Raiders Post Match Reaction

[Blaze]

Not the best performance. I thought we were going to get away with it, but our defence didn't hold out. I was almost waiting for the Raiders to come back at us in the last 15 minutes. We have a poor record against them.

Our performances in Australia are a bit of a worry imo. If we don't beat Manly next week there is a chance that we will be playing for a finals spot against Penrith in round 25.

I think top 4 is possibly gone now, and we should be looking at top 6 which should guarentee us a life in the playoffs.

Vatuvei was awesome tonight. He had probably his best game all season.

Rovelli was awful. I still don't rate him. Is it just me or does he lack all the basic skills required to be a good halfback? His organisation skills are dreadful, and both his long and short kicking game leaves a lot to be desired.

It should be an interesting next couple of weeks.

 

[NZ Warrior]

I'm f**ked off, where's the cat???

I knew this was going to be a danger game, most of us did. But hopefully this is the kick up the arse the Warriors needed. With us facing Manly next sunday, I just hope the Panthers roll over for us.

The Warriors really need to topple Manly if they are going to do anything in the finals series. And they need to put the Panthers away too, or they might as well not front up.

Just getting a bit nervous now, looking at the way the table is going. Wondering where our next win is coming from. We are still in danger of missing the 8 all together. Then you have the daunting prospect of having to face the Storm at Melbourne or the Cowboys at Townsville in the first week of the finals.

I just really hope we can beat Manly.

 

[colly raider]

Great win by the Raiders. The warriors simply underestimated our ability and paid for it big time!

 

[Sam_the_man]

Great win by the Raiders. The warriors simply underestimated our ability and paid for it big time!

Never underestimate the wooden spooners huh?

 

[Macko8]

Never underestimate the wooden spooners huh?

wooden spooners???Wtf??

Hows sitting 6 points clear of penriff (who are last) get us a name like wooden spooners??

 

[Auckland4ever]

Never underestimate the wooden spooners huh?

They better not end up wooden spooners. Penrith would have to win all their remaining games for that to happen. Potentially catastrophic for us.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

It was bizarre, Witt and Rovelli were suddenly replicating their tricks from the mid season slump- bizarre choices not to pass where they decided to do 3 sidesteps on the spot and take the tackle instead, aimless or non-existent kicking, generally inept, laboured, Lance Hohaia-esque passing, they just sucked.

The forwards were off the pace but did more than enough to win if the halves were sharper.

MOTM definitely Manu, scored 1 try and set up another, made 2 impressive line breaks and didn't put a foot wrong on defence.

 

[Martli]

MASSIVE SET BACK. Didn't watch the match (was out) and probably wont. We can still make the 4, but we'll most of the other games to go our way I think and of course, we have to beat Manly...

Really not happy, you can't expect to do well in the finals and lose to a team is pretty much no longer in contention...

 

[Skinner]

MASSIVE SET BACK. Didn't watch the match (was out) and probably wont. We can still make the 4, but we'll most of the other games to go our way I think and of course, we have to beat Manly...

Really not happy, you can't expect to do well in the finals and lose to a team is pretty much no longer in contention...

You can forget 4th spot now.

 

[Rich102]

Agreed TH. We were goosed by an angry green man with attitude.
Mid way through second half I thought we had it, but then we tried to defend a lead instead of going for the kill.
I am seriously worried for our season now.
Oh how we miss Wadeo!

 

[mean]

Why did Cleary start with Fien? Gatis takes it to the line and gets forward momentum. I'm afraid the Warriors have been reading their press this week or simply didn't turn up with the right attitude. The first few minutes showed that things weren't going to look pretty.

I only bothered to watch the first half so only can make judgment from this but a lot of people normally comment on the left side defensive deficiencies. From what I saw, most tries were scored on the right.

Another aspect of the game that made me turn off was the refereeing. Unless these refs grow some nuts and make calls as they see it, the stoppages for the video ref to make their calls is painfully the same as stoppages for union scrums. These refs don't get demoted for their f*ups anyway, so i don't see why they don't ref as they see it, otherwise get them off the field and ref them from the commentary box with the use of cameras, sideline lights and a ground speaker system.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

There goes the home Semi

I thought everyone was off their game except JRo who looked f**king dangerous and Manu. Even Price was off his game i thought Wiki played better than him tonight. I doubt the Crockett incident has rattled them but maybe all the hype back home is getting to them with the expectations and everyday the media are talking them up. Whatever happens now i think we can look forward to 6th spot and a game against the Dogs

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Crockett I've never rated. Aside from speed he's got nothing imo. Suspect under the higball, offers nothing in attack as far as general play goes. For those who can see Lions games how close is Solomona to first grade standard? Sounds like he's got the speed plus a little extra in general play if speed is so important. I'd still prefer Ah Van though.

Rapira isn't having the same impact as he was in earlier matches. I think he's starting to struggle a little in the starting spot. It is just his first full season so that would be expected. Evarn and Lauaki are continue to impress from the bench.

I thought our service from dummy half was absolute sh!t last night. It didn't get much better from our halves on the few times we tried to spin it wide. There was a real feeling of impatience and tension from a team that knew how close they were to a top four spot after the Eels lost on Friday.

If we make the finals I can see us really going back into our shell and trying to grind out wins. Boring football like we were playing in our 6 week slump. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm concerned we may become very limited in our attacking options come finals time.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

There goes the home Semi

I thought everyone was off their game except JRo who looked f**king dangerous and Manu. Even Price was off his game i thought Wiki played better than him tonight. I doubt the Crockett incident has rattled them but maybe all the hype back home is getting to them with the expectations and everyday the media are talking them up. Whatever happens now i think we can look forward to 6th spot and a game against the Dogs

3rd v 6th, Dogs V Warriors. 2003? Now that was a good memory.

Our best hope might be the Storm knocking off the Dogs next week and the Cowboys toppling the Knights. At this stage I'd prefer the Eels or Cowboys in week 1 if we can't get a home semi, which is probably out of our range now after the Cowboys won last night.

 

[ozbash]

played like a pack of sheilas.

thankfully we played like a pack of sheilas last night and not in the finals.

I think they have got playing like a pack of sheilas out of their systems...

 

[MKEB...]

The ref helped set the tone last night by allowing both sides to play up offside. The Warriors need a solid 10 meters to get things going.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

I think we were dumb not to stand 5 meters offside like the raiders were

 

[Rich102]

I thought we were! That's why the crowd were booing!

 

[Sam_the_man]

wooden spooners???Wtf??

Hows sitting 6 points clear of penriff (who are last) get us a name like wooden spooners??

wow 6 clear of the spoon....stellar season that. Will you be watching the first grade teams play in the finals?

 

[Martli]

No need to turn this into a "my club is better than your club" debate. We lost to a team we shouldn't have lost to and probably underestimated them in the process--lets move on and concentrate on beating manly...