Raiders Side to face the Cowboys.

[Purtell The Turtle]

matt bowen must be salivating at the thought of running around williams and cross.

I'm not really anti-Elliott and honestly at the moment we just dont have the cattle, but to argue that matt gafa will provide a more expansive game in attack is laughable.

poor us.

No, little Matty Bowen will be frozen stiff...


one can only hope

 

[Tidus_Raider]

That's one sorry side.

Ale on the Wing? He is a centre FFS. Elliot there is a difference! Gafa at 5/8th? Robbo on the other wing?

Boy this season has been a rollercoaster.

 

[Macko8]

Hey boys im new to tha website....but a keen raiders supporter for the past 12 years....faken Gafa????he needs to be transfered to the outback somewhere....his is the worst raiders player ive seen for a long time...slow and shows no interest wat so ever.It would of been a wise choice to even pick the flegg five eighth Michael Dobson over gafa...the bench would be a great side if we were facing a team full of big men...williams shouldnt of been picked he was disgraceful last week...second chance tis cool..anyway boys im wrapping up hope to talk soon

 

[ausraider]

That's one sorry side.

Ale on the Wing? He is a centre FFS. Elliot there is a difference! Gafa at 5/8th? Robbo on the other wing?

Boy this season has been a rollercoaster.

The only thing about this rollercoaster is that we are now in a free fall.Pending results and by how much we get done by this rollercoaster could see us on 12th position on the ladder.Wish it was still round 3.Cheese we looked good than,how times have changed.Injuries to players,brain explosion to the coach and some inept performances by some senior players, don't like any loss but loosing with a real fight makes me a proud supporter.The way we have given in lately there's lot 's to be desired.

 

[Macko8]

Ive had a gut full of these sh*t lineups week in week out....think of the players we have let go over the years....Brent Kite(did have a chance of getting him back this season),monas bros (geeez how did we let that pair go),lolesi(playin good footy)....all these players have one thing in common.....they are playing better than they ever were here at canberra.i dunno if its just me but something needs to be done quick smart....ELLIOT sign some players that are going to actually contribute to the team

 

[ausraider]

Ive had a gut full of these sh*t lineups week in week out....think of the players we have let go over the years....Brent Kite(did have a chance of getting him back this season),monas bros (geeez how did we let that pair go),lolesi(playin good footy)....all these players have one thing in common.....they are playing better than they ever were here at canberra.i dunno if its just me but something needs to be done quick smart....ELLIOT sign some players that are going to actually contribute to the team

Elliott should be signing himself to go somewhere else, like ESL.Until he is at the helm ther will be no contribution.

 

[Macko8]

yeah pritty true that ausraider tis bullsh*t.....switch the whole thing round PL to FG....furnesy for elliot. heres my round 16 team anyhow

1. Schifcofske
2. Frawley
3. Ale
4. Howell
5. Robbo
6. Campese (obviously not injured if named in PL)
7. Withers
8. Miller
9. Wollford
10. Thompson
11. Lomu
12. Kahler
13. Croker

INTERCHANGE
14. Tongue
15. Hindmarsh
16. T Smith
17. Cross

 

[ausraider]

Gafa given a pivotal role

June 21, 2005

Canberra Raiders utility Matt Gafa has been given a pivotal role for Saturday night’s match against the North Queensland Cowboys at Canberra Stadium, selected to start at five-eighth.


​

Gafa’s promotion came as the Raiders received more bad injury news today, winger Marshall Chalk ruled out for the next 4-6 weeks with a fractured jaw.

Experienced winger Michael Robertson comes into the Raiders team to replace Chalk, who played almost 50 minutes against the Bulldogs on Sunday with the jaw injury. X-rays this morning confirmed the fracture.

Young backrower Kris Kahler has also been recalled into the Raiders starting team to take over from Matt Adamson, out for up to six weeks with a rib cartilage injury.

Gafa has been Canberra’s reliable Mr Fix-It this season, playing every NRL game for the Raiders this year. It has been in a variety of positions, from the wing to the backrow.

Key play-maker Jason Smith is aiming to return for the following Round 17 match against the Penrith Panthers. But Raiders coach Matt Elliott has appointed Gafa to take charge in attack this Saturday.

“I certainly can’t question the effort the players are displaying, but we’ve suffered in our execution and we keep getting injuries to key players,” Elliott said.

“We haven’t played with a great deal of width and Matty [Gafa] certainly has the confidence and assertiveness to take charge of our team. That’s something we’ve probably been lacking.

“We need to play some football. We’ve got no problem going forward or accumulating momentum, but we’re not putting the cream on top of the cake at the moment.”

RAIDERS v COWBOYS
Saturday, June 25, 5.30pm
Canberra Stadium

1. CLINTON SCHIFCOFSKE
2. JERMAINE ALE
3. DAVID HOWELL
4. CRAIG FRAWLEY
5. MICHAEL ROBERTSON
6. MATT GAFA
7. LINCOLN WITHERS
8. JOSH MILLER
9. SIMON WOOLFORD
10. TROY THOMPSON
11. KRIS KAHLER
12. IAN HINDMARSH
13. JASON CROKER

INTERCHANGE
14. ALAN TONGUE
15. ANDREW LOMU
16. JASON WILLIAMS
17. BEN CROSS

​

This is where Elliott is stuffing young up coming players.Instead of sticking with them while the chips are down,what he does is punts them.Can someone please explain how this is going to help Campese's confidence,exactly what he did with Carney.How is Gaffa a better player at pivot than Campese I don't understand.As I said before until this guy is around coaching our mob we supporters will have to endure more pains than his stupid coment of Gaffa (Mr fix it)By the way Elliott must have creamed himself naming Gaffa and Robbo.This surely must have been his highlight of the day.He must be having nightmares not being able to name Tired Smith.

 

[Brimmer]

Hodgson must be looking at learning how to do a pedicure soon. His obviously needed more at his Mrs' salon than on the football park.

 

[posh]

maybe it will snow! the cowboys wont be able to handle the canberra weather, thats what im praying for anyway

 

[yellow]

gee after reading all your guys messages you are all true supporters through good times and BAD times.why dont you all see if you can do better.one minute you say tyran smith is crap the next you all want him back in the team.jason williams had a bad game i bet he knows that.having people around like all of you people saying the whole team is crap im sure they dont need.get behind them and show your support.

 

[legend]

That you Matty?

 

[FullySick]

That you Matty?

LOL

 

[woodgers]

Ausraider you are 100% correct on the way he treats the young guys. Imagine what Carney thinks playing PL this week looking at the players in firsts?

Elliott and Management are a disgrace to this football club. Sack the lot and start from scratch. How can we turn up to a game at home and HOPE to not get beaten by more than 20? It shows how badly this club is going, forget the injuries and Jason Smith we are just plain terrible.

If Newcastle was playing Canberra on Saturday night I would tip them to beat us. We are that bad.

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

gee after reading all your guys messages you are all true supporters through good times and BAD times.why dont you all see if you can do better.one minute you say tyran smith is crap the next you all want him back in the team.jason williams had a bad game i bet he knows that.having people around like all of you people saying the whole team is crap im sure they dont need.get behind them and show your support.

i doubt anyone wants tyran back...

 

[Boing Boing]

Lets stop complaining and just get behind our team. No use complaining, you all sound like St George supporters. A few consecutive losses and boom, the coach has to go. Rubbish.

 

[Raider Ultra]

No, its not just this run of losses, bar one year, we have been consistently mediocre since Elliott took over in mid 2001, and there's no sign of things picking up.

 

[legend]

Any other suggestions mate?

I've said it many times, I have no problem with a team losing so long as they go down swinging. We haven't been doing that. The players are looking bored on the field and the game plan is far too simple for the NRL and opposing teams know exactly what to expect from us each and every game. IMO, that's not good enough and with the coach lies the responsibility of producing an effective game plan. Do you honestly think we are seeing that at the moment? On top of this, our senior players are dishing absolute rubbish and are failing to show any leadership or pride in the jersey.

Let's use the Eels as an example. They threw Tim Smith in at the deep end and perservered with him and they are now starting to reap the rewards with the Eels in second spot and a legitimate premiership threat. Brian Smith had misgivings but they let him (T smith) develop at the top level and he will turn out to be an excellent player for being allowed to play his own game. IMO, we should have done the same with Carney and to a lesser extent Campese but with Campo, his kicking game lacks direction and foresight.

Our recruitment policy reeks of desperation and whilst I acknowledge there are geographical concerns with the club, band aid solutions like Jason Williams are a pure waste of the clubs resources.

Since Elliot has taken the reins of the club, do you honestly think we are any closer to winning a premiership? Our 2003 side was a very tough outfit but of that side, we are now without:

J Monaghan
M Monaghan
B Drew (who cares)
M McLinden
R Wiki
L Davico
R O'Hara (as good as gone)
J Lolesi

There are other players but almost all of the ones mentioned were starters and have decided Canberra is not the club for them. Why is that?

 

[Boing Boing]

Elliott is not the one who withdrew O'hara's offer or broke down negotiations with Wiki. Look for Ronald on that one. I don't have time to type out my reasons right now, but i think everyone is panicking too early. The Raiders were mediocre before Elliott came aswell.

 

[legend]

We finished 4th in 2000 but I remember hearing something about a five year plan and apart from 2003, that plan looks to be in need of some major retooling. Problem is, we don't have the tools.