Kris_man
Bench
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OK, i was at this game and watched every minute, so i thought i'd give a result rap. I also think it deserves a new thread instead of just posting in the "Raiders PL side announced" one.
For the most part, it wasn't a very entertaining match, with both sides struggling to penetrate the opposition's defence or do anything really special. The Raiders got the first try when Campese put in a freakishly accurate cross-field chip kick (considering he was falling over and someone had hold of him as he made it) to a waiting Kris Kahler, who had little troubles out leaping the weenie Saints player to catch the footy and go over.
The Dragons looked good with Firman and Gorrell organising them well and possessing a superior kicking game all night, and their strong field position allowed them good opportunity to score. From about 5m out, Henry Perenara god a nice offload away to a bursting Ryan Powell, who crossed the line with little resistance from the canberra defence.
There was one instance in the first half where the Raiders IMO bombed a try. Graham put Franciscus into space about 40m out from the tryline, right near the sideline. Steve showed good pace to take advantage of the space, and he got to the Saints fullback. He had two options - pass to Phil on his outside (which to be fair, was in the opposite direction he was running, so it would have been a hard pass to make), or try to beat the fullback himself. He tried to do the latter but was tackled, and in doing so dropped the ball. All he had to do was pass to Phil and it was T-R-Y. Anyway, 6-all at half time and a pretty boring half comes to a close.
The first try of the 2nd half came from the saints, with no. 20 Wade Humphreys, who looked threatening with the ball al night, making a great bust from about 50m out and drawing the Raiders fullback to put Saints no.16 Corey Payne over under the sticks. It wasn't long, however, before the Raiders hit back through David Milne, who scored right on the Western sideline, to set up a hard kick for Carney. I think it was a long Carney pass which set up the try. whatever it was, milne didn't have to do much. this made the scoreline 12-10, and the game finally started to get interesting, as both teams upped the ante. Both teams started to look threatening with the ball, and there was one instance where Phil Graham made a characteristic line break from about 50 out, but go to the fullback and ended up knocking the ball on in the tackle, i think he may have been attempting an offload to Franciscus on his outside. There was another similar instance where after throwing the ball around a bit, we created space down the left hand side, but ended up knocking on, again. i didn't see what happened, but my friend told me that all franciscus had to do was hold the ball and he would have gone over for the try.
so the Raiders had their chances, but some excellent kicking from Gorrell and Firman ensured that for the most part, the Raiders had to work hard for their territory, and with 5 minutes remaining, Wes Naiqama sealed the win with a close range try, bouncing off a dismal attempted tackle from Kris Kahler, who otherwise had a top game, making plenty of metres with the ball in hand and always looking threatening. But at 18-10 with about 4 minutes to go, the Raiders didnt give up - Campese did a short and hard grubber kick from the kick off aimed at the sideline, which caused an error from the dragons. soon after, Beau mundine scored a great individual try - beating about 3 or 4 defenders to score after getting the ball about 20m out. it was too little too late though, as the raiders had time for only one tackle after they received the ball, with Kris Kahler attempting a chip and chase, which was charged down and almost resulted in a dragons try. final score: Dragons 18-Raiders 14
Notes:
- Marshall Chalk made a brilliant try-saving tackle in the first half on some big Saints guy.
- Russo did not play at all, and he was replaced by Beau Mundine.
- Ben Cross was fantastic, and was easily the best forward on the park. He was penalised in the first half for a tackle which did not look good, so hopefully he won't get suspended for it. Other than that though, he played with a heap of aggression, pulled off some big hits and always made metres with the ball. He proved to me that he is above the level of PL, and should be playing firsts next year.
- Nathan Smith was quiet, i barely noticed him, but Graham and Franciscus were causing some problems for the Dragons right hand defence all night. too bad some good cover defence and some unlucky errors cost them from capitalising.
- i was disappointed with Campo's kicking game. for the most part, it was no better than what we've seen in firsts all year from Mclinden and Drew. Carney must have been feeling his injury, because he barely kicked or ran the ball all night, and because of this was very quiet. He does pass the ball very well though, and i can't wait to see him in firsts.
- Kahler's awful missed tackle to set up the last Dragons try showed to me why he's not in firsts. He was tackling a centre, but just bounced off him like a weakling.
For the most part, it wasn't a very entertaining match, with both sides struggling to penetrate the opposition's defence or do anything really special. The Raiders got the first try when Campese put in a freakishly accurate cross-field chip kick (considering he was falling over and someone had hold of him as he made it) to a waiting Kris Kahler, who had little troubles out leaping the weenie Saints player to catch the footy and go over.
The Dragons looked good with Firman and Gorrell organising them well and possessing a superior kicking game all night, and their strong field position allowed them good opportunity to score. From about 5m out, Henry Perenara god a nice offload away to a bursting Ryan Powell, who crossed the line with little resistance from the canberra defence.
There was one instance in the first half where the Raiders IMO bombed a try. Graham put Franciscus into space about 40m out from the tryline, right near the sideline. Steve showed good pace to take advantage of the space, and he got to the Saints fullback. He had two options - pass to Phil on his outside (which to be fair, was in the opposite direction he was running, so it would have been a hard pass to make), or try to beat the fullback himself. He tried to do the latter but was tackled, and in doing so dropped the ball. All he had to do was pass to Phil and it was T-R-Y. Anyway, 6-all at half time and a pretty boring half comes to a close.
The first try of the 2nd half came from the saints, with no. 20 Wade Humphreys, who looked threatening with the ball al night, making a great bust from about 50m out and drawing the Raiders fullback to put Saints no.16 Corey Payne over under the sticks. It wasn't long, however, before the Raiders hit back through David Milne, who scored right on the Western sideline, to set up a hard kick for Carney. I think it was a long Carney pass which set up the try. whatever it was, milne didn't have to do much. this made the scoreline 12-10, and the game finally started to get interesting, as both teams upped the ante. Both teams started to look threatening with the ball, and there was one instance where Phil Graham made a characteristic line break from about 50 out, but go to the fullback and ended up knocking the ball on in the tackle, i think he may have been attempting an offload to Franciscus on his outside. There was another similar instance where after throwing the ball around a bit, we created space down the left hand side, but ended up knocking on, again. i didn't see what happened, but my friend told me that all franciscus had to do was hold the ball and he would have gone over for the try.
so the Raiders had their chances, but some excellent kicking from Gorrell and Firman ensured that for the most part, the Raiders had to work hard for their territory, and with 5 minutes remaining, Wes Naiqama sealed the win with a close range try, bouncing off a dismal attempted tackle from Kris Kahler, who otherwise had a top game, making plenty of metres with the ball in hand and always looking threatening. But at 18-10 with about 4 minutes to go, the Raiders didnt give up - Campese did a short and hard grubber kick from the kick off aimed at the sideline, which caused an error from the dragons. soon after, Beau mundine scored a great individual try - beating about 3 or 4 defenders to score after getting the ball about 20m out. it was too little too late though, as the raiders had time for only one tackle after they received the ball, with Kris Kahler attempting a chip and chase, which was charged down and almost resulted in a dragons try. final score: Dragons 18-Raiders 14
Notes:
- Marshall Chalk made a brilliant try-saving tackle in the first half on some big Saints guy.
- Russo did not play at all, and he was replaced by Beau Mundine.
- Ben Cross was fantastic, and was easily the best forward on the park. He was penalised in the first half for a tackle which did not look good, so hopefully he won't get suspended for it. Other than that though, he played with a heap of aggression, pulled off some big hits and always made metres with the ball. He proved to me that he is above the level of PL, and should be playing firsts next year.
- Nathan Smith was quiet, i barely noticed him, but Graham and Franciscus were causing some problems for the Dragons right hand defence all night. too bad some good cover defence and some unlucky errors cost them from capitalising.
- i was disappointed with Campo's kicking game. for the most part, it was no better than what we've seen in firsts all year from Mclinden and Drew. Carney must have been feeling his injury, because he barely kicked or ran the ball all night, and because of this was very quiet. He does pass the ball very well though, and i can't wait to see him in firsts.
- Kahler's awful missed tackle to set up the last Dragons try showed to me why he's not in firsts. He was tackling a centre, but just bounced off him like a weakling.
Furner (David!) is going to be the Coach! WOOHOO!
