2022 Rd 9 V Bulldogs: Teams and Previews *Teams p1*

[gerg]

Paul Crawley is the journalist. Steve Crawley the head of the Fox rugby league coverage. All brothers.

Maybe I'm wrong and happy to be corrected (usually am when I start a sentence this way) but wasn't Paul Ricky's ghost writer?

[The Nickman]

So which of you spuds are forking out to go see the Marvelous Canberra Raiders in " The Magic Round
" ?

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I'm going to Magic Round again this year with a group of about 15 of us (last year we did it for my Buck's Weekend and I ended up smashing my teeth in on an electric scooter leaving Suncorp on the Friday night), but there's no chance in hell I'm going anywhere near the Raiders game this year.

[Off]

Thats the go.

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[greeneyed]

Paul Crawley is the journalist. Steve Crawley the head of the Fox rugby league coverage. All brothers.

Maybe I'm wrong and happy to be corrected (usually am when I start a sentence this way) but wasn't Paul Ricky's ghost writer?

Paul Kent

[hrundi89]

It’s the annual player reunion and there’s a 40 year gala thing on Saturday night at the Hotel Realm. So all the old boys will be there on Friday night. Not sure why this is the weekend… might be the Bulldogs were the first official trial. And the first game was against the Rabbitohs, but that game is away. First home game was the Magpies and they don’t exist as an NRL team, first win was against Newtown and they don’t exist as an NRL team.

I got an invitation to the gala, as a Club 82 member, and also invited to pay $500 (tax deductible) for a ticket. I declined. Given the preseason thing was cancelled, looks like nothing will involve the regular fans.

And no refunds if cancelled (remember COVID?). Call it a donation.

[Azza]

I don't know whether we will win or lose - though not going to be surprised if it's the latter. But I have no interest in watching because I know regardless, there's NOTHING we will do out there which will demonstrate a glimmer of hope for the future.

What a terrible squad selection.

[lightning]

If ever there was a game for young Schneider to stand up - it’s this Friday.

[pickles]

This is the NRL not some local footy club. The only thing that matters is wins and losses and no one means more to the club than that.

I am sure that this team can play better than what they have. They’ve done it for short periods of games before completely falling to pieces. This far into the season and we still haven’t put a good 80 minutes together. It just isn’t good enough at this level.

Good teams at the moment are doing 2 things well. Defending for long periods without conceding points when the inevitable run of 6 agains and penalties goes against them. And converting their scoring opportunities when they arise. At the moment we can’t do either.

We play with no structure in attack and seem to be one of the laziest teams in the comp in terms of effort plays like getting back to marker, making tackles from marker, putting pressure on kickers, kick chase and getting back to help out after a kick. We do it sporadically and the good teams do it every play.

We also don’t seem to have a single player out there who is interested in putting their hand up and doing what it takes to win.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to another episode of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against the bulldogs this weekend! The only real creativity we have shown this season is inventing new ways to lose!

Totally agree with all this, especially the football side, except for one thing. For all intents and purposes the NRL is run like a local footy club.

With few exceptions, I reckon everyone involved in the NRL - central admin and across the clubs - has no business being involved in professional sport and the sport would be better served if they were working for their local club. Ideally for rugby league that would also be in a different code.

Essentially, we can not be a professional sport when the majority of stakeholders are amateurs and snake oil salesmen that got lucky, and have convinced themselves that they are not only good at their jobs and deserve their positions, but also that luck has nothing to do with it.

Again, with some exceptions, this whole unseemly business, with everyone in on the rort, underpins the relationships between the media and the football clubs, the coaches, and the agents.

In some respects players and fans probably have the most in common, as players are disposable and fans barely enter into the thinking of the establishment at all.

Local footy has its own problems and the NRL occasionally gets some things right, but that’s beside the point.

Anyway, sorry Pickles, I do agree with you (was picking up on the Crawley stuff as well).


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Completely agree with the lack of professionalism across the board. What other major sport implements rule changes that change the fabric of the game mid season and not just once, year after year.

Any casual fan can also see the inconsistency in refereeing between team, judiciary decisions, the draw, tv coverage etc etc. I watch a lot of games with fans of other teams and almost all of them think their team cops it and at times they are all right!

The Raiders can and should do a lot better in terms of their own professionalism though. We have not been a consistent team for decades. Let that sink in.

Imagine supporting a team like Melbourne who somehow managed to transition from having 3 once in a generation type players in their team to still being a dominant force and contesting grand finals in the years immediately after that. At the raiders it feel like we make the finals and everyone pats each other on the back and forgets to turn up the following year instead of working harder to be better.

I’ll always support the raiders but my emotional investment in a season will always match what they are showing on the field. At the moment we are technically deficient in critical skill areas, lack a cohesive plan and are less resilient than a wet paper bag and I won’t be losing any sleep over results this season.

[Roger Kenworthy]

This is the NRL not some local footy club. The only thing that matters is wins and losses and no one means more to the club than that.

I am sure that this team can play better than what they have. They’ve done it for short periods of games before completely falling to pieces. This far into the season and we still haven’t put a good 80 minutes together. It just isn’t good enough at this level.

Good teams at the moment are doing 2 things well. Defending for long periods without conceding points when the inevitable run of 6 agains and penalties goes against them. And converting their scoring opportunities when they arise. At the moment we can’t do either.

We play with no structure in attack and seem to be one of the laziest teams in the comp in terms of effort plays like getting back to marker, making tackles from marker, putting pressure on kickers, kick chase and getting back to help out after a kick. We do it sporadically and the good teams do it every play.

We also don’t seem to have a single player out there who is interested in putting their hand up and doing what it takes to win.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to another episode of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against the bulldogs this weekend! The only real creativity we have shown this season is inventing new ways to lose!

Totally agree with all this, especially the football side, except for one thing. For all intents and purposes the NRL is run like a local footy club.

With few exceptions, I reckon everyone involved in the NRL - central admin and across the clubs - has no business being involved in professional sport and the sport would be better served if they were working for their local club. Ideally for rugby league that would also be in a different code.

Essentially, we can not be a professional sport when the majority of stakeholders are amateurs and snake oil salesmen that got lucky, and have convinced themselves that they are not only good at their jobs and deserve their positions, but also that luck has nothing to do with it.

Again, with some exceptions, this whole unseemly business, with everyone in on the rort, underpins the relationships between the media and the football clubs, the coaches, and the agents.

In some respects players and fans probably have the most in common, as players are disposable and fans barely enter into the thinking of the establishment at all.

Local footy has its own problems and the NRL occasionally gets some things right, but that’s beside the point.

Anyway, sorry Pickles, I do agree with you (was picking up on the Crawley stuff as well).


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Completely agree with the lack of professionalism across the board. What other major sport implements rule changes that change the fabric of the game mid season and not just once, year after year.

Any casual fan can also see the inconsistency in refereeing between team, judiciary decisions, the draw, tv coverage etc etc. I watch a lot of games with fans of other teams and almost all of them think their team cops it and at times they are all right!

The Raiders can and should do a lot better in terms of their own professionalism though. We have not been a consistent team for decades. Let that sink in.

Imagine supporting a team like Melbourne who somehow managed to transition from having 3 once in a generation type players in their team to still being a dominant force and contesting grand finals in the years immediately after that. At the raiders it feel like we make the finals and everyone pats each other on the back and forgets to turn up the following year instead of working harder to be better.

I’ll always support the raiders but my emotional investment in a season will always match what they are showing on the field. At the moment we are technically deficient in critical skill areas, lack a cohesive plan and are less resilient than a wet paper bag and I won’t be losing any sleep over results this season.

Not only that - we start acting smugly like we're the smartest person in the room whenever we have one good season. I even remember that vibe back in 2006 when we were cannon fodder in the Finals. Then it's like there is no consequence when we fall back to the pack - just the old "we showed them in 2019 when we came 2nd" attitude.

[greeneyed]

Canberra Raiders debutant Jarrod Croker puts knee trouble behind him

While it's been 4791 days since his NRL debut, Jarrod Croker says it is feeling like he'll be having a second debut, given all the well wishes he's received since it was announced he'd return to first grade on Friday.

"It's good to be back. It feels like I'm making my debut again the amount of messages I've got rolling through," Croker said. "It's obviously exciting to be back. Not knowing how your body's going to be and at the start of the year playing six weeks of reserve grade you try to bide your time and wait and be patient."

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

VIDEO: Anthony Seibold and Renee Gartner preview the Friday night game between the Canberra Raiders and Canterbury Bulldogs: https://www.nrl.com/news/2022/05/04/raiders-v-bulldogs/

Rapana confident reshuffled backline will bring out Raiders' best

Jordan Rapana is confident that the changes to the team this week will bring the side confidence and experience that will turn their form around this Friday night.

“I know for myself and the boys out there that we're all pumped to have our old skip back so he's gonna bring a lot of experience and energy having him back on the field,” Rapana said. “The boys were pumped to have him back and we know what he's done for this club. The amount of games he's on, not too far away from 300 so it's exciting and awesome.”

Read more: https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2022/05 ... ers--best/

The conversation that brought Nick Cotric home to the Canberra Raiders



Jarrod Croker has revealed how he played a role in getting Nick Cotric back in Raiders colours.

"I'm really looking forward to playing with him. I remember him ringing me in the off-season and he was saying he was thinking of coming back, there was all these options. And I told him to come home and how much I wanted him to come back and play footy alongside him again.

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... -canberra/

How Canberra Raiders star Jarrod Croker get back on the field

Only a few players have undergone the operation Jarrod Croker has had on his knee. Both Trent Hodkinson and Boyd Cordner were able to play-on and excel after the same surgery.

“The back-end of last year was the hardest part of my career, with the unknown,” Croker said. “I spoke to Hodko (Hodkinson) and Boyd and both gave some real confidence. The surgery has bought me some time and I’m holding on for dear life.

Read more: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport ... 56ae91cefd

[Conor]

This is the NRL not some local footy club. The only thing that matters is wins and losses and no one means more to the club than that.

I am sure that this team can play better than what they have. They’ve done it for short periods of games before completely falling to pieces. This far into the season and we still haven’t put a good 80 minutes together. It just isn’t good enough at this level.

Good teams at the moment are doing 2 things well. Defending for long periods without conceding points when the inevitable run of 6 agains and penalties goes against them. And converting their scoring opportunities when they arise. At the moment we can’t do either.

We play with no structure in attack and seem to be one of the laziest teams in the comp in terms of effort plays like getting back to marker, making tackles from marker, putting pressure on kickers, kick chase and getting back to help out after a kick. We do it sporadically and the good teams do it every play.

We also don’t seem to have a single player out there who is interested in putting their hand up and doing what it takes to win.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to another episode of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against the bulldogs this weekend! The only real creativity we have shown this season is inventing new ways to lose!

Totally agree with all this, especially the football side, except for one thing. For all intents and purposes the NRL is run like a local footy club.

With few exceptions, I reckon everyone involved in the NRL - central admin and across the clubs - has no business being involved in professional sport and the sport would be better served if they were working for their local club. Ideally for rugby league that would also be in a different code.

Essentially, we can not be a professional sport when the majority of stakeholders are amateurs and snake oil salesmen that got lucky, and have convinced themselves that they are not only good at their jobs and deserve their positions, but also that luck has nothing to do with it.

Again, with some exceptions, this whole unseemly business, with everyone in on the rort, underpins the relationships between the media and the football clubs, the coaches, and the agents.

In some respects players and fans probably have the most in common, as players are disposable and fans barely enter into the thinking of the establishment at all.

Local footy has its own problems and the NRL occasionally gets some things right, but that’s beside the point.

Anyway, sorry Pickles, I do agree with you (was picking up on the Crawley stuff as well).


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Completely agree with the lack of professionalism across the board. What other major sport implements rule changes that change the fabric of the game mid season and not just once, year after year.

Any casual fan can also see the inconsistency in refereeing between team, judiciary decisions, the draw, tv coverage etc etc. I watch a lot of games with fans of other teams and almost all of them think their team cops it and at times they are all right!

The Raiders can and should do a lot better in terms of their own professionalism though. We have not been a consistent team for decades. Let that sink in.

Imagine supporting a team like Melbourne who somehow managed to transition from having 3 once in a generation type players in their team to still being a dominant force and contesting grand finals in the years immediately after that. At the raiders it feel like we make the finals and everyone pats each other on the back and forgets to turn up the following year instead of working harder to be better.

I’ll always support the raiders but my emotional investment in a season will always match what they are showing on the field. At the moment we are technically deficient in critical skill areas, lack a cohesive plan and are less resilient than a wet paper bag and I won’t be losing any sleep over results this season.

Spot on. I think Melbourne are probably the only club that are run professionally in a way that could be comparable to elite teams in other codes, at least in terms of coaching / high performance. Feels like Bellamy is light years ahead in terms of his systems and overall approach.

I don’t think their club culture is any better in terms of behaviour. I’ve heard horror stories from friends and colleagues in Melbourne, but as someone else has recently pointed out, winning helps, and they keep winning cause Bellamy is the closest thing the NRL has to someone that would get a job / be successful in an equivalent field.

I love our club, and hate everyone else, but it’s exasperating.


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[BadnMean]

I don't know whether we will win or lose - though not going to be surprised if it's the latter. But I have no interest in watching because I know regardless, there's NOTHING we will do out there which will demonstrate a glimmer of hope for the future.

What a terrible squad selection.

I know we're not great but I'm interested in seeing how Sav... er Rush... er oh well I guess it IS old boys round. Go Toots Jr! Go Whitey! Go CNK!

Maybe Elliot will find out that hooker IS his position? That might actually be a useful squad development since we need a 3rd hooker on the books.

[Dusty]

I’m dumbfounded at the CNK selection


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[InFernos_Raiders]

So which of you spuds are forking out to go see the Marvelous Canberra Raiders in " The Magic Round
" ?

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I'm going to Magic Round again this year with a group of about 15 of us (last year we did it for my Buck's Weekend and I ended up smashing my teeth in on an electric scooter leaving Suncorp on the Friday night), but there's no chance in hell I'm going anywhere near the Raiders game this year.

Raiders play the Sharks…. Ouch

[InFernos_Raiders]

I don't know whether we will win or lose - though not going to be surprised if it's the latter. But I have no interest in watching because I know regardless, there's NOTHING we will do out there which will demonstrate a glimmer of hope for the future.

What a terrible squad selection.

I know we're not great but I'm interested in seeing how Sav... er Rush... er oh well I guess it IS old boys round. Go Toots Jr! Go Whitey! Go CNK!

Maybe Elliot will find out that hooker IS his position? That might actually be a useful squad development since we need a 3rd hooker on the books.

I actually think he had his best game for the Club last week at Hooker.
He had a few nice off loads.

[yeh raiders]

I’m dumbfounded at the CNK selection


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You know you’re going really bad when CNK is picked as the “safe” option.

I can’t believe we’re actually playing for the bottom of the ladder. Putrid stuff.

[greeneyed]

Trent Barrett wary of Bulldogs discard Adam Elliott



Trent Barrett suspects Adam Elliott will have a point to prove when the Canberra utility lines up against the Bulldogs for the first time since being shown the door at Belmore last September.

“He won’t say it but I guess he will have a point to prove,” he said. “He’s doing a good job for them. He’s a footballer, Adam, so he can play a number of positions.

Read more: https://canberraweekly.com.au/trent-bar ... m-elliott/

[gerg]

Trent Barrett wary of Bulldogs discard Adam Elliott



Trent Barrett suspects Adam Elliott will have a point to prove when the Canberra utility lines up against the Bulldogs for the first time since being shown the door at Belmore last September.

“He won’t say it but I guess he will have a point to prove,” he said. “He’s doing a good job for them. He’s a footballer, Adam, so he can play a number of positions.

Read more: https://canberraweekly.com.au/trent-bar ... m-elliott/

Actually he probably has said it in his regular blog.

[-PJ-]

Geez the word “star” gets thrown around loosely.

[Sid]

Geez the word “star” gets thrown around loosely.

Should be reserved for All Stars such as Lachlan Maranta

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[BJ]

Geez the word “star” gets thrown around loosely.

Should be reserved for All Stars such as Lachlan Maranta

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[Rick]

I don't know whether we will win or lose - though not going to be surprised if it's the latter. But I have no interest in watching because I know regardless, there's NOTHING we will do out there which will demonstrate a glimmer of hope for the future.

What a terrible squad selection.

I know we're not great but I'm interested in seeing how Sav... er Rush... er oh well I guess it IS old boys round. Go Toots Jr! Go Whitey! Go CNK!

Maybe Elliot will find out that hooker IS his position? That might actually be a useful squad development since we need a 3rd hooker on the books.

I actually think he had his best game for the Club last week at Hooker.
He had a few nice off loads.

I think Adam Elliot looking good at hooker says more about Starling than it does Elliot.

Starling is trash as a 9 but a good impact hooker. I think Stuart has finally worked this out however Trev is MIA


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[BadnMean]

I think Adam Elliot looking good at hooker says more about Starling than it does Elliot.

Starling is trash as a 9 but a good impact hooker. I think Stuart has finally worked this out however Trev is MIA


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What's the story with Trev?

[TongueFTW]

Stuart's press conference today made me think he has lost the plot.

We did not lose the Warriors game due to "bunker interference". We lost the game because we gifted the Warriors easy tries, struggled with an inept attack, and built no pressure. We lost because we cannot string together a 60 minute, let alone 80 minute performance. Even after that bunker call, we still had the chance to win it in golden point and made yet another error.

This sort of lack of accountability has a huge impact on the players' mentality - professional sportspeople will take ANY excuse you give them to justify poor performance. The fact our head coach keeps pushing this narrative does not help the psyche of the players, and the club. It needs to stop.

[Hong Kong Raider]

Stuart's press conference today made me think he has lost the plot.

We did not lose the Warriors game due to "bunker interference". We lost the game because we gifted the Warriors easy tries, struggled with an inept attack, and built no pressure. We lost because we cannot string together a 60 minute, let alone 80 minute performance. Even after that bunker call, we still had the chance to win it in golden point and made yet another error.

This sort of lack of accountability has a huge impact on the players' mentality - professional sportspeople will take ANY excuse you give them to justify poor performance. The fact our head coach keeps pushing this narrative does not help the psyche of the players, and the club. It needs to stop.

Well said. I enjoy reading your posts and analysis (we don't even get that from shows like NRL360). I would add bench use, dumb plays and lack of discipline

[BJ]

Yep. I’ll happily highlight a stuff up from the Officials, but we should have been 12 up and not even be within a whisker of letting a bad bunker call stand in our way of victory.

Some of our players made mistakes that were far more ridiculous than the Bunker’s overrule.

[gerg]

We all saw how much our side improved a few years ago when they got rid of this pathetic victim mentality. Not sure why they've reverted to it?

[greeneyed]

Raiders aim to get rid of 'Faiders' tag



The Raiders are performing almost as well now in first halves as they did when they made the 2019 grand final and 2020 preliminary. A study of Canberra half-time scores shows the Raiders are still either leading or level at the break in 56 per cent of matches in 2021 and 2022. Yet they have won just 12 of 32 games in that time at a strike rate of 37.5 per cent, finishing 10th last year and currently stuck in 14th on the ladder this season.

Read more: https://7news.com.au/sport/rugby-league ... -c-6688111

[Off]

Its the bunker!!!, **** this is pathetic.

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[Raoul Duke]

What a joke, that penalty happened on the 3rd tackle with almost 2 mins left...who is to say they wouldn't have scored a try anyway?

[Billy Walker]

He has become an embarrassment the way he sooks and sulks. Do your job, prepare the team and the Warriors won’t get close enough for the bunker, the refs or anyone else to make a pinch of difference

[-PJ-]

What a joke, that penalty happened on the 3rd tackle with almost 2 mins left...who is to say they wouldn't have scored a try anyway?

Whos to say we don’t defend the whole set, regain the ball and hold out for the win.

I’m not defending Ricky, he’s responsible for the vomit we are all watching but geez the bunker is killing this beautiful game of Rugbrugh Leeg.

[Off]

At what point do you realise to yourself, that **** I was a legend on the field for this club, adored by all and sundry who supported it, but I am not a very good coach perhaps I should step aside before i become the most despised. Surely he still has enough smarts and self pride to do so, surely.

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[Off]

And as for some of those players that keep putting their paws out for money, **** how embarassing.

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[-PJ-]

None of us are happy campers Q.

I’ve already said tomorrow is the end of the road.

Lose tomorrow and she’s all over..9 weeks of footy and we’re cooked.