Neil Henry Has The Goods.

[yellow]

I honestly believe that Henry has the right mix to take the Raiders to the top 8 this year. I like the style Henry is running with at the moment. He has the opposition guessing on defence and the team is always in motion and doing things at a good speed. The backs have a good look about them and the Carney and Dobson combination are the vital link in the Raiders success. The team is young and will be a force in the years ahead. Tom Leroy-Lahrs will be a key factor to the Raiders success this year. If he is injury free he will dominate opposing forwards. He needs to run out wide on different angles in attack. The forwards will hold their own if the combinations are right. Injury doesn't help. Best is a good partner for Graham and Bronx Goodwin is improving every game. Any thoughts.

 

[Raidersrawesome]

I like Henry and I like the attacking game he has brought to the Raiders , there is alot of flair and with Dobbo and Carney having more games together the combination will only get better , I thought he started to play some decent footy in the 2nd half last night , but not MOM stuff though, I hope we make the 8 but there is some big games coming up starting with the Cowboys and its up up there. We need to improve from last night if we are going to beat them. TLL looked good last night and will get better with more games behind him.i agree he is vital and can be one of the most damaging running forwards in the game Is weyman included in your team?

 

[yellow]

Could be if he stays injury free. I have noticed that Henry is letting the props to pass one off the ruck. Tilse and Logan did it last night. This shows that Henry is mixing the game plan effectively.

 

[aussies1st]

Graham looked awesome yesterday and Best was very unlucky not to score at least one try. Tom LL looked good on return and with a bit more match fitness could go up another level. Halves are starting to look settled the kicks from Carney in the opposition half for Goodwin were spot on just Goodwin couldn't reel it in.

 

[whatwhat]

Henry has done great this year considering our inexperienced team, plus injuries to key playes. Bickerstaff hasnt played any footy and he is a good player for instance. Plus Purtell was playing great footy at centre and then he went for the year..

With more experience next year i think we will look for top 4 next year, i will be happy if we make the 8 thie year.

 

[TiTTieS_[CNTDN]]

Tilse was awesome in defence last night I thought. MG was spot on with the raptor call, too.

 

[timmay.05]

dobbo was sent away to improve his running game and how much did it show, 2 trys in the last two home games if he keeps playing like this we may pull a few upsets and creep into the 8

 

[Mullins_y2k]

well if we beat nth QLD nest week i reckon we will go along was to making the 8, its a huge game...to be honest i think we will loose by 1-8 but i know we can win if we turn up. Then the sky's the limit!...although we still gotta make sure that the roosters slip up and another couple of teams drop a few games

 

[legend]

We'll have Weyman and Costigan back next week and Tom LL may replace Thompson in the starting lineup.

We are very close to full strength and if we play the Cowboys up the middle, we'll win.

 

[Mullins_y2k]

Id love to see TLL start for thompson..and with costo back this could be my fav lineup of the year!

 

[donkey|rope]

tbh i'm a bit cbf with weyman. he gets injured every time he runs on the park and then we are a man down for the rest of the game. thomo goes okay, while never hinting anything beyond that. i sorta liked TLL coming of the bench though, if i were coaching i'd keep him hungry for a couple more weeks and see how bad he wants it.

i'm a bit concerned about milne though. his defensive lapses and unforced errors are killing us. i think he is developing nicely but at this stage in the season where is basically must win every week, i don't want to risk him.

campo somewhere on the bench would be a good addition, but who knows whats happened to him. so far no one on this board can confirm weather he's fallen off the side of the planet or not.

 

[sydraider]

The halves should have never been disrupted (apart from carneys offence) Thats the onlt grievance I have against Henry, otherwise, I think we are in for a damn good next 5 years.

 

[whatwhat]

I think Howell will come in for Milne this week, he got MOM for PL and Milne has had some poor games..

 

[legend]

Did Bickerstaff play PL on Friday night?

 

[Bay56]

I'd like to see Henry's game plan be a touch more expansive ... I dont think we use the speed of our outside backs in games where the going gets a bit tough (eg Storm) ... was at that game and you could clearly see space behind the wingers on 3rd/4th tackles coming out of our half ... with a tight Storm defence I thought a good option would have be kick through leaving Graham/Milne the option of chasing ... at the very least Slater would get there first but pinned deep in their half.

 

[legend]

I think we are far more expansive under Henry than we ever were under Elliott. We go for the jugular and never sit on a lead under Henry whereas Elliott liked to defend leads and it ultimately led to our demise more often than not.

We are still a young team but I see us destroying sides out wide next year with Monaghan in the backs to give us a lot more experience.

 

[Chachi]

Neil Henry has totally turned this team's gameplan around in less than 12 months. We are now one of the most entertaining and potent teams in the comp. Given we are one win out of the 8 with five rounds to go after being clearly ripped off in a couple of games speaks volumes for me.

Defense is another matter though. This will come with confidence, experience and a stable team. I think Monaghan will improve us in that area and I also think weak links in defence such as Zillman and Milne will be far better players next season. Our attack demonstrates we have all the skill, speed and reflexes we just need the passion and attitude - especially away from home.

Lets also not forget injuries and the Carney fiasco have not been kind to us this season.

The turnaround in the reputation of what our team can do under Neil Henry has been remarkable.

 

[mongoose]

The best thing about Henry is that players want to be coached by him which will definately help in the player market.

 

[Raidersrawesome]

One thing for sure is that is that Gould and co wont have us as favourites for the spoon in 08 , the egg will still be there from this year ,Henry and the Raiders will not be that unknown quantity next year ,

 

[thickos]

Neil Henry has totally turned this team's gameplan around in less than 12 months. We are now one of the most entertaining and potent teams in the comp. Given we are one win out of the 8 with five rounds to go after being clearly ripped off in a couple of games speaks volumes for me.

Defense is another matter though. This will come with confidence, experience and a stable team. I think Monaghan will improve us in that area and I also think weak links in defence such as Zillman and Milne will be far better players next season. Our attack demonstrates we have all the skill, speed and reflexes we just need the passion and attitude - especially away from home.

Lets also not forget injuries and the Carney fiasco have not been kind to us this season.

The turnaround in the reputation of what our team can do under Neil Henry has been remarkable.

Well said. Let's not forget that after all the player turnover last season, all the pundits writing us of due to our 'no-name' roster, we've still had a shocking injury toll - 31 or 32 players in the top grade, had the Todd Carney off-field issue and Neil being away at Origin camp as well.

I thought before the season we would need a charmed run with injuries to be competitive and while we have blown a few games that would have us closer to the eight, we're doing bloody well and I think Neil and his staff deserve a huge amount of credit; even if we miss the finals it has been an extremely enjoyable season.

At least we're not the most boring side in the league either anymore