ain't going to help us. We're not going to grow or develop into the team we should be. When we had the football, we had them under pressure. I know what we can do to teams.

I've got to go back and have a look at it now and find if there's a player I can bring in to improve that performance, I'll bring a player in. Jarrod Croker, he's going really well. It's good that he's now getting some full training and games in. Matt Timoko, he's not real well. He got knees in the back. Hudson Young has got a problem with a toe joint which he's had for three or four weeks now, and it's only Round 5, and I don't want him training one day a week, so that's why I sat him out."

Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart


2022 Round 5. Melbourne Storm 30 - Canberra Raiders 16. The Canberra Raiders were brave in the face of adversity and put in, as Ricky Stuart said, "a ton of effort". We saw an improvement from the Raiders on last week's performance against the Sea Eagles. But, sadly, effort alone is not enough to win football games. The Storm played below their best for much of the game, but were still a class above the Raiders.



When the Storm led 18-2 after 25 minutes, the match seemed like a case of "by how many". But a try to Semi Valemei in the 33rd minute helped turn back the tide. The Green Machine started to lift the tempo of the attack and to spread the ball, to good effect. In the final 50 minutes of the game, the Raiders often made good metres, especially down the Storm's right edge. But completions were again the problem. They did not complete a third of their sets. Repeatedly, Canberra got into good field position, only for the ball to hit the ground. The Raiders were only able to cross the line once in the second half, despite having 21 tackles in the Storm's red zone.

The adversity? The Raiders lost Hudson Young to a toe injury before the match, with Ryan Sutton brought into the side in his place. Of course, it wasn't intended that he would play in the second row, but he probably ended up spending some time there. That's because an injury to Matt Timoko saw him miss the second half, with Corey Harawira-Naera pushed to centre. Then when Elliott Whitehead had to leave the field for a head injury assessment, the team was short of some second rowers. It meant some forwards had to put in some big minutes. In the circumstances, it was strange that bench utility Matt Frawley didn't make it onto the field.

In his post-game press conference, Ricky Stuart defended his decision to make limited changes to his top 17 in the opening five rounds. I can see that constant changes aren't going to be helpful. And changes aren't necessarily the solution to the No. 1 problem - the completion rate. But I think something's got to give. So says a "so-called expert", or some (many?) might say, a "non expert". For a start, there's little point having Matt Frawley in the top 17 if he's not going to get any game time. The Raiders also need more impact off the bench. There are players in NSW Cup who merit consideration. Harry Rushton had a very good game in the win over Mounties today, while Peter Hola, Trey Mooney and Clay Webb should be in the conversation. It is also possible that there might be some forced changes - with Matt Timoko in doubt. There's a centre playing in NSW Cup who might add some leadership to the team.

Stats that mattered?

The Storm had a good share of the ball (54 per cent) and the territory (54 per cent) in the first half - and that was reflected on the score board in the opening 30 minutes. Canberra had a lot of opportunity in the second stanza - and credit to them. They created the opportunity. But a 54 per cent share of possession, and 61 per cent of the territory, should have produced more than one try. As mentioned, the Raiders had 21 tackles in the Storm's red zone in the second half. The Storm had one tackle in Canberra's 20 metres. With limited chances the Storm added two four pointers after the break.

The Raiders ended the match with a 49 per cent possession share - and a completion rate of just 67 per cent (Storm 82 per cent). The Storm conceded more penalties (9-7), while the Raiders made one more error (13-12). The attacking statistics were remarkably even. The Storm made slightly more running metres (1553-1499), post contact metres (570-518), metres per set (39-37), line breaks (5-4) and tackle breaks (34-31). Offloads were level (10-10). Yet the Storm scored five tries to two.

Melbourne kicked more (18-12) and got more kick metres (457-281). The Raiders produced a couple of crucial kick errors - which produced seven tackle sets. That relieved the pressure, as did penalties for off side, with the Storm trapped on their goal line. The Raiders posted a kick defusal rate of 46 per cent (Storm 60 per cent). That has been an on-going problem this year, and led to at least one Storm try.

The Raiders had to make more tackles (320-256). And while they missed more tackles (34-31) and produced more ineffective tackles (19-16), they had a slightly better effective tackle rate (86 per cent, compared with 84 per cent for the Storm). That number of missed and ineffective tackles... you don't expect that from the Storm. In the end, they made the tackles that counted, and the Raiders did not.

Memorable moments?

There weren't a lot for the Raiders really. Their two tries were workmanlike. Semi Valemei made a strong effort to get to the line after he was not held in an attempted Storm tackle. Neither try will make the list of contenders for Raiders' try of the year.

Best performers?

Tom Starling. Four runs for 59 metres, two dummy half runs for 44 metres, five tackle breaks, 43 tackles, 90 per cent tackle efficiency. two penalties conceded. He looked smart.

Joseph Tapine. 13 runs for 116 metres, 52 post contact metres, one offload, 39 tackles, 95 per cent tackle efficiency, one penalty conceded. Tapine has become the leader of the pack in recent weeks.

Corey Harawira-Naera. Eight runs for 86 metres, 35 post contact metres, one try assist, one line break assist, one tackle break, one offload, 22 tackles, one error. CHN ooked dangerous running wide and filled in well at centre.

Top tacklers: Tom Starling 43, Joseph Tapine 39, Corey Horsburgh 33, Ryan Sutton 32
Most metres gained: Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 184, Jack Wighton 155, Joseph Tapine 116

My player ratings:

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 6
Nick Cotric 5
Matt Timoko 4
Semi Valemei 6
Jordan Rapana 5
Jack Wighton 6
Brad Schneider 6
Josh Papalii 6
Tom Starling 7
Joe Tapine 7
Corey Harawira-Naera 6
Ryan Sutton 6
Elliott Whitehead 6

Matt Frawley dnp
Emre Guler 4
Adam Elliott 3
Corey Horsburgh 6

Do you agree with the ratings? Let us know!

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If you can put some sentences together and you'd like to write a regular column for The Greenhouse, let us know! We are keen to have more contributing writers!
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Billy Walker
Laurie Daley
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Billy Walker »

I reckon you could knock a point off CNK and swing it Semi’s direction.
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greeneyed
Don Furner
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

There are two key things in rugby league. Attack and defence.
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Billy Walker
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Billy Walker »

greeneyed wrote: April 9, 2022, 9:33 pm There are two key things in rugby league. Attack and defence.
CNK did very little of either. Starling was also monstered in the lead up to 2 storm tries.
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greeneyed
Don Furner
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

Through green eyes: Going bush

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The Canberra Raiders have played their last two matches in "the bush". The Manly Sea Eagles took their home game against the Green Machine to Mudgee in Round 4, while the Raiders staged their home fixture against the Melbourne Storm at Wagga last Saturday.

The Raiders announced last week that they would again transfer a home fixture to Wagga in 2023. That will be the fourth time they've played in the country town in five years.

The club recently agreed to a new five year agreement to play at Canberra Stadium - with the ACT Government providing $13 million in financial incentives to the club as part of the deal. The contract allows the club to take two games to an away venue over the next five years.

Both Raiders coach Ricky Stuart and Storm coach Craig Bellamy were enthusiastic about playing in Wagga last weekend - with both arguing that it is the responsibility of every NRL club to take games to the country.

"We really enjoy the trip to Wagga. It's part of our back yard. We talk about Canberra and its regions. We really do feel it's part of us," Stuart said last Friday.

"I hope it's having an impact and I hope it's actually helping the growth of junior rugby league - and also shows the interest we have in our back yard. The interest we have in our regional areas."

"I see it as a responsibility. We had Mudgee last week, Wagga this week. We've got Dubbo half way through the season."

"I really just feel as though it's a big responsibility of the players, coaches, our clubs, to promote rugby league but also show the younger generation, the younger kids that... one, you get to meet your superstars, get to meet the boys you watch on TV... two, that your dreams can be fulfilled."

"It's something we all should be doing as NRL clubs because I think it's important to be promoting our product, our game and our players to the younger generation of rugby league boys."

"It's good to have the consistency and keep doing it year to year, because you create relationships with the locals. You create relationships with all your fans out here. It's good for the town and it's good for us."

Craig Bellamy went a step further.

"This might not be feasible, but I'd love to see every club be made each year to actually take one of their home games to a country area - in NSW and Queensland," Bellamy said.

"I think that'd be great for the game. And the other thing - it might be going over the top - I think most trial games should be played in country areas."

"That'd give the game in the bush a real shot in the arm."

"I'm not running the show, but there's probably negatives to that or they can't do that - but I'd like to see us head in that direction."

Those sentiments are doubtless appealing to a lot of people. It all sounds good at first blush.

But there are some problems being glossed over, in my view.

I'll start with crowds. The "stadiums" in the bush are small. The standard of facilities for spectators, sponsors and broadcasters vary, but are mostly a long way off the standards of modern stadiums. Some venues, like the ground at Wagga, are poor. It has limited seating and no cover, for a start.

At Mudgee, 6,972 attended the Raiders' clash with the Sea Eagles. The crowd at Wagga was a little higher, at 8,133. The first Raiders game played at Wagga in 2019 attracted a crowd of just over 10,000, while the COVID constrained attendance last year was about 6,600.

Those numbers compare to an average home crowd of almost 15,000 at Canberra Stadium in 2019, the last "normal" year, prior to the pandemic. Granted, that was a year in which the Raiders made the Grand Final. When the club was struggling in 2014 and 2015, the average was just under 10,000. But over the subsequent four years, crowds averaged out at well over 13,000 a game.

Playing games at country venues initially has some novelty value. But it wears off - and there's not a lot of potential for growing your crowds in these small grounds. The population base in the bush is relatively small. The capacity of the grounds at Mudgee and Wagga is only 10,000. You are are basically guaranteeing a small crowd for your premium product.

NRL clubs shift games to country venues because of the financial incentives offered by local governments (and their taxpayers). It would not happen otherwise.

In the Raiders' case, at least in the past, the cost of opening the gates at Canberra Stadium was also too high. A small crowd meant the club might not make much profit. Perhaps a loss. Hopefully, the new stadium deal has improved that situation.

So moving a game to a country town can pay off financially - in the short term at least.

But if the game of rugby league wants to grow attendances, surely, playing in venues that have a capacity of 10,000 isn't the way to do it. Just as playing at small, second rate suburban grounds in Sydney isn't the way to do it.

The NRL might well have other objectives. I get that they might form the view that people in country areas deserve to regularly have the opportunity to attend NRL games in their own back yard.

But would it be fair to require all clubs to do that?

Most of the clubs outside Sydney don't take their home games to country venues, including the three Queensland clubs. I can understand why. Their home cities are not over served for NRL matches. Their fans cannot easily travel to away matches.

Canberra is in the same boat and the Raiders home fans are in the same boat.

In contrast, Sydney is over served with clubs and games. Because the NRL deliberately structures the draw so that Sydney teams play each other twice, it is easy for their fans to get to away matches.

For example, this year, the Rabbitohs are taking three home games "away". However, they will still play 14 matches in Sydney and 17 in the greater Sydney region (including Newcastle, Gosford and Wollongong). They will still play nine games at their home ground of Stadium Australia, another couple at Western Sydney Stadium just down the road - and possibly one at their re-built, old home ground.

I'm not sure that a requirement that all clubs must take a home game to the bush would be fair - particularly, on the fans of clubs outside Sydney.

The other issue for the one team towns relates to infrastructure. You can't really expect governments to build and maintain modern stadiums - the sort of facilities needed if sporting clubs are to attract big crowds, to build their following - if the main tenant doesn't commit to playing all their home games at the venue.

It is a tad easier to justify building a Western Sydney Stadium, when they have three NRL clubs lining up to be tenants - even if they're not playing all their games there.

But if we expect to have a new Canberra Stadium, it is pretty likely that the Raiders will need to commit playing their home games at home.

So this is not a straight forward issue.

One last thing. Craig Bellamy suggested that all trial matches should be played at country venues, as well as 16 NRL matches.

This year, the Raiders were required to participate in two trial match double headers - at Leichhardt Oval and Central Coast Stadium. That was probably driven by the desire of Fox League to minimise their broadcast costs. As a result, the Raiders had to break a commitment to play a trial this year at Bega.

It was good the trial games were all broadcast - and that hasn't happened since the days of pre season Cups. But it did produce the odd result, that the Raiders' trials were played at regular NRL venues, one in the middle of Sydney. And it cost a country town a trial game.

In my view, the NRL really needs to do more thinking about the best way of supporting country rugby league.

Is it by staging NRL matches in country towns? Or are trial matches, which tend to attract smaller crowds, better suited to those venues? Should more of the funds generated by the elite level of football find their way to the grass roots in country areas? The Raiders do a lot of development work in its region. Some other clubs have developed relationships with regional areas too. It benefits both the NRL club and bush football. Are these more sensible requirements to put on all NRL clubs?

There seem to be a lot of ad hoc decisions being taken. It is often the way in rugby league. Perhaps now is the time to develop a proper strategy for the game in the bush.

****

Every week I rate the Raiders players on a scale of 0-10... and here is the latest points tally. Tell us what you think of the ratings!

Total points

Jack Wighton 35
Joe Tapine 35
Corey Harawira-Naera 31
Corey Horsburgh 31
Josh Papalii 31
Tom Starling 31
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 28
Matt Timoko 28
Elliott Whitehead 27
Semi Valemei 26
Brad Schneider 25
Hudson Young 23
Emre Guler 22
Adam Elliott 21
Jordan Rapana 18
Nick Cotric 16
Matt Frawley 11
Sebastian Kris 11
James Schiller 10
Ryan Sutton 6
Adrian Trevilyan 4
Josh Hodgson 1

Average points per match

Jack Wighton 7.0
Joe Tapine 7.0
Brad Schneider 6.3
Corey Harawira-Naera 6.2
Corey Horsburgh 6.2
Josh Papalii 6.2
Tom Starling 6.2
Jordan Rapana 6.0
Ryan Sutton 6.0
Hudson Young 5.8
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 5.6
Matt Timoko 5.6
Sebastian Kris 5.5
Elliott Whitehead 5.4
Nick Cotric 5.3
Semi Valemei 5.2
James Schiller 5.0
Emre Guler 4.4
Adam Elliott 4.2
Adrian Trevilyan 4.0
Matt Frawley 3.7
Josh Hodgson 1.0

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BadnMean
Steve Walters
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by BadnMean »

greeneyed wrote: April 12, 2022, 9:33 pm Through green eyes: Going bush

The other issue for the one team towns relates to infrastructure. You can't really expect governments to build and maintain modern stadiums - the sort of facilities needed if sporting clubs are to attract big crowds, to build their following - if the main tenant doesn't commit to playing all their home games at the venue.

It is a tad easier to justify building a Western Sydney Stadium, when they have three NRL clubs lining up to be tenants - even if they're not playing all their games there.

But if we expect to have a new Canberra Stadium, it is pretty likely that the Raiders will need to commit playing their home games at home.

So this is not a straight forward issue.
On the stadium issue, Raiders + Brumbies + potential A League team + WNRL/Womens A League etc + increased chance of internationals for each of those codes gives plenty of tenancy. One home game to Wagga isn't going to spoil it- schedule it on a round the Brumbies have their hand up for a high priority.

As for bush footy- trials in the country= great idea.

Each NRL club should play 1 round in the bush each year, alternating giving up home games. More than that= fine, private deal but if each club does it once that's enough.
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greeneyed
Don Furner
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

I guess the issue is that the Raiders are presently the only team drawing a substantial crowd in Canberra. The Brumbies crowds are in serious decline. A new stadium will need events that generate substantial crowds to produce the best commercial return on investment… and justify the variable costs of opening the venue for particular events (staffing, security etc).

There is no men’s soccer team, and that doesn’t seem likely, as the broadcasters have preferred new teams in the bigger population centres of the State capitals. There is a women’s soccer team, but they choose not to play at Canberra Stadium, because their crowds are too small. Opening Canberra Stadium for their games presumably costs too much in terms of staffing the venue.

Will a NRLW team generate more revenue and return on investment for the infrastructure? Probably not in the short term at the least. In normal circumstances they’ve not been standalone games. Up until recently, the Raiders seemed to have preferred just staging the NRL match… as the longer the stadium is open, the higher the costs of staffing the venue. That suggests the current stadium, and any new stadium, need to find ways of low cost operation for smaller events.

I can’t see Stadiums Queensland being keen on losing NRL games for Lang Park, North Queensland Stadium or Robina. Take Townsville… they’ve just opened a brand spanking new venue. I doubt they’d want to see Cowboys games transferred to Cairns or Mackay. I think we’d be in the same situation as Townsville, with a new Canberra Stadium. Even now, the new deal for Canberra Stadium only allows two games to be played away over the next five years.

Then there’s the Broncos. They’d hate to lose the revenue themselves, with an average home crowd of 30,000 pre pandemic. I can’t see them ever agreeing to taking a home game to a bush venue. That should be the situation that all NRL clubs should be aiming for. Teams like the Raiders should be aiming for home crowds of 15-20,000 regularly.
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BadnMean
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by BadnMean »

greeneyed wrote: April 13, 2022, 9:27 am I guess the issue is that the Raiders are presently the only team drawing a substantial crowd in Canberra. The Brumbies crowds are in serious decline. A new stadium will need events that generate substantial crowds to produce the best commercial return on investment… and justify the variable costs of opening the venue for particular events (staffing, security etc).

There is no men’s soccer team, and that doesn’t seem likely, as the broadcasters have preferred new teams in the bigger population centres of the State capitals. There is a women’s soccer team, but they choose not to play at Canberra Stadium, because their crowds are too small. Opening Canberra Stadium for their games presumably costs too much in terms of staffing the venue.
There will be a Canberra A League team- the bids have been close. A new stadium would get them over.

Womens sports are growing- I guess we could wait like dinosaurs but they will be tenants who could play double headers or make use of the new stadium.

There is no future at Bruce- it's dated, hard to get to and provides zero game day experience or boost to economy that a better set up would.

Pocock is running on a new stadium policy ticket. I'm voting for him.
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greeneyed
Don Furner
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

I’m in no way arguing against a new Canberra Stadium. I’m all for it. I’ll be voting with that in mind too. I’m just saying we can’t expect to be taking home games away if we’re going to have one.
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greeneyed
Don Furner
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

Through green eyes: As I saw it

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"It is worse than that [9 out of 10 on the frustration scale]. It should never have got to that. I don't know who has made that excuse up [the Cowboys' share of second half possession and territory], but I'm sick of defending playing 40 minutes of football, 50 minutes of football. The way we started that second half was pathetic. There were some individuals who just didn't start with the way they need to start the second half to get us back onto the front foot. I'll deal with that when we get back to work, but it is just not on. I'm sick of it.

"I didn't know Jack said that [that some players are taking naps] and he is 100 per cent right. Elliott Whitehead has been strong into his players, but he is 100 per cent correct. There is some individuals there who have got to have a good look at themselves because it was not NRL standard. It was nowhere near the standard that we want to set as a football team. We showed what we could do in the first 40 minutes and we were let down by our performance in the second half. Blokes have got to have a good hard look at it.

"100 per cent and we spoke about that before the game [performing well for Elliott Whitehead's 150th game in green]. That [performance] embarrasses me."

"There is four or five blokes playing really good football. Jack Wighton is probably in the best form of his career. Joe Tapine is in the best form of his career. Josh Papalii played one of his better games in the first 40 minutes today. He really took the lead. I've said it before and I've said it to your guys. Those boys need supporting. There is certain blokes that are not contributing to the standards that they need to contribute to. Simple as that. If I keep sitting here defending them it is not going to solve anything. I don't know [whether NSW Cup players like Harry Rushton might come into the team]. I'll have a look at the game and see how right I am in regards to individuals."

"Xavier Savage should have stepped inside [after Jordan Rapana passed to Savage on his first touch, and was taken over the sideline]. That's why Xavier Savage hasn't been playing first grade because he is still learning the game. So many of you people want X-factor. So many people want Xavier out there. That is why Xavier hasn't been playing because he is still learning the awareness of the game. But I'm only a dumb coach. Everybody else wants X-factor. Well we haven't got X-factor at the moment. We are still teaching young people how to play a game of football at an NRL standard. If you are an experienced player you take the inside there. That has got nothing to do with Jordan Rapana."

Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart


2022 Round 6. North Queensland Cowboys 18 - Canberra Raiders 12. The Canberra Raiders have now been embarrassed twice in the space of a month by the North Queensland Cowboys. By the team that finished in 15th place on the ladder in 2021. The Raiders controlled the first half and led 12-0 at the half time break. But such was their dominance, they should have led by more. And then came another second half fade. The Cowboys scored 18 unanswered points, in a performance from Canberra that was, indeed, not up to NRL standard.





The Raiders had 53 per cent of the possession and 63 per cent of the territory in the first half. The Raiders ran for over 120 metres more than the Cowboys. They had ten more tackle breaks. Twenty tackles in the Cowboys' red zone. That's why I believe the Raiders should have led by more than 12 at the break. Canberra scored two tries in the opening 15 minutes, and didn't score another point all night. There was more than one chance in the first 40 minutes that was not taken - due to errors. The Raiders completed at 74 per cent. Not bad, but not great.

Since the beginning of 2020, the Raiders have now given up double digit leads eight times. That's three more than any other team in the competition. That's an endemic problem.

At the conclusion of the game last night, there was a chorus of "booing" from the home crowd. Just what they were directing their frustration at precisely, I'm not sure. It is unlikely it was the performance of the referee. If it was, it was unjustified. The Raiders won the penalty count 9-6, with four of the penalties to Canberra coming in the first 15 minutes. Five inside the first 20 minutes. Seven inside the first 30 minutes. The Cowboys received four set restarts, and the Raiders just one. But those numbers simply reflected the poor discipline of the Raiders for much of the game. Too often, they let the Cowboys easily get off their own line, due to a penalty conceded. You don't win football games by handing territory and possession to the opposition like that.

I often write "As I saw it" on the morning after. I do that to take out the emotion. To look at the game more objectively. Sorry, but this morning I'm still utterly dispirited by the way the team is performing. Football is life. And life's not looking good right now. The Raiders have had some big setbacks due to injury. They lost halfback Jamal Fogarty before this year's premiership started. They lost hooker Josh Hodgson for the season, 10 minutes into the first match of the year. That's some significant adversity to overcome, losing two key players in the spine. But the harsh reality is, that the team has not been able to do so. At times, the team has looked rudderless.

There are some players who are leading by example. Coach Ricky Stuart was blunt in his assessment of some continued under performance from others in the team in his post match press conference. But that has been obvious for a little while. The coaching department should be taking its share of responsibility for a 2 and 4 start to the season. Next week the Raiders face Penrith at Penrith. It's hard to imagine anything other than a feeding frenzy for the Panthers at this point.

Stats that mattered? The Cowboys had 54 per cent of the ball in the second half and 61 per cent of possession. Little wonder they were able to put on three tries in the second stanza.

The Raiders ended the match with a 49 per cent possession share - and a completion rate of 72 per cent (Cowboys 75 per cent). The Raiders produced 12 errors, the Cowboys 10. The Cowboys made more runs (188-170), running metres (1521-1404), post contact metres (536-522) and tackle breaks (26-19). The Raiders made more metres per set (38-35), kick return metres (199-150) and offloads (9-7). Kicks and kick metres were level, as were forced line drop outs (2-2). The effective tackle rate was effectively the same for the two teams (about 90 per cent). The Raiders had to make more tackles (377-336) and missed more (26-19). The Cowboys posted one more ineffective tackle (15-14).

The sad thing is this: the Cowboys didn't really play that well. But they had enough to best the Raiders.

Memorable moments? The Raiders started well, with two good tries. The first was the result of a brilliant individual run from hooker Tom Starling, right through the middle. The second, to Jordan Rapana, was produced by another bit of brilliance, a tap on from Corey Harawira-Naera. It was pretty forgettable after that.

Best performers?

Joseph Tapine. 15 runs for 153 metres, 74 post contact metres, two tackle breaks, 41 tackles, 91 per cent tackle efficiency, one error.

Josh Papalii. 16 runs for 159 metres, 77 post contact metres, two tackle breaks, three offloads, 26 tackles, 96 per cent tackle efficiency, one penalty conceded.

Tom Starling. One try, five runs for 55 metres, three dummy half runs for 31 metres, five tackle breaks, 50 tackles, 86 per cent tackle efficiency. one penalty and one set restart conceded.

Top tacklers: Tom Starling 50, Joseph Tapine 41, Corey Horsburgh 40, Elliott Whitehead 40
Most metres gained: Josh Papalii 159, Joseph Tapine 153, Jordan Rapana 117

My player ratings:

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 4
Nick Cotric 4
Matt Timoko 6
Semi Valemei 4
Jordan Rapana 6
Jack Wighton 7
Brad Schneider 6
Josh Papalii 7
Tom Starling 7
Joe Tapine 7
Corey Harawira-Naera 6
Elliott Whitehead 5
Ryan Sutton 5

Xavier Savage 2*
Emre Guler 3
Adam Elliott 4
Corey Horsburgh 6

* Limited minutes

Do you agree with the ratings? Let us know!

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Billy Walker
Laurie Daley
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Billy Walker »

Elliot Whitehead received a 5?

11 players scoring a pass mark or higher?

Your constantly poor rating of Semi.

I think the Green Eyes need a little recalibration.
Hong Kong Raider
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Hong Kong Raider »

Billy Walker wrote: April 15, 2022, 9:41 am Elliot Whitehead received a 5?

11 players scoring a pass mark or higher?

Your constantly poor rating of Semi.

I think the Green Eyes need a little recalibration.
Semi only ran for 45 m. Others in the back 5 much more, Cotric nearly double that. No tackle breaks, Cotric 3, Rapa 3, Timoko 4. No hit ups. Tackle efficiency 73%, lowest in the whole team, 5 missed tackles, highest in backs and second highest in team. No errors though.
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gangrenous
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by gangrenous »

Oof. Billy copping some facts there
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Off
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Off »

They all deserve 0

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

This place is woke.
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Finchy
Jason Croker
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Finchy »

Hong Kong Raider wrote: April 15, 2022, 10:25 am
Billy Walker wrote: April 15, 2022, 9:41 am Elliot Whitehead received a 5?

11 players scoring a pass mark or higher?

Your constantly poor rating of Semi.

I think the Green Eyes need a little recalibration.
Semi only ran for 45 m. Others in the back 5 much more, Cotric nearly double that. No tackle breaks, Cotric 3, Rapa 3, Timoko 4. No hit ups. Tackle efficiency 73%, lowest in the whole team, 5 missed tackles, highest in backs and second highest in team. No errors though.
I thought he dropped it tackle 1 off the scrum on the crash ball play? Ball went flying about 20 metres forward after it hit him
Ata Mariota’s #1 fan. Bless his cotton socks.
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Jason Croker
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Hong Kong Raider »

Finchy wrote: April 15, 2022, 11:02 am
Hong Kong Raider wrote: April 15, 2022, 10:25 am
Billy Walker wrote: April 15, 2022, 9:41 am Elliot Whitehead received a 5?

11 players scoring a pass mark or higher?

Your constantly poor rating of Semi.

I think the Green Eyes need a little recalibration.
Semi only ran for 45 m. Others in the back 5 much more, Cotric nearly double that. No tackle breaks, Cotric 3, Rapa 3, Timoko 4. No hit ups. Tackle efficiency 73%, lowest in the whole team, 5 missed tackles, highest in backs and second highest in team. No errors though.
I thought he dropped it tackle 1 off the scrum on the crash ball play? Ball went flying about 20 metres forward after it hit him
You are correct but I read it off the NRL stats and they may have credited Schneider for the error as it was a forward pass (commentary at the time said linesman ruled it forward)
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Finchy
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Finchy »

Papa and Taps played well, but I don’t think they were good enough performances for 8/10.

Sutton was a lot more effective than Whitehead without doing anything special, so deserved more than 5 each I think. Whitehead was a 2.
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greeneyed
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by greeneyed »

I don't often do this (I think I might have done it only once before), but I think some of the comments are correct, that the ratings of 8 are too high. Adjusted.
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Billy Walker
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Re: Through green eyes 2022

Post by Billy Walker »

Yeah I think that’s a good call GE. 11 players in the squad 5 or higher in such a terrible performance also doesn’t seem intuitively right to me either. Although I guess you can have a high quality game with both teams playing out of their skins and the game only decided by a golden point play. I actually thought the Cowboys were pretty average last night. They are no great shakes as a team which says a lot about us. I could see a case for a 5-6 average score for both teams.
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