Are we top four material?

[legend]

I can never understand when a fan dismisses a pathetic performance as a "bad day at the office". It's that type of apathy that sees Raiders fans accept these type of losses when it will probably be the difference between making the top eight and missing out.

I set my expectations way too high and after tonight, we have some players in the team who cannot step up and take control of the match when it is there to be won.

 

[Tokyo_Raider]

Because some of us don`t see the point in squealing and carrying on while heaping hysterical abuse on the players.

`Carney was sh*te! Howell was sh*te! The waterboy was sh*te!`

I`m disappointed to lose, don`t get me wrong, and I`m more disappointed to lose like that, but I`m not going to start ranting about it. I also know that `Raiders fans accepting these losses` or Raiders fans not accepting these losses is going to make absolutley no difference out on the field.

Sometimes teams lose after playing well. Sometimes, like tonight, they lose after playing badly. No point losing control over it.

We have a similar worry, though - I made the point to my wife during the game that I think this is the game we will be lamenting at the end of the year.

 

[Phoenix_Raider]

Thats pathetic.. I can't beleive how bad our attack is! it frustrates me to no end watching them in the attacking 20m. Even when we win by a fair amount i get frustrated because most any other team in the comp would score an extra 20 points with the oppertunities we waste and the ones we don't create.
The forwards were willing at the start of the game but i think they just gave up a bit after none of their ground work was being used.
Other than that all i can say is that it's really hard to be a Raiders fan.. i love them dearly but grrrrr! :x

 

[Tokyo_Raider]

Some positives tonight in a game seriously lacking in them:

I thought Tilse played well, and hit the line hard. I thought Weyman showed he still has it when he needs it. I thought Chalk showed he belongs in the 13. And I thought that Carney is slowly but surely earning his place in the side.

 

[Poida_Raider]

the canberra raiders that we saw tonight were not a top 14 side.. well this year yes, but if the rabbits werent so sh*t..
the canberra raiders we had seen in the past month before tonight were definately a top 8 side, and were good enough for the top 4..

 

[legend]

Some positives tonight in a game seriously lacking in them:

I thought Tilse played well, and hit the line hard. I thought Weyman showed he still has it when he needs it. I thought Chalk showed he belongs in the 13. And I thought that Carney is slowly but surely earning his place in the side.

Have to disagree on Carney, he was pedestrian at best and showed no leadership qualities or desire to want to lead the Raiders to victory. Good players want the ball in hand when the game is on the line and for the most part he simply caught and passed.

His defence is woeful and when McKinnon swatted him in the second half, it was embarrassing.

 

[Edwahu]

I agree with Tokyos positives.

The negatives were that we were very flat and looked like we had nothing in attack. We missed Schif and Mogg muc more then I expected. A bit of variety in the pack wouldnt have gone astray tonight. It was like we played with 7 props and Tilse was the only one who knows what an offload is.
One thing that looked like us heading back to the old days was the lack of a plan B when the grind didnt work. Against the top sides it might make sense to stick to it for 80 but Parra have plenty of weaknesses we should have attacked a lot more.

I am not crestfallen. We were going to have some games like that at some stage before the end of the year. If we back it up with another couple of efforts like that, then I will have the daggers out again.

 

[legend]

I agree that Tilse, Chalk and Weyman all played well. Disagree on Carney. Ed, how can we expect to compete with the big guns when we can't win the games we are supposed to?

The mindset of the players tells me they believe all their own press and this loss may provide a good dose of reality. It remains to be seen if the players take anything out of the loss and back it up with a good performance against the Panthers.

The other worrying sign is we start every match on the back foot and tonight we did the same and at no stage did we regain that footing.

 

[Tokyo_Raider]

I thought that Carney had some very flat periods - and I am very critical of that aspect in his play - but I also think he played a couple of critical moments, obviously the try and the fifth tackle kick into the in goal when we needed it.

I am not a Carney fan. I do not believe that he is a first grade footballer, at least not yet, but I have to say that he does have that special something that let`s him produce moments of exceptional play.

It gives me confidence for his future.

 

[Edwahu]

I agree about starting on the back foot. I would like to see us start with Weyman, Tilse and TLL and see what happens.
I guess I dont expect us to be competing with the big guns by the end of this year, so I am taking these losses on the chin a bit more and looking at the long term positives, which is basically that our forwards are looking pretty good.

 

[Purtell The Turtle]

To answer the question...No. Too much Jeckyl and Hyde in the Raiders. I don't know who was worse, the ref or the team tonight.

 

[innsaneink]

LOL....a few serious peaks and troughs in this thread.

Legend- the roller coaster captain. *All aboard!!*

:lol:

 

[greeneyed]

At least the mighty Raiders F7s team had a win today!

 

[Bay56]

I agree about starting on the back foot. I would like to see us start with Weyman, Tilse and TLL and see what happens.
I guess I dont expect us to be competing with the big guns by the end of this year, so I am taking these losses on the chin a bit more and looking at the long term positives, which is basically that our forwards are looking pretty good.

I'e been saying this for years ... why in f**k give the opposition the chance to plant the front foot forward ... It just makes no friggin sense to me.

Put your best players at the beginning and end of each half and you give yourself the best chance to win.

I thought our tactics were crap tonight ... yea sure the ref made it difficult for us but for crying out loud why put the cue back in the rack after our performance last week against the rooters ...

Carney locking the scrum, ohh f**k, what's the go there.

 

[Bay56]

Have to disagree on Carney, he was pedestrian at best and showed no leadership qualities or desire to want to lead the Raiders to victory. Good players want the ball in hand when the game is on the line and for the most part he simply caught and passed.

His defence is woeful and when McKinnon swatted him in the second half, it was embarrassing.

Legend the number on Carney's back was 7 ... that imo entitles him to being first receiver ... count how many times that happenend, I'll save you the time, about once ... he is obviously not in Elliott's game plan, simple as that ... so dont blame the youngster.

 

[Bay56]

Some positives tonight in a game seriously lacking in them:

I thought Tilse played well, and hit the line hard. I thought Weyman showed he still has it when he needs it. I thought Chalk showed he belongs in the 13. And I thought that Carney is slowly but surely earning his place in the side.

Ha, the only real positive I saw was that it is one game closer to seeing the backside of Elliott.

 

[raidz3r]

I thought Purtell was the worst out there tonight..Jarryd Hayne made him look like a fu*ken idiot. He needs to learn how to attack the attacking player, insted of just watching him and leaving him for someone else to tackle.. he is by far the worst player in the team and if Elliot thinks his got a future, that is the funniest thing i have ever herd. .not to mention i hate his head.

 

[legend]

If Elliott thinks he has a future, then take him to Penrith and let him conduct his experiments there but the guy is the new Matt Gafa.

 

[Tokyo_Raider]

Ha, the only real positive I saw was that it is one game closer to seeing the backside of Elliott.

Oh well, not to worry. As you begin to learn more about league you will eventually be able to take a little more out of the game....

 

[Bay56]

Oh well, not to worry. As you begin to learn more about league you will eventually be able to take a little more out of the game....

Thanks for that input T_R ....

so tell me T_R, with your extensive knowledge of the game, could you please tell me why the only time our wingers saw the ball last night is when they were taking stance to tackle (or of course playing the short side, that was a great play that was huh).