Canberra Raiders

[raiders fan forever]

2009 OLS Season


Head Coach: raiders fan forever
Home Ground: Canberra Stadium
Captain: Alan Tongue




Next Match: vs Parramatta Eels, OLS Round 3, Parramatta Stadium
Previous Result: 10-8 Win vs Sydney Roosters, OLS Round 2
Injuries:
Suspensions:
Leading Try Scorer: Alan Tongue (3)
Leading Point Scorer: Mat Rogers (16)


Canberra Raiders Player Of The Year:

1.Mat Rogers- 6 points
2.Marc Herbert- 2 points
3.David Milne- 2 points
4.Terry Campese- 1 point

2009 Squad:

Alan Tongue (C)
Bronson Harrison
Dane Tilse
David Milne
David Shillington
Joe Picker
Joel Monaghan
Joel Thompson
Josh McCrone
Justin Carney
Marc Herbert
Mat Rogers
Nigel Plum
Phil Graham
Robbie Farah
Sam Huihahau
Scott Bolton
Scott Logan
Stuart Flanagan
Terry Campese
Tom Learoyd-Lahrs
Troy Thompson

2009 Fixtures:

Round 1: Wests Tigers vs Canberra Raiders 18-38
Round 2: Canberra Raiders vs Sydney Roosters 10-8
Round 3: Parramatta Eels vs Canberra Raiders
Round 4: Canberra Raiders vs North Queensland Cowboys
Round 5: Cronulla Sharks vs Canberra Raiders
Round 6: Gold Coast Titans vs Canberra Raiders
Round 7: Canberra Raiders vs Canterbury Bulldogs
Round 8: Canberra Raiders vs Penrith Panthers
Round 9: Canberra Raiders vs BYE
Round 10: Melbourne Storm vs Canberra Raiders
Round 11: Canberra Raiders vs New Zealand Warriors
Round 12: South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Canberra Raiders
Round 13: Canberra Raiders vs BYE
Round 14: Canberra Raiders vs Cronulla Sharks
Round 15: Manly Sea Eagles vs Canberra Raiders
Round 16: Canberra Raiders vs Melbourne Storm
Round 17: Canberra Raiders vs Gold Coast Titans
Round 18: Newcastle Knights vs Canberra Raiders
Round 19: Penrith Panthers vs Canberra Raiders
Round 20: Canberra Raiders vs Wests Tigers
Round 21: Canberra Raiders vs Brisbane Broncos
Round 22: Canterbury Bulldogs vs Canberra Raiders
Round 23: Canberra Raiders vs St.George/Illawarra Dragons
Round 24: New Zealand Warriors vs Canberra Raiders
Round 25: Canberra Raiders vs Newcastle Knights
Round 26: Brisbane Broncos vs Canberra Raiders

[raiders fan forever]

Raiders Happy With Preparation for 2009 Season


The Canberra Raiders will be looking to go one better in this years OLS season after finishing runners up in the last competition to The Bulldogs. "All the players have been putting in 100% effort over all the off season training, so it is going to be extremely tough for me to name my final squad in the upcomming weeks for this season." Raiders coach raiders fan forever said. The Raiders will continue preparing for the 2009 OLS season with a few trial matches, more details of these will be accounced once the squad for the 2009 competition is officially unveiled. Canberra are still yet to name their captain for this season and that will also be found out as soon as the recruitment period is over. When asked what are your teams chances in 2009 raiders fan forever had this to say "There are a lot of new coaches around all the clubs this season so for Canberra to finish anywhere near 2nd again is going to be a tough task but we are very confident in the way we have prepared so far and we will see how we recruit plus the more intense trial match period, but also ato be succesful the team needs luck with injuries and to also keep our heads on the job and not lose our temper or doing anything careless but to give you a clear answer to your question i reckon top 8 would be nice and work from there".
The Raiders first official trial match will be announced shortly after recruitment stage is over.

[raiders fan forever]

Raiders Announce First Trial Match For 2009
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The Canberra Raiders will play the Sydney Roosters in their first major trial match in preperation for the 2009 OLS season. The Raiders are set to experiment with some tactics and hope they can build up some confidence with a win and to also have a look at where they're at and what needs to be improved. Canberra announced they will also be looking to organised more trial matches in the near future to make sure they have a sufficient preperation for the 2009 season. With the recruitment stages of 2009 fast approaching coach raiders fan forever said that after narrowing his squad down to around 25 players there are still some potential depth issues that will hopefully be sorted out when these recruitment stages take place.

For the record:
Canberra Raiders vs Sydney Roosters OLS History

Round 3 2006- Sydney def Canberra 13-12
Round 16 2006- Sydney def Canberra 13-0
Round 5 2007- Sydney def Canberra 28-10

Played 3 Sydney 3 Canberra 0

So if history is anything to go on Canberra will be in for a tough match.

[raiders fan forever]

Canberra Impress In First Trial

The Canberra Raiders have started off their 2009 trial matches in style with a 22-0 thumping of the Sydney Roosters in front of 29,267 fans at Canberra Stadium.
It didn't take long for the home side to take an early lead after a Troy Thompson crossed over for a very well earned try that had to be given the thumbs up by the video referee.
The Raiders continued their early domination with fellow starting prop Scott Logan crossing over for another powerful Canberra try that also had to be given the all clear by the video ref in the 17th minute. Canberra continued their attacking raids getting held up and near misses but then in the 27th minute the video referee was called into action for the third time already this match and again the Raiders were in luck with the video ref awarding a try to new Raider Bronson Harrison, This gave Canberra a promising 16-0 lead with just over 10 minutes left before the break, but soon after just when the Roosters thought it couldn't get any worse Canberra's forwards again shined with Shillington crossing the line for a try. This led to the Half time score being 22-0 Canberra.
Canberra again dominated the second half but couldn't seem to find any points which was later acknowledged by the Canberra Coach.

FULL TIME:
Canberra 22 (Troy Thompson, David Shillington, Bronson Harrison, Scott Logan tries; Terry Campese 3 from 4 goals)
DEFEATED
Sydney 0

HALF TIME:
Canberra 22
Sydney 0

Player of the match:
3-Dane Tilse
2-David Milne
1-Craig Fitzgibbon

Coach Ratings:
Canberra- 82%
Sydney- 47%

Coach raiders fan forever had this to say after their first trial match "i was very happy with how this game went considering this was our first big hit out for 2009. As you can tell from that we have the potential to rack up a lot of points against a team but we seem to also be struggeling with execution at times as you could see in that scoreless second half, we have to improve on that"
"Overall im very happy with the display and full credit to the Roosters second half defence"

[raiders fan forever]

Canberra Confirm Two More Trial Matches


The Canberra Raiders today announced that they have organised two more trial matches against St.George/Illawarra and The South Sydney Rabbitohs which will take place in the near future. Canberra also confirmed that they were keen to not let their trial period end there and are planning to get into contact with other OLS coaches and organise more trial matches. "In these two trial matches we will be looking to see who does better in their positions for example we will be heavily watching Marc Herbert and Josh McCrone over these matches like wise Stuart Flanagan and Glen Buttriss as these are two big in club rivalries going on at the moment in Canberra as they are battling for a round one starting spot against The Wests Tigers".
"Confidence is pretty good on the back of the 22-0 demolition of the Roosters last match and we will be applying new tactics and changing things around a bit which can be risky but we will see what happens and i wont be too fussed with results i just want commitment from my team".
"I was very impressed with the Forwards against the roosters they really showed grit and determination and ended up scoring all 4 tries for us so im hoping they maintain that and the backs get more involved" Raiders coach raiders fan forever had those words to say in the lead up to the two trial matches.

[raiders fan forever]

Work To Do As Canberra Get Thumped By St.George/Illawarra In Trial

Canberra left Oki Jubilee stadium blushing after being dominated 38-6 in the clubs second trial match of 2009. The Raiders again got off to the perfect start and looked like they might continue their dominant trial form when David Milne scored a long range try in the second minute to put Canberra up 6-0. It didn't take long for the Dragons to reply with Jamie Soward scoring on the back of a fine offload by former Raider Michael Weyman. The Dragons and Raiders kept battling it out with the half time score being 12-6 St.George/illawarra after another Dragons try to Darius Boyd. The Raiders in their last trial match clocked off in the second half but this time it proved more costly as the Dragons absolutley ripped through the Raiders defence to make them look like third graders with tries too Matt Cooper, Beau Scott, Mathew Head, Jarrod Saffy and Ben Hornby. The final Score being 38-6 St.George a display Canberra will desperatley want to forget by beating Souths next match.

FULL TIME:
St. George Illawarra 38 (Darius Boyd, Matt Cooper, Mathew Head, Ben Hornby, Jamie Soward, Jarrod Saffy, Beau Scott tries; Mathew Head 3 from 5, Ben Hornby 2 from 2 goals)
DEFEATED
Canberra 6 (David Milne try; Terry Campese 1 from 1 goal)

HALF TIME:
St. George Illawarra 12
Canberra 6

Player of the match points:
3 - Ben Hornby
2 - Michael Weyman
1 - Justin Poore

Coach Ratings:
St. George Illawarra-66%
Canberra-45%

Coach Raiders fan forever had this to say after his sides huge defeat. "At the end of the day it is only a trial match, but we dont have that much more time before the real deal kicks off so i admit this result is a bit worrying as we only showed good potential for 2 minutes of the match, its just not good enough, i dont know what much more can be said other than awesome job st george and my team has to bounce back desperatley against the rabbitohs next match"

[raiders fan forever]

Raiders Bounce Back With Important Win

The Canberra Raiders have bounced back with a 24-0 Win over South Sydney in their third trial match of the season. It was a very important result as Canberra were desperate to get rid of the memory of their second trial against the Dragons. young Halfback Josh McCrone shined for Canberra which could earn him a full time Raiders number 7 jumper for the 2009 season as Marc Herbert had an unhappy time in Canberra's 38-6 loss last match , but raiders coach RFF said he is still quite worried as again Canberra only turned up for 40 minutes of the match .
Canberra for the third succesive match started well scoring in the first five minutes with a third minute try to Joel Monaghan on the back off some more impressive work from the in form David Milne who has been consistant and really proving himself in all 3 matches so far. The forwards again showed great potential for Canberra when Glen Turner strolled over in the 8th minute set up by the Forwards. But the try of the night came when youngster Josh McCrone scored from a chip over the top taken on the full. Canberra continued their first half dominance when Joel Monaghan grabbed a double and saw canberra take a 24-0 lead going into the break. Canberra continued their worrying trend of not scoring a single point in the second half of a match when they were held to nil in the second half but a positive out of the match is they didnt conceed any points making this the second time they have kept their opposition scoreless in three matches.

FULL TIME:
Canberra 24 (Joel Monaghan 2, Josh McCrone, Glen Turner tries; Terry Campese 4 from 4 goals)
DEFEATED
South Sydney 0

HALF TIME:
South Sydney 0
Canberra 24

Player of the match points:
3 - Justin Carney
2 - Josh McCrone
1 - Joel Monaghan

Coach Ratings:
South Sydney-43%
Canberra-86%

[raiders fan forever]

Raiders Fan Forever: "McCrone Will Have to Prove Himself"


In the lead up to Canberra's Fourth Trial Match against Manly, fans were wondering who will get the nod for Raiders halfback in 2009. The decision is tipped to be out of Marc Herbert or Josh McCrone, fans haven't ruled out the possibility of even buying a more experienced halfback in the recruitment period. Canberra Raiders fans were loving Josh McCrone as he guided the Raiders to that 24-0 win against Souths in his first match in a raiders jumper, but when asked about Josh McCrones chances of being the Raiders number 7 raiders fan forever had this to say "Josh's preperation for this season has been superb and last match proved that, i think that fans are all over McCrone at the moment as Herbert didnt have the best of matches in out embaressing trial, McCrone is very young and unproven in first grade whislt Herbert has that experience, ive named McCrone Halfback for the Manly game but he has to prove consistant first before i consider him, but ill also be giving Herbert another chance".
The raiders coached also stated he has an idea of who the 2009 captain will be and also has confirmed their are still many spots up for grabs in the Raiders starting team for round 1.
Josh McCrone will have all the attention on him in the next trial match when The Canberra Raiders take on The Manly Sea Eagles. Glen Buttriss will also start the match while Flanagan will have to prove himself off the bench.

[raiders fan forever]

Canberra Draw With Manly In Entertaining Trial

The Canberra Raiders continued their trend of bad second halfs besides drawing 19-all in a thrilling trial match against a promising Manly Sea Eagles side at Brookvale Oval. The Raiders have been playing a lot of their trial matches away from home to try and get themselves comfertable travelling. The Raiders for the fourth game in a row scored the first points of the match through Adrian Purtell in the 17th minute on the back of good play by the forwards. The game was a very even battle full of big hits and good back line moves but things stretched out when McCrone showed his promise setting up Campese to put the Raiders up 12-0. The Raiders looked liek they may have sealed the match with a Scott Logan try 2 minutes out from half time to put the Raiders up 18-0 at half time.
If the Raiders thought the second half was going to be a repeat of the first they were deadly wrong with Manly scaring the Raiders and almost snatching an impressive win. The late raid started 20 minutes from full time when Glenn Stewart scored to put 12 points between the two clubs. Then tries to Brett Stewart and Matt Orford locked the scores at 18-all with 8 minutes left to play. Canberra looked shell shocked when Matt Orford landed a field goal in the 74th minute to put Manly in a stunning 19-18 lead 5 minutes from full time. Some may feel the Raiders deserved something out of the game and they earned themselves a draw when Campese nailed a dramatic field goal 2 minutes from time to seal a draw.

FULL TIME:
Manly 19 (Brett Stewart, Matt Orford, Glenn Stewart tries; Jamie Lyon 3 from 3 goals; Matt Orford field goal)
DREW with
Canberra 19 (Adrian Purtell, Terry Campese, Scott Logan tries; Terry Campese 3 from 3 goals; Terry Campese field goal)

HALF TIME:
Manly 0
Canberra 18

Player of the match points:
3 - Brett Stewart
2 - David Milne
1 - David Williams

Coach Ratings:
Manly-57%
Canberra-68%

Coach Raiders fan forever had this to say. "Again really impressed with the first 40 minutes and we are extremely lucky the second 40 minutes didnt cost us another game, im not afraid to say its worrying for me that 4 game in a row we clock off in the second half after adressing it time after time in training anyway we will keep working on it and hope we perfect before round one bring on the next match im not too fussed with a draw it was a major improvement from the guys these last two matches since that shocking 38-6 Display."

[raiders fan forever]

Canberra Raiders Trial Match #5: Next Stop Gold Coast
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Canberra will play their fifth trial match against The Gold Coast Titans . Coach raiders fan forever said "This trial against the Titans is to try and perform for the full 80 minutes instead of just the first half of the match, Marc Herbert has also been selected as halfback for this match, he will have quite a job to do as Josh McCrone has been outstanding since being selected". The Raiders have been in decent trial forms with 2 wins 1 draw and 1 loss. "I honestly dont know how this game is going to pan out for us because the tactics we have used for this match are completley different to what we have been doing in the first four trials, reason being to mainly get rid of that final 40 minute horror show as i like to call it the players are really keen to get it right before round 1 once we do i think we are set for the Tigers at Campbelltown."

[raiders fan forever]

Change of Tactics Cost Raiders

The Canberra Raiders have frustrated their coach and fans as the change of tactics led to a 10-6 loss to the Goldcoast Titans. "This was a very dissapointing result as the tactics didnt pull off and we were held to another scoreless second half which was the whole point of this change."
Canberra again opened up the scoring through in form David Milne who has been Canberra's best player throughout the trial period. Herbert assisted this try in his claim for the Raiders number 7 jumper.
From then on it was all Titans in what proved to be a stale game with no second half points which frustrated the coaches. Fulltime Titans defeated Canberra 10-6.

FULL TIME:
Gold Coast 10 (Scott Prince, Jordan Atkins tries; Brett Delaney 1 from 2 goal)
DEFEATED
Canberra 6 (David Milne try; Terry Campese 1 from 1 goal)

HALF TIME:
Canberra 6
Gold Coast 10

Player of the match points:
3 - Anthony Laffranchi
2 - William Zillman
1 - Luke Bailey

Coach Ratings:
Canberra-53%
Gold Coast-54%

Canberra Raiders coach Raiders fan forever had this to say. "This was the most frustrating trial of them all so far as i changed my tactics but still didnt pull off a better second half, oh well we wont dwell on it. We have been much to incosistant with 2 wins 2 losses and a draw quite dissapointing still heaps of work to do,Thats all ive got to say really."

[raiders fan forever]

Herbert: Time Running Out For Canberra

"This trial match against Penrith is easily the most important of them all to date" Canberra Halfback Marc Herbert said in the lead up to their sixth trial match against The Panthers. "There is a lot of pressure on me going into this match as my fellow team mate Josh (McCrone) is breathing down my neck for the first choice Halfback role."
"We are both playing this match (Marc and Josh) so it will be interesting to see what happens."
"This will be an interesting match to see who handles big game pressure better which is vital in a halfback" Raiders coach raiders fan forever said.
"We are running out of time to get this second half problem right, this could well be our last trial before round 1 so this is important this match i dont care if we lose as long as we fix up that second half." RFF said.
Canberra have had mixed trial form with 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses and will be keen to get a good result against The Penrith Panthers.

[raiders fan forever]

Raiders Fail At Penrith Must Improve Against Warriors

After another dissapointing trial loss to Penrith 23-0 the Canberra Raiders are feeling uneasy about their preperation going into the 2009 season. "We started off quite convincingly but it seems to have all evaporated as we have gone on, we have played 6 games and havent won in our last 3, this match will be trial number 7 and could be our last for all we know so we must get a result". Raiders lock Alan Tongue said at training today. The Raiders have been the worst second half trial team in the OLS only managing 1 point. "It's quite bizzare really we have been unlucky in a few cases but we seriously have some improving to do but its only trials and we as a club no matter what result happens against the Warriors points or no points in the second half are confident this will all improve when the real deal begins. I can guarentee it." coach RFF said. "Most of the boys have been unhappy with our approach to both attack and defence but this bad trial form can do us wonders as we wont be over confident or complacent going into round 1 we are just preying we can boost ourselves against The Warriors." Halfback Josh McCrone said. Josh McCrone has been one of the main focuses of the Raiders off season as he has been impressing when on the field and pushing for the first pick Halfback spot at the club. McCrone has been name Halfback to take on the Warriors, it is make or break time for him not an official match but no doubt his most important match of his career so far, but a good game might not be good enough for McCrone as the slightly more expereinced Herbert has only been getting better at training.

[raiders fan forever]

Raiders To Put Tough Trial Period Behind Them

The Canberra Raiders have told their fans not to worry about the mostly dissapointing trial form going into the 2009 OLS season. " We started off showing good signs this pre season with a few wins but then we kind of stopped improving and even getting worse even which we must admit scared us. Our second halfs were very dissapointing but when the regular season hits we will be more prepared and a repeat of this seems unlikely". coach raiders fan forever said at team training. There is more positive news to come out of Canberra today with the predicted announcment of Alan Tongue as the Raiders team captain (pictured). "It is an honour to again lead the Raiders this OLS season i will be 100% commited and will do absolutley everything to push this team to their first OLS premiership. Im confident we can as we showed our ability finishing runners up last season." The newly appointed Raiders captain said. When asked who are the stand out performers of the Raider Trial period raiders fan forever said "David Milne was very good at fullback which has virtually penned him in as the Raiders fullback for round one he was unstoppable scoring tries didnt have a bad match all pre season even in our dreadful displays. Josh McCrone and Marc Herbert have both been working hard there is a tough decision there, Alan Tongue has been leading well on the park which has led to todays decision and i'd like to give a special mention to all my forwards thay have worked very well with eachother and have scored most ourr tries in the trials, overall im happy with everyone to be honest".

The Raiders will soon announce their 22 man squad for the upcomming OLS season.

[raiders fan forever]

Four Raiders Released

The Canberra Raiders have officially released four of their players in the lead up to the 2009 OLS season. "This is nothing against the guys ive released i would gladly release none but due to salary caps and squad regulations these decisions had to be made according to the best interests of the club." coach Raiders fan forever explained. The players that have been given the unfortunate news were Winger Brett Kelly, Props Trevor Thurling (pictured) and Josh Miller, and Lock Glen Turner who will again be looking for a new club. "I hate doing this to players i have to every season but I Wish them all the best and i sincerly hope that they find new clubs for this season" The Raiders coach said.