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Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 1:19 pm Post subject: Elliott: we're not out of this
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Elliott: we're not out of this
Rugby league By Bevan Hannan
Monday, 2 August 2004
Manly played like it really was 1987. For the Canberra Raiders, it was shades of the lime splices from 1982.
Coach Des Hasler joked the Sea Eagles would like to wear their grand final replica jerseys every week after recording a 36-22 National Rugby League win at Brookvale Oval.
The seven-tries-to-four victory was more convincing than the final scoreline suggested, with the Raiders' return to retro colours littered with bumbling turnovers and brittle tackling.
It was a lost opportunity for the Raiders. A win could have piloted them into sixth position instead of sliding to eighth with Newcastle, Cronulla and Wests Tigers pressing hard, just two points behind.
There are now five rounds remaining and the Raiders face a vital three-week period, starting with the Knights (away), Melbourne (home) and Roosters (home) to stay in finals contention.
Coach Matt Elliott said there was no sign of yesterday's poor performance during the Green Machine's preparation.
"The opposition were outstanding," Elliott said. "There were some things that came out in our game like errors and defensive errors.
"The source of it was one team had better application than the other team. They were more desperate than us.
"This has given us a great opportunity to do something special. I'm certainly not for one second going to be negative about our prospects for the season.
"I can understand observations that may write us off but I am not going to acknowledge them.
"I am going to remain extremely positive about the rest of the season and throw myself into it entirely."
Manly made its intentions obvious from the outset, throwing the ball around and stretching the Raiders' defence much like the Warriors the previous week.
Captain Michael Monaghan later revealed this was the Sea Eagles' match plan. And Monaghan was at the heart of attacking Canberra's vulnerable tackling, having a major influence from halfback, including fooling the Raiders with one dummy that was in the class of Norma Khouri.
"Nothing happened from the opposition that we didn't plan for," Elliott said. "We didn't plan for 16 unforced errors."
Manly shot to a 10-0 lead but Canberra was lucky to gain the lead midway through the first half, according to skipper Simon Woolford, who said the Raiders never recovered from a muffed last-tackle play that handed back control to the Sea Eagles through a 31st-minute Steve Menzies try.
"We couldn't get momentum, we couldn't apply pressure and we dropped too much ball," Woolford said.
The Sea Eagles, with Menzies in form of old, climbed off the bottom of the table with the win. Elliott said rising prop Michael Weyman continued to impress for the Raiders. Canberra back-rower Michael Hodgson suffered a recurrence of a rib injury while centre Joel Monaghan (knee) and Woolford (shoulder) also face medical checks.
Pivot Matt Gafa took a quadriceps strain into the match, forcing him to hand over goalkicking duties to Clinton Schifcofske.
PROMISING Canberra ball-player Nick Kouparitsas yesterday said he had turned down an offer from the Raiders to accept a two-year deal with Wests Tigers.
Kouparitsas, 20, will join the Tigers next year in a package deal with his younger brother Kosta, who is an emerging forward in the junior Raiders representative squads.
Wests Tigers' coach Tim Sheens has targeted Kouparitsas as a potential replacement for retiring lock Scott Sattler.
A West Belconnen junior and ex-Australian schoolboy, Kouparitsas is presently playing five-eighth in the Raiders' Premier League team but has a desire to return to his favoured position in the back-row.
"I've grown up in Canberra and played with the Raiders since I was 12," he said. "My family are here and I wish I could play first grade here. But Wests Tigers are losing Scott Sattler and some other back-rowers at the end of the year, so there is a big opportunity for me.
The Raiders missed a chance to grab third place in Premier League yesterday, blowing a 20-point lead in losing to Manly 36-38.
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Elliott: we're not out of this
Rugby league By Bevan Hannan
Monday, 2 August 2004
Manly played like it really was 1987. For the Canberra Raiders, it was shades of the lime splices from 1982.
Coach Des Hasler joked the Sea Eagles would like to wear their grand final replica jerseys every week after recording a 36-22 National Rugby League win at Brookvale Oval.
The seven-tries-to-four victory was more convincing than the final scoreline suggested, with the Raiders' return to retro colours littered with bumbling turnovers and brittle tackling.
It was a lost opportunity for the Raiders. A win could have piloted them into sixth position instead of sliding to eighth with Newcastle, Cronulla and Wests Tigers pressing hard, just two points behind.
There are now five rounds remaining and the Raiders face a vital three-week period, starting with the Knights (away), Melbourne (home) and Roosters (home) to stay in finals contention.
Coach Matt Elliott said there was no sign of yesterday's poor performance during the Green Machine's preparation.
"The opposition were outstanding," Elliott said. "There were some things that came out in our game like errors and defensive errors.
"The source of it was one team had better application than the other team. They were more desperate than us.
"This has given us a great opportunity to do something special. I'm certainly not for one second going to be negative about our prospects for the season.
"I can understand observations that may write us off but I am not going to acknowledge them.
"I am going to remain extremely positive about the rest of the season and throw myself into it entirely."
Manly made its intentions obvious from the outset, throwing the ball around and stretching the Raiders' defence much like the Warriors the previous week.
Captain Michael Monaghan later revealed this was the Sea Eagles' match plan. And Monaghan was at the heart of attacking Canberra's vulnerable tackling, having a major influence from halfback, including fooling the Raiders with one dummy that was in the class of Norma Khouri.
"Nothing happened from the opposition that we didn't plan for," Elliott said. "We didn't plan for 16 unforced errors."
Manly shot to a 10-0 lead but Canberra was lucky to gain the lead midway through the first half, according to skipper Simon Woolford, who said the Raiders never recovered from a muffed last-tackle play that handed back control to the Sea Eagles through a 31st-minute Steve Menzies try.
"We couldn't get momentum, we couldn't apply pressure and we dropped too much ball," Woolford said.
The Sea Eagles, with Menzies in form of old, climbed off the bottom of the table with the win. Elliott said rising prop Michael Weyman continued to impress for the Raiders. Canberra back-rower Michael Hodgson suffered a recurrence of a rib injury while centre Joel Monaghan (knee) and Woolford (shoulder) also face medical checks.
Pivot Matt Gafa took a quadriceps strain into the match, forcing him to hand over goalkicking duties to Clinton Schifcofske.
PROMISING Canberra ball-player Nick Kouparitsas yesterday said he had turned down an offer from the Raiders to accept a two-year deal with Wests Tigers.
Kouparitsas, 20, will join the Tigers next year in a package deal with his younger brother Kosta, who is an emerging forward in the junior Raiders representative squads.
Wests Tigers' coach Tim Sheens has targeted Kouparitsas as a potential replacement for retiring lock Scott Sattler.
A West Belconnen junior and ex-Australian schoolboy, Kouparitsas is presently playing five-eighth in the Raiders' Premier League team but has a desire to return to his favoured position in the back-row.
"I've grown up in Canberra and played with the Raiders since I was 12," he said. "My family are here and I wish I could play first grade here. But Wests Tigers are losing Scott Sattler and some other back-rowers at the end of the year, so there is a big opportunity for me.
The Raiders missed a chance to grab third place in Premier League yesterday, blowing a 20-point lead in losing to Manly 36-38.
