Through green eyes 2024

[Billy Walker]

Second that mulligan. I'll also do the exercise. These would be my ratings:

Jordan Rapana 6
James Schiller 5
Matt Timoko 5
Sebastian Kris 4
Xavier Savage 4
Ethan Strange 4
Jamal Fogarty 4
Josh Papalii 6
Danny Levi 5
Joseph Tapine 7
Hudson Young 4
Zac Hosking 4*
Morgan Smithies 5

Tom Starling 3
Ata Mariota 4
Pasami Saulo 4
Corey Horsburgh 2

That’s a lot closer Andy, but surely Levi’s low score involves some April Fools shenanigans. He played a very strong game last night.

[Andymachine]

Second that mulligan. I'll also do the exercise. These would be my ratings:

Jordan Rapana 6
James Schiller 5
Matt Timoko 5
Sebastian Kris 4
Xavier Savage 4
Ethan Strange 4
Jamal Fogarty 4
Josh Papalii 6
Danny Levi 5
Joseph Tapine 7
Hudson Young 4
Zac Hosking 4*
Morgan Smithies 5

Tom Starling 3
Ata Mariota 4
Pasami Saulo 4
Corey Horsburgh 2

That’s a lot closer Andy, but surely Levi’s low score involves some April Fools shenanigans. He played a very strong game last night.

Dude, can you just go a single post without bringing up Danny Levi? It's ridiculous. I'm not as low on him as many others but I'm certainly not as high on him as you. He was fine yesterday. Scored a good opportunistic try and was certainly not the reason that we sh@t the bed but I don't know about "very strong". The whole team was crap but Tapine and Rapa were clearly our two best. Levi had a few average missed tackles and a dropped ball but was otherwise decent enough. I'll go as high as 5.5.

[The Nickman]

Obvious troll is obvious… stop biting

[greeneyed]

Through green eyes: The greatest ever clash with the Eels



Rivalries. The Canberra Raiders have had a few. Some have been driven by the great finals matches, the great Grand Finals of the past. Beating the Tigers, the Bulldogs, the Panthers... that always seems to be more satisfying because of the Raiders' victories against those clubs on the greatest stage of all. That provided by Grand Final day.

Some have been driven by a unique run of success... or failure. Think the Dragons hoodoo... or beating the Storm in Melbourne. It is sweet while your own hoodoo continues. It is sweeter still when the hoodoo that another club holds over you is broken.

Some recent rivalries have been driven by the lack of respect of the opponents. The Sharks mocking the Viking Clap during the 2016 finals. The Panthers and their arrogance every time we've recently turned out against them.

Strangely, the Raiders and Eels - who meet this Sunday night at Canberra Stadium - have never had much of a rivalry.

The Eels always seemed to be the team everyone liked during their golden age. At least no one disliked them too much. They played clean, attractive, attacking football. For a long period they've not been too threatening either. They have the longest premiership drought in the NRL (38 years), even longer than that of the Raiders (30 years).

The lack of rivalry with the Eels is also due to the fact that the Raiders had never met the Eels in a finals game - until the embarrassing, 40-4 defeat in Week 2 of the 2022 finals campaign.

There have still been some great club clashes with the Eels in the past.

The huge upsets against the Eels in 1983 and 1984, in front of big crowds at Seiffert Oval, come to mind. At the time, the Raiders were strugglers, the new boys on the block, the Eels were reigning Premiers.

But for mine, the Raiders' greatest match against the Eels came along in 1993.

It was the contest which showed how well oiled the Green Machine was back then. It was also the match which ultimately saw the season undone.

The Raiders were pressing for top spot on the ladder when the Eels visited Canberra Stadium in Round 21.

At the end of that Sunday afternoon, the Raiders walked off the field as 68-0 victors. The result still stands as the Canberra club's biggest winning margin. No team had won by a bigger margin in 58 years.

At half time the Raiders led Parramatta 30-0. Brad Clyde scored in the 12th minute, after returning from two months on the sideline with a serious knee injury. Brett Mullins scored four minutes later, and then Meninga put on two. It was all downhill from there. The Raiders scored 12 unanswered tries and David Furner kicked 10 goals. It was an amazing display of the Raiders' power, the ruthlessness of the attack.

Sadly, however, Ricky Stuart went down with an injury just after half time. He'd dislocated and fractured his ankle. On the eve of the finals, he was ruled out for the rest of the season. He still went on to win both the Rothmans Medal and the Dally M award. The best player of the year. He had to accept the awards on crutches.

Stuart would say later: "I just wish I would have taken the advice of Tim Sheens at half time. He said to me come off and have a rest because we’d had a pretty hectic season. I said 'give me 10 more minutes and I will come off'. I ended up breaking my leg and having a full reconstruction on my ankle. I still take that into account when I’m coaching now and I tell a player to come off the field."

"It was the best year of football I had, I hit a purple patch and couldn’t do anything wrong. It was one of those years where you’d chip kick and the ball would bounce back to you and you would catch it in one hand… we should have won the comp that year."

The Raiders couldn't overcome the loss of Stuart - and lost their remaining three matches. A defeat at the hands of Canterbury saw them overtaken in the final round for the minor premiership. They were bundled straight out in the finals. The team's attack centred on the organisation of Stuart and there was simply not enough time to cover the gap.

Rivalry or not, I'm still hoping for some scoreboard dominance this coming Sunday night. For the Raiders to bounce back from the loss to the Sharks with some style. And for none of the misfortune of 1993.

1993 Round 21 – Canberra Raiders 68 (Sean Hoppe 2, Mal Meninga 2, Laurie Daley 2, Jason Croker 2, Trevor Schodel, Noa Nadruku, Brad Clyde, Brett Mullins tries; David Furner 10 goals) defeated Parramatta 0 at Bruce Stadium.

Canberra Raiders: 1. Gary Belcher 2. Noa Nadruku 3. Mal Meninga 4. Brett Mullins 5. Sean Hoppe 6. Laurie Daley 7. Ricky Stuart 8. Quentin Pongia 9. Steve Walters 10. John Lomax 11. David Furner 12. Brad Clyde 13. Jason Croker 14. David Westley 15. Trevor Schodel 16. David Boyle Coach: Tim Sheens

Crowd: 20,411

****

This week, there was the most extraordinary reaction to the news that Canberra had made an official complaint to the NRL about the actions of Cronulla trainer Daniel Holdsworth during the clash between the Raiders and Sharks. He ran close by Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty, just as he was taking a crucial conversion attempt from the sideline. Fogarty's conversion attempt failed. The Raiders would have trailed by just six with just under 10 minutes remaining, had he kicked the goal.

The NRL is still investigating. Time will tell whether any of the NRL's rules and procedures were breached.

What I was surprised about was how many opposition fans were outraged by the fact the Raiders had made a complaint. How the trainer wasn't in Fogarty's line of sight. How it made no difference. And those were the polite comments. I've never seen so much whinging about the Raiders' alleged whinging. Even many Raiders fans were critical, concerned about "how it looked" to be making a complaint.

I doubt the Raiders would submit a complaint if they didn't feel that the trainer interfered with play. Good on the folks at the club for standing up for themselves, in my view. No one in Sydney at the NRL is going to.

The bigger issue, of course, is that the NRL allows trainers to be on the field far too often and for far too long. They periodically make a show of clamping down. Attacking teams can have a trainer on the field. And they often give direction from the back. They're not supposed to be there unnecessarily. But there are basically trainers on the field every minute of every game from one side or the other.

It is bound to produce situations where they interfere with play. Anyone who watched the 2019 Grand Final can attest to that. It is time for some genuine reform of the rules... or at least for the NRL to genuinely enforce them.

****

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

Total points

Jamal Fogarty 28
Jordan Rapana 28
Joseph Tapine 28
Matt Timoko 28
Morgan Smithies 27
Josh Papalii 26
Zac Hosking 25
Hudson Young 25
Ethan Strange 24
Danny Levi 23
Xavier Savage 23
Pasami Saulo 21
Albert Hopoate 19
Tom Starling 19
Emre Guler 17
Ata Mariota 15
Nick Cotric 10
Sebastian Kris 10
James Schiller 6
Elliott Whitehead 5
Corey Horsburgh 4

Average points per match

Jamal Fogarty 7.0
Jordan Rapana 7.0
Joseph Tapine 7.0
Matt Timoko 7.0
Morgan Smithies 6.8
Josh Papalii 6.5
Albert Hopoate 6.3
Zac Hosking 6.3
Hudson Young 6.3
James Schiller 6.0
Ethan Strange 6.0
Danny Levi 5.8
Xavier Savage 5.8
Emre Guler 5.7
Pasami Saulo 5.3
Nick Cotric 5.0
Sebastian Kris 5.0
Ata Mariota 5.0
Elliott Whitehead 5.0
Tom Starling 4.8
Corey Horsburgh 4.0



Plus follow us on X: @TheGHRaiders and Instagram: @TheGHRaiders

[dubby]

I was at that game 68-0.

I remember Trevor Schodel scoring a long range try.

But in that moment Ricky went down, so did our season

[greeneyed]

Through green eyes: As I saw it



2024 Round 5. Canberra Raiders 41 - Parramatta Eels 8. After the debacle of the loss to the Sharks last weekend, the Raiders bounced back in style, with a big win over the Eels at Canberra Stadium. It feels like it has been a long time since the Raiders have been so comfortably in control of a match. Last week, they led 18-0 and still found a way to lose. Not tonight. I actually just sat back and relaxed in the second half and watched the spectacle unfold.



And a spectacle it was. We've become accustomed to seeing Raiders teams that are gritty and "brawlers" - and come away with a win by the skin of their teeth. It is satisfying to see wins like that, wins against the odds. It's not the most attractive style of football. But tonight the attack was just brilliant. Tonight the football was enjoyable to watch. A pure pleasure to watch. The young backs sparkled.

Ethan Strange started things off with a wonderful break from the Raiders' own end. Hudson Young was there to back up and somehow Simi Sasagi, in his first NRL game in green, got the offload away. The ball fell to ground, but Sebastian Kris was still able to turn it into four points. Next, Xavier Savage unleashed. He made a break on Canberra's own 30 metre line, and just went all the way to the try line. It was pure speed, something the Raiders have been missing in the outside backs for quite some time. Savage was back in action in the second half, kicking ahead and setting up a Danny Levi try.

That was just the support cast. Matt Timoko was the star. Early in the second half, James Schiller made a good break up the touch line before offloading to Timoko. He had a lot of work to do to get to the line. He just fended off defenders and kept on going until he could reach out for the try line. He was very nearly flung over the sideline. But, miraculously, he planted the ball on the chalk, just inside the corner post, before he could be taken out. One of the tries of the year.

Later, Timoko's quick hands set up a try for Schiller. Mal Meninga would have been proud of the tip on. Next, he made another bumping run up the middle to set up Hudson Young for a try under the sticks. He scored the final try of the match himself, just to put an exclamation mark on his performance.



There were others in the forwards who were certainly strong. The usual suspects, like Joe Tapine. But Hudson Young really had some mojo back tonight too. James Schiller was very good with the ball in hand, but his defence is not his strongest point. Marking Maika Sivo, he couldn't stop two tries to the Eels winger. In the case of the first he went for the intercept. In the second, he couldn’t get a hold of Sivo in the attempted tackle. But plenty of wingers have found they can't stop Sivo either.

Let's not forget Jordan Rapana. Playing his 201st game in green, he had to leave the field very early in the first half, with what seemed to be a serious knee injury. It blew up, big time. According to Ricky Stuart, the club doctor had to manipulate his meniscus back into its rightful place. And then Rapana somehow made his way back to the field. Early in the second half, he leapt high for an impressive kick defusal - and he looked to hurt his knee again on landing. But he just kept on going. Hopefully, he doesn't have to spend time on the sidelines.



Stats that mattered: The Raiders finished with a 56 per cent share of possession and 60 per cent of the territory. They were as dominant in the first half as in the second, in both departments. That translated into six more minutes with the ball in hand for the Green Machine. The completion rates were around the same for both sides (about 78 per cent), while the Raiders made one more error (11-10). The Raiders "won" the penalty count, 10-3. But that advantage was significantly offset by set restarts. The Raiders conceded five "six again" calls, the Eels just one.

Canberra made over 650 more running metres than the Eels. They posted more runs (194-140), metres (1963-1299), post contact metres (636-497), kick return metres (246-93), line breaks (9-3), tackle breaks (38-20) and offloads (9-3) than Parramatta. There was not much difference in the kicking metres (about 500 apiece). One thing is obvious from those numbers. The Eels are seriously missing their half back Mitchell Moses, who is sidelined with a foot injury.

The Eels had a much heavier defensive workload than the Raiders (376 tackles made, compared with 269 for the Raiders). They also missed more tackles (38-20) and made more ineffective tackles (18-11). The Eels just offered up way too many opportunities to their opposition. And the Raiders made them pay seven times.

Memorable moments: Matt Timoko's first try of the game. No doubt the most memorable. Probably the most memorable Raiders moment this year so far. But the Xavier Savage try was not too far behind.

Best performers:

Matt Timoko. Two tries, 15 runs for 183 running metres, 51 post contact metres, two line breaks, three line break assists, two try assists, eight tackle breaks, 11 tackles, 85 per cent tackle efficiency,

Xavier Savage. One try, 17 runs for 261 running metres, 63 post contact metres, two line breaks, one try assist, three tackle breaks, five tackles. Only required to make one tackle.

Ethan Strange. Nine runs for 82 running metres, 13 post contact metres, one line break, seven tackle breaks, 21 tackles, 95 per cent tackle efficiency.

Top tacklers: Morgan Smithies (41), Joseph Tapine (30), Danny Levi (27), Ata Mariota (24), Pasami Saulo (23), Ethan Strange (21), Hudson Young (20)
Most metres gained: Xavier Savage (261), James Schiller (231), Matthew Timoko (183), Hudson Young (159), Morgan Smithies (150), Pasami Saulo (145), Jospeph Tapine (143)

My player ratings:

Jordan Rapana 5 *
James Schiller 6
Matt Timoko 8
Sebastian Kris 6
Xavier Savage 8
Ethan Strange 7
Jamal Fogarty 6
Josh Papalii 6
Danny Levi 6
Joseph Tapine 7
Hudson Young 7
Ata Mariota 5
Morgan Smithies 7

Tom Starling 3
Corey Horsburgh 5
Simi Sasagi 6
Pasami Saulo 7

* Limited minutes.



Plus follow us on X: @TheGHRaiders and Instagram: @TheGHRaiders

[Billy Walker]

Danny Levi just keeps providing error free, great service from dummy half while making a million tackles and scoring regular tries. We have really improved in the 9 position on last year.

[BJ]

Yeah Levi was better than a 6. Started a number of our breaks by squaring up the defence out of dummy half, continues to back up our line breaks through the middle and took the right option many times, especially the dummy half scoot around an offside marker on the blind side.

I’ve previously been one of Levi’s detractors but he’s been good this season. I still want Woolford off the bench if there’s no other more balanced option.

[T_R]

I thought Timoko might have scored a rare 9. Thought he was really quite remarkable.

[The Nickman]

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with how Levi is shaping up now too, but also think Woolford would provide more from the bench than Starling currently does.

[greeneyed]

I certainly considered a 9 for Timoko. Even had a 9 written in at one point.

[hrundi89]

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with how Levi is shaping up now too, but also think Woolford would provide more from the bench than Starling currently does.

All Starling is doing at present is providing double-pumped borderline forward passes from dummy-half.

[dubby]

I think Horsburgh needs more minutes in Cup.
Bring in Mooney.

We were the better team. We played well.
I really love the pace we have in our backs.

Levi played well.
Smithies is looking the goods.
Young found some confidence.
Pasami looked good. Made some good yards and shows urgency at a and b marker

[Roger Kenworthy]

That was the most fun I've had watching us play since 2020, other than maybe the 2022 Storm finals win. Brilliant to see the next generation really put it on a struggling opposition.

[-TW-]

5 games (well 4 and 20 mins) have been infinitely more enjoyable than 25 games last season

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[Azza]

I certainly considered a 9 for Timoko. Even had a 9 written in at one point.

What would it have taken for him to get a nine? He was outstanding.

[Finchy]

That was the most fun I've had watching us play since 2020, other than maybe the 2022 Storm finals win. Brilliant to see the next generation really put it on a struggling opposition.

2016 for me.

[RedRaider]

Raiders are currently 3 from 5 games played and well in front of last years 1 from the first five games.

I thought Mariota should have been a 6. His one on one tackle on Sivo in about the 55th minute when Ata absolutely smashed him. That is one of the only times Sivo has been dominated in a one on one tackle. It was one of the game highlights for me.

[zim]

He handled second row really well even with copping that leg knock.

[bonehead]

He handled second row really well even with copping that leg knock.

"leg knock" when Simonsson treated him like a swingset

Sent from my SM-S911B using Tapatalk

[zim]

It was so close to being able to be ruled on. Reckless effort. Both probably lucky it wasn't a few inches in the wrong direction.

[greeneyed]

Through green eyes: Changing the rules



The NRL has done plenty of experimentation with the laws of the game in recent years. During the pandemic, Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman, Peter V'landys, was put under pressure for change by the broadcasters, principally Nine, who wanted the game to be faster, more exciting, more everything.

Set restarts instead of penalties for ruck infringements and off side were introduced. They were designed to speed up the game and V'landysball was born. The ARLC even went so far as to establish an "Innovation Committee", whose sole purpose, it seems, was to dream up even more rule changes.

Of course, the broadcasters had no idea what they had unleashed. As it turned out, making rugby league more like basketball was not more exciting. The balance between attack and defence had been disturbed - and was weighted too heavily in favour of the attack. Points tallies and margins ballooned.

The rule changes produced unintended consequences and additional complexity for the officials. That happens when you shoot from the hip and don't think ahead. When you don't test out rule changes in game situations.

So more rule changes were introduced, amending the changes only recently introduced. Stupid bells and whistles continued to be added, like two point field goals. Changes that nobody ever asked for.

Things have settled since the worst days of V'landysball.

The NRL has been given a whole pile of feedback from the fans that they don't want any more rule changes. None. Nothing. No more.

Despite that, every year the NRL seems to come up with just a bit more tinkering. This year we were effectively told that: 'We know you have told us that you don't want more rule changes, but here's just one... and a few interpretation changes. Well, maybe more than a few".

This year's rule change was designed to promote "more contestable restarts". More specifically, more short kick offs and more short goal line drop outs. If the ball does not travel 10 metres from the kick, or the short kick sees the ball go out on the full, there is now a turnover of possession, rather than a penalty, to the opposition team.

It is not like short kick offs really needed more encouragement. They had already become a widely used tactic.

Having seen the new rule in action, I'm ready to say it is a dud.

For a start, if a ball goes out on the full or the ball does not travel 10 metres... how on earth is that "contestable"? Surely the team attempting to get the ball back from the short kick should face a full penalty if they don't keep the ball in play. After all, the team receiving the ball has just worked hard to get an advantage.

Then there are the unintended consequences. Teams are increasingly running on the last in the red zone, rather than kick to the in goal and attempt to force a line drop out and a repeat set. They'd rather hand over the ball to the opposition just short of the try line, than risk the chaos of a short line drop out.

Is that really what the NRL wants? Where is the reward for the team that has worked their way to the red zone? Isn't it more exciting to see the attacking team put on more attack? Instead, we see teams rucking the ball off their own goal line.

You know what else gets on my goat?

Voluntary tackles. Why have they suddenly become acceptable? The NRL has changed their interpretation, so that voluntary tackles are no longer penalised.

Players gathering in the ball on their own goal line - or near the touch line - have increasingly gone to ground, so they cannot be forced back in goal or into touch. They are hoping defenders put a hand on them, effecting a tackle.

Since I was a boy, and long before that, rugby league players were expected to play on.



But now - as explained in the video - Mr Annesley and co have decided that surrendering is a part of rugby league.

Surrendering should never be part of rugby league.

What the referees should have been doing all along is enforcing the voluntary tackle rule.

As for Mr Annesley's example in the video of a situation that was "not a good look" for the game... surely, there should have been no doubt that crawling along on the ground is not a genuine attempt at playing on. The player crawling should have been penalised. We wouldn't see it again if they'd been appropriately sanctioned.

Where to from here? The constant changes to the rules are putting the fabric of the game at risk. I guess the fans can only keep on telling the NRL that they don't want any more rule changes. If only someone at Moore Park was listening.

****

Sadly this week, we learned that Jordan Rapana and Corey Horsburgh have both been sidelined with injury - putting them out for 6-8 weeks. They are both big losses. An international, an Origin player. But it is the way of rugby league that one man's loss presents another with an opportunity.

And so this Sunday we will get to see the NRL debut of young fullback Chevy Stewart, and the return of a rampaging young bull, Trey Mooney, to the top grade. We are entering a new era in the club. The time is nigh for the department of youth. I'm excited to see how both players go in the clash with the Titans.

There's been other unambiguously good news this week too. It has been reported by Fox Sports that rookie five eighth Ethan Strange agreed to terms for a four year contract extension on Wednesday. That would keep him at the club for the next five seasons. Some more sober journalists are saying a deal might be finalised as early as next week. Meanwhile, it is looking more and more certain that young Parramatta half Ethan Sanders will sign with the Raiders - once he is free to talk to other clubs next week.

A future spine that includes Stewart, Strange and Sanders is an exciting prospect.

That's for the longer term. In the shorter term, the goal of the Green Machine will be to dispose of the Titans on Sunday night. The Gold Coast is yet to win a game in 2024. So there are good reasons to be confident. But there are some niggles in the back of my mind. Des Hasler always seems to have a trick up his sleeve for the Raiders. And the Raiders have struggled in their recent match ups with the Titans - even in victory. I'm still tipping a Green Machine win.

Incidentally, the Raiders are performing strongly in the lower grades this year. Five wins in a row to open the season in Jersey Flegg. Undefeated in NSW Cup - though they came close to a loss when they drew against the Jets. The Flegg team will play the Bulldogs at Raiders Belconnen at noon on Sunday, while the NSW Cup team meet the Dogs at Canberra Stadium at 4:00pm. Make sure you get along to support both teams.

****

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

Total points

Matt Timoko 36
Joseph Tapine 35
Jamal Fogarty 34
Morgan Smithies 34
Jordan Rapana 33
Josh Papalii 32
Hudson Young 32
Xavier Savage 31
Ethan Strange 31
Danny Levi 29
Pasami Saulo 28
Zac Hosking 25
Tom Starling 22
Ata Mariota 20
Albert Hopoate 19
Emre Guler 17
Sebastian Kris 16
James Schiller 12
Nick Cotric 10
Corey Horsburgh 9
Simi Sasagi 6
Elliott Whitehead 5

Average points per match

Matt Timoko 7.2
Joseph Tapine 7.0
Jamal Fogarty 6.8
Morgan Smithies 6.8
Jordan Rapana 6.6
Josh Papalii 6.4
Hudson Young 6.4
Albert Hopoate 6.3
Zac Hosking 6.3
Xavier Savage 6.2
Ethan Strange 6.2
James Schiller 6.0
Simi Sasagi 6.0
Danny Levi 5.8
Emre Guler 5.7
Pasami Saulo 5.6
Sebastian Kris 5.3
Nick Cotric 5.0
Ata Mariota 5.0
Elliott Whitehead 5.0
Corey Horsburgh 4.5
Tom Starling 4.4



Plus follow us on X: @TheGHRaiders and Instagram: @TheGHRaiders

[-PJ-]

I’m no fan of a lot of the rule changes.

The game was so much better in the 90s to watch.

- Taking the corner post out of play cuz the wingers are athletes and we want to see athletes.
- Seven tackle restart cuz the attacking kick wasn’t perfect.

And now this drop kick restart that doesn’t go 10m or goes out on the full. Which has been a penalty for 120 years has been changed…WHY ???

Anyway..that’s my say.

[The Nickman]

Honestly, complaining about rule changes is such an "old man yells at cloud" thing to do. Suggesting they'll freeze the rules now and never change them again is a bit silly, considering almost every sport constantly evolves.

Even my local touch footy comps have new rule interpretations and changes every season, minor tweaks that you need to get your head around.

And largely they're improvements, even though it's natural to resist change... but otherwise you're just part of the whole "what's the point of scrums, the game's gone soft" crowd.

[BJ]

Some rule changes such as the corner post they got absolutely right.

Some other interpretation changes maybe not so good.

That stupid cloud in the sky looks like Ben Cummins waving 6 again.

[The Nickman]

Some rule changes such as the corner post they got absolutely right.

Some other interpretation changes maybe not so good.

That stupid cloud in the sky looks like Ben Cummins waving 6 again.

I have to say almost every rule change they've brought in I've been upset about (including the corner post), but looking back now I think they've generally all improved the game.

I think the product on the field right now is about the healthiest it's been in a long time and a lot of that is down to the introduction of so-called Vlandysball.

Even the way they've changed the bunker so the ref signals a try and we just get on with it is a massive step in the right direction that I initially hated.

[Travis]

I think it depends on the purpose of the rule change. If the change is designed to protect a player or to remove a negative tactic, then most people are happy with that. The changes that are designed to improve the spectacle of the game are often more hit and miss (typically based on the side-effect / exploitation of the rule that coaches develop based on it). The NRL should be open to feedback from fans / stakeholders after introducing new rules, because sometimes the new rule is a dud.

I think the sport as we know it is going to be changing a lot based on player welfare over the next 10 - 15 years. The more scientific investigation that occurs on head injuries (and there is a lot occurring), the more we are going to see rule changes. I read recently somewhere that 2024 data is showing an increase in head injuries on players returning the ball from a kick-off, due to the increased distance, speed and momentum the ball carrier gathers before contact. I suspect that this will prompt the removal of kick-offs as a restart option (at least a place kick - maybe it will be replaced by a drop kick restart).

I'm not intending to be a prophet of doom and gloom, but it wouldn't surprise me if contact sports were phased out in the next 50 years or so due to the increased understanding of head injuries and their long-term impacts.

[greeneyed]

Through green eyes: As I saw it



2024 Round 6. Canberra Raiders 21 - Gold Coast Titans 20. A win in the last minute of golden point. A golden charge down from Chevy Stewart kept the game alive. A golden run from Ethan Strange provided the opportunity for the match winner. And Jamal Fogarty delivered the golden field goal. It was extraordinary finish.

The Raiders probably shouldn't have been in the situation where all that was necessary. They had the possession and territory to have won the game decisively. Canberra led 20-10 with less than 10 minutes remaining, after James Schiller scored in the corner. But somehow, the Raiders conceded two tries to Titans winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira in the space of four minutes. And Titans centre Brian Kelly kicked his first goal in eight years - from the sideline, after the hooter had sounded - to force golden point.



It was frustrating to see the Canberra attack flounder so often in the red zone. They lacked organisation, and things didn't improve with the injection of Tom Starling off the bench. The Raiders played like they were there for "a grind", to play within themselves. The old conservative game plan prevailed. Then the late fade came along. It was too familiar.

But there is also no doubt that the Titans came to Canberra Stadium with a plan to cheat. Plain and simple. Titans coach Des Hasler has done it many times before. The Titans deliberately and consistently stood off side and constantly niggled in the ruck. The offside play became more blatant when the Raiders were in the red zone.

The Titans ended up conceding eight set restarts - four for offside and four for ruck infringements. They also conceded four penalties. The question I posed during the match was... how many infringements are required in order to produce a sin binning? As it turned out, coach Ricky Stuart asked the same question in the post match press conference.

After the game, Des Hasler complained about the refereeing, saying: "I thought the refereeing performance was pretty poor. I think a lopsided penalty count, particularly in the area of 'six-agains'. And I’ve got some doubt around the off-side nature of the charge down. Did they review it? They didn’t review it. Why not?"

Ricky Stuart's very reasonable response was: "He’s on another planet. If he is critical of the 'six-agains' and the penalty count he is on another planet. The way they cheated when they were standing there with the hand on the ball, holding over the ball. The way they cheated on the ground. We were told at the start of the year if you are going to be a repeat offender you get sent."

Was Chevy Stewart off side before charging down the Titans' field goal attempt? I don't think he was. But if he was, it was by half a step. It certainly wouldn't have been the worst case of off side play in the match.





And that brings me to the debutant. What a terrific performance from the 18 year old Stewart in his first NRL match. The Titans were constantly kicking to him, and they eventually had to give up with that tactic. He was very safe under the high ball. He made 22 runs, 205 running metres and produced one handling error. Some missed tackles, but some very good tackles too. He'll only get better in terms of his ball playing. A really strong prospect.



Stats that mattered: The Raiders finished with a 58 per cent share of possession and 65 per cent of the territory. Canberra had almost 12 minutes more with the ball than the Gold Coast. The Raiders were even more dominant in the first half, with over 60 per cent of the ball and almost 75 per cent of the territory. The Raiders had 54 tackles in the Titans' red zone, compared with eight for the Titans at the other end of the field. Yes, 54!

The Raiders produced more runs (239-172), running metres (2362- 1701), post contact metres (904-643), kick return metres (279-141), tackle breaks (38-29) and offloads (10-6) than the Titans. Dominance... except in line breaks, with the Titans posting four, the Raiders just two. The speed of the ruck, as mentioned above, was controversial. The Raiders' play the ball speed averaged 3.62 seconds, compared with 3.4 seconds in the game last week against the Eels. The Titans averaged 3.46 seconds.

The Titans produced more kicking metres (900-744), despite the fact the Raiders kicked more (32-26). The bottom line is that the Titans had to kick long, a lot. Jamal Fogarty put in a lot of short attacking kicks, forcing four line drop outs. A total of six for the team. Six!

The Titans had a lot more defensive work to do. They had to make more tackles (493-342), and they posted more missed tackles (38-29) and ineffective tackles (15-12). That translated into an effective tackle rate of 90 per cent for the Gold Coast, and 89 per cent for Canberra. The Titans conceded three tries, the Raiders four.

The bottom line is this. Despite the Titans' deliberate illegal tactics, the Raiders should have scored more points. They should have led by more than six at half time. Conceding two tries to the Gold Coast in the space of five minutes, either side of half time... well, that was almost as poor as conceding two Titans tries in the final five minutes. When the Raiders were leading 20-10 with 10 minutes remaining - they should have had the game wrapped up. Some of the defence from the Raiders was poor at times, especially on the edges. There are things the Raiders will need to look closely at and learn from the game, in both attack and defence.

Desirably, however, the Raiders also showed that they had the determination to do what was needed to produce the win - in the most pressured situation in rugby league.



Memorable moments: The Raiders' tries won't be amongst their best of the season. The first try from James Schiller was the result of good kicking from Jamal Fogarty to the Titans' goal line. The second involved a good driving run from Hudson Young. Schiller's second try followed a short drop out, with Ata Mariota regathering the ball and offloading well. The most memorable things will be the things that happened during golden point extra time - the Stewart charge down, the Strange run, the Fogarty drop goal. It even looked like the Raiders had practiced their field goal set ups this year!

Best performers:

Joseph Tapine. 26 runs for 302 running metres, 137 post contact metres, two tackle breaks, two offloads, 32 tackles, two missed tackles, one error.

Jamal Fogarty. 15 runs for 96 running metres, 24 post contact metres, one try assist, four tackle breaks, 29 tackles (but eight missed), 28 kicks for 694 kicking metres, four forced line drop outs, one penalty conceded.

Hudson Young. One try, 21 runs for 158 running metres, 57 post contact metres, one line break, four tackle breaks, one offload, 33 tackles, three missed tackles.

Tapine was immense. Three hundred running metres is crazy! Apart from Tapine and Young, five forwards broke 100 running metres gained, including Morgan Smithies (160), Josh Papalii (139) and Pasami Saulo (123). Three backs broke 200 running metres... with Savage, Timoko and Stewart impressing in that department. I felt for Zac Hosking, who had to leave early with a shoulder injury.

Top tacklers: Morgan Smithies (42), Ata Mariota (36), Hudson Young (33), Joseph Tapine (32)
Most metres gained: Joseph Tapine (302), Xavier Savage (222), Matthew Timoko (216), Chevy Stewart (205)

My player ratings:

Chevy Stewart 6
James Schiller 6
Matt Timoko 7
Sebastian Kris 6
Xavier Savage 6
Ethan Strange 7
Jamal Fogarty 8
Josh Papalii 7
Danny Levi 5
Joseph Tapine 8
Hudson Young 7
Zac Hosking 5
Morgan Smithies 7

Tom Starling 5
Ata Mariota 6
Trey Mooney 5
Pasami Saulo 6



Plus follow us on X: @TheGHRaiders and Instagram: @TheGHRaiders

[-PJ-]

Joes numbers are off the charts.

That’s a captains knock.

[Billy Walker]

You’re just having a laugh now GE. Danny Levi had a great game and the wheels fell off when he went off.

[Dusty]

Levi was very good once again. I don't agree with his rating. Also, for as good as Fogarty was, some very poor kicking choices in the last 10 and in golden point could've cost us the game (shank torp bomb attempt, chip n chase). Needed to kick long and go for the high % plays.

I'd give Fogarty 7.5 and Levi 7

Another good write up nontheless

[RedRaider]

I am one of the biggest Fog fans on here but the field goal does not negate the 8 missed tackles and the poor kick which gave the Titans the opportunity to level the game. 7 at best. DL missed 4 tackles and the Clanger effort for the Titans first try was not FG level. Opposition coaches will see opportunity via DL particularly close to our line. 5 was fair imo.

[-TW-]

The shanked bomb was poor game management, he was way too shallow and then tried to run

With that amount of time on the clock just kick deep for a corner

But in saying that, that's what only having one primary kicker does.. leads them to end up under pressure

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[reptar]

The shanked bomb was poor game management, he was way too shallow and then tried to run

With that amount of time on the clock just kick deep for a corner

But in saying that, that's what only having one primary kicker does.. leads them to end up under pressure

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

That was the same for the chip kick - there was no backup kicker

[greeneyed]

Through green eyes: To dream the impossible dream



Beating the Broncos in Brisbane. Who doesn't love that?

Sadly, for the Canberra Raiders, it hasn't happened very often. Just five times since the Broncos were admitted to the competition in 1988.

The very first game between the clubs was played at Lang Park in May that year. This is how The Canberra Times reported on the match:

"A rejuvenated Canberra Raiders forward pack produced its best performance for a month, to lay the foundations for a convincing 36-16 victory over a makeshift Brisbane Broncos at Lang Park. Showing none of the lack of concentration exhibited in their last three games, the Raiders ran riot through a disappointing home side, running in seven tries.

The Raiders' three Queensland State of Origin representatives, fullback Gary Belcher, centre Peter Jackson, and prop Sam Backo, showed no ill effects from their mid-week engagement and starred in a good all round team effort.

Belcher was back to his devastating best, injecting himself into the back line on countless occasions and being rewarded with two fine tries. His six goals saw a personal tally of 20 and again showed that he would be a more than adequate choice as Test fullback."

The Broncos were a star studded outfit, even in their first year in the "Sydney competition". As the people in Sydney liked to call it back then. Wally Lewis was missing from the match, but their side still featured Alan Langer, Greg Dowling, Gene Miles, Greg Consecu, Chris Johns, Colin Scott and Michael Hancock.

The contest had a little bit of extra spice, because it was the first time that the Raiders had come up against coach Wayne Bennett since he broke his contract with Canberra and defected to the Broncos.



"The difference between us today and the last few weeks was that we had a lot more commitment and really wanted to win," Raiders coach Tim Sheens said after the game.

"It's tough for any team to keep producing their best for 26 weeks. I said that Brisbane would bring out our best and that was the way it turned out."

It was the start of an intense rivalry between the two sides through the late 1980s and 1990s. Raiders versus Broncos was the Grand Final everyone dreamed of, but it has never happened.

It took until 2021 for the Raiders to beat the Broncos again in Brisbane. A Raiders team featuring Clinton Schifcofske, Andrew McFadden, Simon Woolford, Luke Davico, Ruben Wiki and Alan Tongue put on 40 points against the Broncos at the QEII Stadium. Rod Jensen and Odell Manuel both got doubles for Canberra in the 40-18 victory.

The Broncos returned to Lang Park in 2004, after it had been transformed into the world class stadium that we know today. The Raiders had not won in their six previous away matches. But they proceeded to beat the Broncos, 21-14. Mark McLinden shone, scoring the first try, evading Karmichael Hunt on the way. He also kicked a field goal, late, to give the Green Machine a seven point break on Brisbane.

Perhaps the greatest victory for the Raiders at Lang Park came along in 2010.

It was the final round of the regular season, and the Broncos needed to beat the Raiders by 15 points or more - or miss the finals for the first time since 1991. The Raiders needed to win to keep the momentum into the finals. It was semi final football a week early in front of 40,000. There were Raiders fans everywhere, and were packed solid in the supporters bay in the corner.

The Raiders seemed destined for a win when Daniel Vidot scored his second try near the 60th minute. It was 18-4 in favour of the Green Machine. The Broncos came back in the last 20 minutes, scoring two tries. But, the Raiders showed desperation and hung on for a sweet 18-16 win. The celebrations at the Caxton of all those in green went long into the night.



Thirteen years later... and after six straight losses at Lang Park, the Raiders headed to Brisbane with their season in trouble. Round 6, 2023. Easter Saturday. The Raiders had lost to the Penrith Panthers on home turf by 41 points in the previous weekend. The Broncos were on a five game winning streak. Undefeated that season. Canberra had Joe Tapine, Jack Wighton, Xavier Savage, Nick Cotric, Danny Levi, Matt Frawley and Ata Mariota on the sidelines. But against all odds, the Raiders bounced back to post an extraordinary, 20-14 victory.



The Raiders have never produced back to back wins against the Broncos in Brisbane. This Saturday night, that's exactly what an exciting young Canberra team will be aiming to do. They now need to dream the impossible dream.

****

I'm not sure what it is with rugby league fans. But they seem to love going round in circles.

State of Origin. Should the series be played mid week, or on a stand alone weekend? Rugby league fans love debating that one. Origin had been hugely successful for years, when played on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. Three of the top five television events of the year. Too disruptive for the clubs, everyone said. So they tried it on the weekend, and no one liked that. Too little football, leaving vacant timeslots for the AFL to exploit. So Origin shifted back to mid week. Now, everyone has forgotten how they didn't like Origin on a weekend... You get the idea.

The timing of the Grand Final. Afternoons, twilight, evenings. The debate goes round and round. Someone even said this week that the old NSW City versus Country games should be brought back! I mean seriously.

And with two golden point matches taking place last weekend, all the old arguments about that are being recycled right now. I really can't understand why.

Golden point has been remarkably successful since it was introduced in 2003. Walking out of the ground after a draw was a miserable feeling, mostly. For everyone in the crowd. Some of the most memorable Raiders matches of all time have been golden point victories. For good reason. It's exhilarating when your team wins in a tense match. I certainly left Canberra Stadium on Sunday night with a huge smile on my face. If the game had finished at 20 all, I would have left feeling like it had been a loss. A big loss.

Yet we've seen a whole pile of people coming out this week saying 'there's nothing wrong with a draw'. I think they've forgotten just how unsatisfying a draw is... because they hardly ever happen these days.

Then there is the proposal that a loser in golden point extra time should get a competition point for losing. It makes no sense at all to award more competition points for a golden point game, than a regular game. The more sensible proposal is to award four competition points in every game - four for a win, none for a loss, three for a golden point win and one for a golden point loss. I don't really see the need for it, but at least it has some logic and integrity to it.

Then there are the complaints about how golden point is a field-goal-athon - and the accompanying demands for a shift to golden try. It doesn't make sense to me. The idea of golden point is to find a winner, quickly. That's important for player welfare and broadcasting schedules. A change to golden try means games will very likely last the full extra 10 minutes - because scoring a try is tough. It means you're much less likely to get a result. Besides, why would you change the rules of the game in extra time? If you're allowing a field goal to determine the result of a tight game in the final 10 minutes of the regulation 80 minutes... why would that be ruled out in extra time?

I can guarantee one thing. If the NRL were to ever abandon golden point... we'd all soon be complaining about how we hate draws. Round and round in circles we'd go.

****

Every week I rate the players on a scale of 0-10... and here are the lastest points tallies. Tell us what you think of the ratings!

Total points

Joseph Tapine 43
Matt Timoko 43
Jamal Fogarty 42
Morgan Smithies 41
Josh Papalii 39
Hudson Young 39
Ethan Strange 38
Xavier Savage 37
Danny Levi 34
Pasami Saulo 34
Jordan Rapana 33
Zac Hosking 30
Tom Starling 27
Ata Mariota 26
Sebastian Kris 22
Albert Hopoate 19
James Schiller 18
Emre Guler 17
Nick Cotric 10
Corey Horsburgh 9
Simi Sasagi 6
Chevy Stewart 6
Trey Mooney 5
Elliott Whitehead 5

Average points per match

Joseph Tapine 7.2
Matt Timoko 7.2
Jamal Fogarty 7.0
Morgan Smithies 6.8
Jordan Rapana 6.6
Josh Papalii 6.5
Hudson Young 6.5
Albert Hopoate 6.3
Ethan Strange 6.3
Xavier Savage 6.2
Zac Hosking 6.0
Simi Sasagi 6.0
James Schiller 6.0
Chevy Stewart 6.0
Emre Guler 5.7
Danny Levi 5.7
Pasami Saulo 5.7
Sebastian Kris 5.5
Ata Mariota 5.2
Nick Cotric 5.0
Trey Mooney 5.0
Elliott Whitehead 5.0
Corey Horsburgh 4.5
Tom Starling 4.5



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