2024 Round 9 v Sea Eagles: Teams and Previews *Teams p1

[Guy Incognito]

If we get a chance who is kicking goals this week? I assumed it was Chevy last week. Unfortunately I never got to find out.

Weeks was kicking them in the warm up on the weekend.

[President Clinton]

I spoke lot about utility players in the off season as options for good versatile squad fillers who could solve a problem for us in the event of injuries and I got a lot of push back on that from people telling me those players weren’t good enough to be considered

And boy it didn’t take long before those takes aged like milk. Not even round 10 and already those blokes would represent significant upgrades on the players we’re trotting out this week

Hopefully the club learns from this and starts to think about bringing in more versatility in the 24-30 squad members. I would suggest reducing our the middle forwards in our top 30 as a means to do this.

Genuinely interested to know which utility players you were high on.

I thought it was weird we let Schneider and Frawley go and only signed Cook.

I was mentioning guys like Daine Laurie, Blake Taafe, Tyrone Peachey, Connor Watson, Kurt Mann...
It's not that im particularly high on them as players in terms of these are FG footballers who move the needle for a team. They're not, but having versatility in your squad gives you options. Is Daine Laurie an awesome player? No he's not. He's got a lot of flaws and those flaws have prevented him from becoming a full time FGer. But he is a guy who can come in for a period when injuries hit and give you a spark and he can do at fullback or 5/8th. He'd walk into this team right now and at least provide the club and it's fans some hope of conjuring some points.

A guy like Peachey could plug a hole at centre, 5/8th, back row or #14 as a genuine utility.
It's just more options, more potential answers to a test. Instead we've got 100000 middle forwards and 3 out and out hookers, none of which are particularly good!

But we're were too good for players like that, at least that was what i was told. The Panthers arent, but we are.
I dont think our club correctly values versatility. And everyone had a crack at the Dogs about how many of those guys they recruited but having a couple of guys who have FG experience at multiple different positions is something i think every squad should value having.

Very very good post. It’s amazing how we turn up our nose about certain players and essentially these kind of players are useful for rebuilding squads (which we are in the midst of). They are useful for giving young players spells (which will invariably happen) and to cover injuries when you don’t have a spine. They also provide sound depth and flexibility which is important

Look at the Bulldogs this year for example. They are still missing a few middle forwards but the recruitment of Connor Tracey, Blake Taafe and Kurt Mann has been pretty sound. They are not great players or superstars but they have given that squad a whole bunch of options or flexibility that they wouldn’t have had otherwise. Some of those options would be a whole lot better than Danny Levi/Starling at hooker or Hopoate at fullback

Agree, good post. I definitely mentioned at least once us getting Taafe, Peachy and in particular Tracey. Genuine utility how gives it his all.

I thought we did OK in getting Weekes and Sasagi, especially in comparison to other years. But some of the other players mentioned, with SOO or GF experience would be very valuable for our squad.

[Northern Raider]

I'm fully in board with having these fringe utility players in the squad. These kind of players are not in your starting 13 but can fill gaps as they arise through course of the season. Unfortunately it's been severely lacking for a number of years. Think we finally got one in Kaeo Weekes. Kid only just turned 22 so plenty ahead for him. The other players mentioned are all late 20s, early 30s so pretty comfortable having Weekes filling this role right now.

[Botman]

Yeah Weekes and Sasagi were good in that respect on paper
But given our lack of halves depths, Weekes isnt a utility for us. He's a straight up half and we're still short. He doesnt seem to have done any cross training at fullback. And we cant really afford to do it, because we came into the year with only 3 players in our squad of 30 who could play in the halves
I know the Troy Dargan tragedy impacted our depth there a little bit and that is beyond the club's control and i really think they were holding a spot for Sanders and circumstances have thwarted that plan. But it was a bold bet to take coming into the year with only 3 players in the squad who could play in the halves, 2 of which were unknown qualities
And once that is taken into account, only 2 legit fullback options, one of which was a 18 year old kid and the other being a 34 year old on his last legs who was a clear injury/suspension risk.

Sasagi isnt a regular FGer, no one is saying he is is, but he's already been forced to play 4 games for us and i believe in those 4 games he's had time at edge, centre and halves. So that's the kind of value you can get out of these kinds of players. His worst game was funnily enough the one where he just got to play his preferred position without having to move around much

Meanwhile 3 rusted on hookers and 11 middle forwards by my count.
Roster contruction has been a MESS the last 2 years.

[PNGRaider37]

What did Woolford do to Ricky to npt get picked? Feel like this needs it's own thread now..

[gangrenous]

Agree. But it is also rubbish that some teams appeals actually get heard whilst ours (Horse as an example) just get double downed on.

We all know what’s happening here. Unconscious bias, which the NRL does nothing about.

Yes that Horse one was a disgrace. Even the nrl prosecutor was all about ‘DCE the statesman, ambassador for the game’ etc.
Anyone who thinks unconscious bias doesn’t happen across many facets of the game in some way is in fairyland.
Like the discrepancy this year about which clubs could count the all stars game for suspension for their players. Joke.

You have just shown us all that you have no idea how the judiciary system works. DCE got his charge downgraded from a grade 2 to a grade 1. He was still found guilty.

Horsburgh went to the judiciary trying to get off a Grade 1 charge. He failed so was also found guilty of a grade 1 charge. The difference was this was Corey's third offence that season hence the much higher penalty.

Don't bring facts into this discussion, mate. The NRL hates us, that's all you need to know.

Fact - Horse didn’t shoulder charge anyone in the opinion of the league community and was still found guilty by the judiciary.

[Rick]

Yeah Weekes and Sasagi were good in that respect on paper
But given our lack of halves depths, Weekes isnt a utility for us. He's a straight up half and we're still short. He doesnt seem to have done any cross training at fullback. And we cant really afford to do it, because we came into the year with only 3 players in our squad of 30 who could play in the halves
I know the Troy Dargan tragedy impacted our depth there a little bit and that is beyond the club's control and i really think they were holding a spot for Sanders and circumstances have thwarted that plan. But it was a bold bet to take coming into the year with only 3 players in the squad who could play in the halves, 2 of which were unknown qualities
And once that is taken into account, only 2 legit fullback options, one of which was a 18 year old kid and the other being a 34 year old on his last legs who was a clear injury/suspension risk.

Sasagi isnt a regular FGer, no one is saying he is is, but he's already been forced to play 4 games for us and i believe in those 4 games he's had time at edge, centre and halves. So that's the kind of value you can get out of these kinds of players. His worst game was funnily enough the one where he just got to play his preferred position without having to move around much

Meanwhile 3 rusted on hookers and 11 middle forwards by my count.
Roster contruction has been a MESS the last 2 years.

If we are having this discussion at the end of the year then it is definitely a fail however I can see why they have gone into the year with Fogarty as 7, Dargan as back up and holding a spot for Sanders as a carrot to get him here early. With this line up Weeks would have been seen as a genuine utility.

Tragically we lost Dargan and in the timeframe we had the best we could do was a Cup 7 which pigeonholed Weeks and Strange as halves.

I don’t mind us doing this if now that there has been a longstanding injury to Fogarty (if it was strange we could have lived with it) that we go to market for the remainder of the year. As a fringe half we would have just got very attractive as there is a halfback position there for someone behind what is supposed to be a good pack for the rest of the year. It’s not a gamble anymore. They will get game time and lots of it.

If we don’t snag a Brody Croft or similar type player it’s a fail.


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[gangrenous]

Problem is, we lack that sort of player to begin with.

Chevy is not there yet. And he has been smashed from pillar to post in his few games. He needs a break.

Rapana is injured, and isn't going to last the season as fullback.

Cotric? Pass.

Schiller? No.

Hoppa. Nope.

Savage? He's a winger now. And probably going to be our best one in future, if he sort out some of his tendencies to lack urgency.

Why No for Schiller? His issue is defence which he can do less of at fullback.

Savage has shown he can be a great fullback before. Chalk me up as another not buying the narrative about being a winger.

[President Clinton]

What did Woolford do to Ricky to npt get picked? Feel like this needs it's own thread now..

He tried to get an early release to join the Dragons.

[Mickey_Raider]

This is a good discussion about squad composition but Sorry can we all circle back to the part when Whitehead declared that we are still on track for premiership glory this year.

[Finchy]

This is a good discussion about squad composition but Sorry can we all circle back to the part when Whitehead declared that we are still on track for premiership glory this year.

I knew his body was cooked, didn’t realise he’s losing his mind too

[NoMan]

What did Woolford do to Ricky to npt get picked? Feel like this needs it's own thread now..

He tried to get an early release to join the Dragons.

Ricky told him to find a new gig then reneged when he did.

[Peter]

There is not one other coach in the NRL who would persist with having two superior (albeit not by much) hookers languishing in reserve grade for such a long period of time.

Levi is done. He was done 3 clubs ago. Starling is a great back up 3rd choice hooker who can play a part if need be. And yet here we are week after week putting up with it.

Even Guler gets a recall. That should fix our problems.

[dubby]

Problem is, we lack that sort of player to begin with.

Chevy is not there yet. And he has been smashed from pillar to post in his few games. He needs a break.

Rapana is injured, and isn't going to last the season as fullback.

Cotric? Pass.

Schiller? No.

Hoppa. Nope.

Savage? He's a winger now. And probably going to be our best one in future, if he sort out some of his tendencies to lack urgency.

Why No for Schiller? His issue is defence which he can do less of at fullback.

Savage has shown he can be a great fullback before. Chalk me up as another not buying the narrative about being a winger.

He said himself he is a centre. And I can't recall him ever playing fullback.

I'd be tempted to play Weekes at fullback and put Cook at 7 (yes I know he's not top 30, but I think we have a spot open).

[Botman]

This is a good discussion about squad composition but Sorry can we all circle back to the part when Whitehead declared that we are still on track for premiership glory this year.

That's a category 1 AFAIC.
Mandatory 11 day stand down

[BadnMean]

There is not one other coach in the NRL who would persist with having two superior (albeit not by much) hookers languishing in reserve grade for such a long period of time.

Levi is done. He was done 3 clubs ago. Starling is a great back up 3rd choice hooker who can play a part if need be. And yet here we are week after week putting up with it.

Even Guler gets a recall. That should fix our problems.

He would have done it last year if Levi hadn't broke his jaw twice. We watched Seb Kris play as 1 dimension of a fb almost a whole season. How long did he play Matt Allwood and Curtis Scott?

There’s at least a month of Levi still coming. Maybe two.

[LimeGreenMachine]

I really hope we come up with better tactics . If our forwards can dominate we need our halves to run and create opportunities.
We need to create 2nd phase play, offloads .

[The Nickman]

There is not one other coach in the NRL who would persist with having two superior (albeit not by much) hookers languishing in reserve grade for such a long period of time.

Levi is done. He was done 3 clubs ago. Starling is a great back up 3rd choice hooker who can play a part if need be. And yet here we are week after week putting up with it.

Even Guler gets a recall. That should fix our problems.

He would have done it last year if Levi hadn't broke his jaw twice. We watched Seb Kris play as 1 dimension of a fb almost a whole season. How long did he play Matt Allwood and Curtis Scott?

There’s at least a month of Levi still coming. Maybe two.

Yeah, those surprised that the coach obviously has a beef with Woolford that goes well beyond performance of the team, only needs to look at last season where Levi stunk it up for a month before breaking his jaw to FORCE Woolford to come into the team.

We actually started our run at that time of the season too, our forward pack immediately began to play better with the shift.

[PNGRaider37]

I really hope we come up with better tactics . If our forwards can dominate we need our halves to run and create opportunities.
We need to create 2nd phase play, offloads .

Glad someone else noticed how much the offloads have dropped off. It's been one of our strengths for so long!

[Raiders_Pat]

And that’s the worst spine I’ve ever seen named in first grade in the NRL era.

In 2022 we played the bulldogs in round 9 with the following:

1. CNK
6. Matt Frawley
7. Brad Schneider
9. Adam Elliott

Real toss of the coin. Remembering that CNK was coping it from all angles on here.

FWIW I would have gone with:

1. Xavier Savage
6. Ethan Strange
7. Adam Cook / Kaeo Weekes
9. Zac Woolford

Forgot about Elliott at 9... there's hope for us Puru to 9 advocates!

[Botman]

And that’s the worst spine I’ve ever seen named in first grade in the NRL era.

In 2022 we played the bulldogs in round 9 with the following:

1. CNK
6. Matt Frawley
7. Brad Schneider
9. Adam Elliott

Real toss of the coin. Remembering that CNK was coping it from all angles on here.

Group chat was talking about this yesterday. This exact spine was mentioned... i dont think it's close at all
Our spine this week is MUCH worse than that. Strange over Frawley is tight, otherwise it's lay down misere

We were running through RugbyLeagueProject game logs for all the recent wooden spoon teams and came up with the following that could rival ours this week

A titans spine from earlier this year was mentioned:

1. Keano Kini
6. ⁠Tom Weaver
7. ⁠Tanah Boyd
9. ⁠Chris Randall

And this dogs spine from a few years ago:
1. Nick Meaney
6. Lachy Lewis
7. Kyle Flanagan
9. Sione Katoa

I think the titans spine is better, the bulldogs one is close. Melbourne version of Nick Meaney is doing a lot of heavy lifting there

[yeh raiders]

I live on the Northern Beaches.

Was looking forward to the game at Brookie regardless of outcome.

Just found out my son's Under 15s Gold game is at Cherrybrook at the same time.

Ah well...

Great part of the world, enjoy Greenway oval ! I spent 20 years growing up playing touch footy there every Sunday morning. Soo many great memories.

Lived behind apple tree shopping centre for 15 odd years and spent my whole youth over there. The place has not changed since the 90s stuck in a time warp! A house that was missing balustrades back then was still missing them today. It’s like the world paused for that suburb.

I wouldn’t called it a “shopping centre”, but as for the suburb itself, I mean, if it’s not broke….

Good spot down that end of Purchase Rd. Great bush tracks

I remember it took a massive explosion at the Dental surgery in or near 2002 for them to renovate and remodel the main shopping village.

[President Clinton]

And that’s the worst spine I’ve ever seen named in first grade in the NRL era.

In 2022 we played the bulldogs in round 9 with the following:

1. CNK
6. Matt Frawley
7. Brad Schneider
9. Adam Elliott

Real toss of the coin. Remembering that CNK was coping it from all angles on here.

Group chat was talking about this yesterday. This exact spine was mentioned... i dont think it's close at all
Our spine this week is MUCH worse than that. Strange over Frawley is tight, otherwise it's lay down misere

We were running through RugbyLeagueProject game logs for all the recent wooden spoon teams and came up with the following that could rival ours this week

A titans spine from earlier this year was mentioned:

1. Keano Kini
6. ⁠Tom Weaver
7. ⁠Tanah Boyd
9. ⁠Chris Randall

And this dogs spine from a few years ago:
1. Nick Meaney
6. Lachy Lewis
7. Kyle Flanagan
9. Sione Katoa

I think the titans spine is better, the bulldogs one is close. Melbourne version of Nick Meaney is doing a lot of heavy lifting there

I think you might be looking back at the 2022 spine with rose tinted glasses.

Danny Levi is dreadful (don't get me wrong here for a second), but he has played 9 in the international arena. You'd take him over Adam Elliott at 9. Strange > Frawley means it is two players from each spine.

And at least the 2024 spine has SOME speed. That 2022 spine might not be the worst, but it has to be the slowest

[Regs Revolution]

There is not one other coach in the NRL who would persist with having two superior (albeit not by much) hookers languishing in reserve grade for such a long period of time.

Levi is done. He was done 3 clubs ago. Starling is a great back up 3rd choice hooker who can play a part if need be. And yet here we are week after week putting up with it.

Even Guler gets a recall. That should fix our problems.

He would have done it last year if Levi hadn't broke his jaw twice. We watched Seb Kris play as 1 dimension of a fb almost a whole season. How long did he play Matt Allwood and Curtis Scott?

There’s at least a month of Levi still coming. Maybe two.

Yeah, those surprised that the coach obviously has a beef with Woolford that goes well beyond performance of the team, only needs to look at last season where Levi stunk it up for a month before breaking his jaw to FORCE Woolford to come into the team.

We actually started our run at that time of the season too, our forward pack immediately began to play better with the shift.

I distinctly remember a game last year when Tapine and Woolford nearly punched on. I think the decision to leave him out might have something to do with attitude cause he is clearly the best for that position. Levi was gassed after 15 mins.

[The Nickman]

"Who cares?"

[Botman]

I think you might be looking back at the 2022 spine with rose tinted glasses.

Danny Levi is dreadful (don't get me wrong here for a second), but he has played 9 in the international arena. You'd take him over Adam Elliott at 9. Strange > Frawley means it is two players from each spine.

And at least the 2024 spine has SOME speed. That 2022 spine might not be the worst, but it has to be the slowest

I would take Adam Elliott in a #9 every day of the week over Danny Levi, his opening stint in the game he did play hooker for us was better than any 20 minutes Danny Levi has ever played, and my views on AE are on the record on this site. They're not pretty!
The thing with AE is that he is an NRL player. Not a very good one imo, in fact I'd say he's below average.
Danny Levi and Glenn Buttriss are the two worst players ive ever seen to play more than 100 fg games.

CNK over Hoppa by a LONG way
I think either Frawley or Schnieder would play over Weekes and i dont think that's close either.
Strange im willing to give the nod to

So by my count, its 3-1 for 2022 and the levels to which CNK is above Hoppa is staggering

[The Nickman]

"Who cares?"

[Finchy]

I really hope we come up with better tactics . If our forwards can dominate we need our halves to run and create opportunities.
We need to create 2nd phase play, offloads .

Glad someone else noticed how much the offloads have dropped off. It's been one of our strengths for so long!

Our only hope of scoring points is to literally just play hot potato footy and hope we can luck into some tries. We aren’t breaking down any defences with any structure from our current spine. Other teams have run us down pretty easily playing like that

[Regs Revolution]

"Who cares?"

You right mate?

I’ll be at the Caxton tomorrow night watching it if you wanna discuss!

[greeneyed]

‘Show me’: Ricky’s challenge to his under-fire Raiders



Ricky Stuart is demanding Canberra’s experienced forward pack stand up and lead their side out of a form slump, as their NRL season threatens to quickly unravel. Asked what response he wanted from the veteran pack, Stuart said the expectations had been made abundantly clear.

“If you were just in the meeting we had, very high,” he said. “Ownership is on every individual, you’ve got to turn up and play their game. You can’t rely on three, four or five people … and that’s the young blokes too, they’re all talented football players – (so) show me.”

Read more: https://canberradaily.com.au/show-me-ri ... e-raiders/

Through green eyes: Win now, win later? Read more: viewtopic.php?p=1992872#p1992872

[The Nickman]

"Who cares?"

You right mate?

I’ll be at the Caxton tomorrow night watching it if you wanna discuss!

I'm in Rocky, mate. I'll be down there Magic Round if you wanna catch up for a beer or ten?

[papabear]

Problem is, we lack that sort of player to begin with.

Chevy is not there yet. And he has been smashed from pillar to post in his few games. He needs a break.

Rapana is injured, and isn't going to last the season as fullback.

Cotric? Pass.

Schiller? No.

Hoppa. Nope.

Savage? He's a winger now. And probably going to be our best one in future, if he sort out some of his tendencies to lack urgency.

Why No for Schiller? His issue is defence which he can do less of at fullback.

Savage has shown he can be a great fullback before. Chalk me up as another not buying the narrative about being a winger.

the two biggest travestys at the raiders are:-
- savage not getting a go at fullback.
- woolford not being our starting nine.

I am a ricky supporter, but even i cant defend the current **** slop hes serving.

[RedRaider]

Yeah Weekes and Sasagi were good in that respect on paper
But given our lack of halves depths, Weekes isnt a utility for us. He's a straight up half and we're still short. He doesnt seem to have done any cross training at fullback. And we cant really afford to do it, because we came into the year with only 3 players in our squad of 30 who could play in the halves
I know the Troy Dargan tragedy impacted our depth there a little bit and that is beyond the club's control and i really think they were holding a spot for Sanders and circumstances have thwarted that plan. But it was a bold bet to take coming into the year with only 3 players in the squad who could play in the halves, 2 of which were unknown qualities
And once that is taken into account, only 2 legit fullback options, one of which was a 18 year old kid and the other being a 34 year old on his last legs who was a clear injury/suspension risk.

Sasagi isnt a regular FGer, no one is saying he is is, but he's already been forced to play 4 games for us and i believe in those 4 games he's had time at edge, centre and halves. So that's the kind of value you can get out of these kinds of players. His worst game was funnily enough the one where he just got to play his preferred position without having to move around much

Meanwhile 3 rusted on hookers and 11 middle forwards by my count.
Roster contruction has been a MESS the last 2 years.

If we are having this discussion at the end of the year then it is definitely a fail however I can see why they have gone into the year with Fogarty as 7, Dargan as back up and holding a spot for Sanders as a carrot to get him here early. With this line up Weeks would have been seen as a genuine utility.

Tragically we lost Dargan and in the timeframe we had the best we could do was a Cup 7 which pigeonholed Weeks and Strange as halves.

I don’t mind us doing this if now that there has been a longstanding injury to Fogarty (if it was strange we could have lived with it) that we go to market for the remainder of the year. As a fringe half we would have just got very attractive as there is a halfback position there for someone behind what is supposed to be a good pack for the rest of the year. It’s not a gamble anymore. They will get game time and lots of it.

If we don’t snag a Brody Croft or similar type player it’s a fail.


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We had developed Schneider as a back up half back with FG experience but did little to maintain those years of development. Now he is the back up at the Panthers. Another head shaking roster outcome.

[greeneyed]

Danny Levi under 'pressure' to keep Canberra Raiders starting spot



Canberra Raiders hooker Danny Levi is feeling the heat, and he's not alone, according to coach Ricky Stuart. When asked on Thursday following the captain's run if Zac Woolford was close to ousting Levi, Stuart didn't mince words, however he didn't want to reveal much more detail on the hooker game plan against Manly.

"Everyone is putting pressure on everyone," the coach said.

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14274

Canberra Raiders winger Nick Cotric fighting for his NRL future in return to first grade

Canberra Raiders winger Nick Cotric will be out to rescue his NRL career when he returns to first grade on Friday night in Manly. The off-contract 25-year-old from Canberra is in negotiations to re-sign with the Raiders.

"I've just come out of a meeting and told the boys it's up to them now," Stuart said. "I've had them in my office telling them why they're in second grade and they've got to be in there next week telling me why they should be in first grade.

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



'No one knew': Why Raiders star Madison Bartlett moonlighted as a team mascot: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

[The Nickman]

Well I'm glad people are at least asking the question about Woolford.

One thing about our coach, he's stubborn with his pigheaded decisions, but he usually eventually gets to the right decisions, just usually a few months behind everyone else.