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Raiders outsiders will be in the game
David Jean, Canberra Times | March 20, 2008 - 8:26AM
The Canberra Raiders will aim to get more ball into the hands of their outside backs against Penrith on Saturday after key players were starved of attacking possession in their opening-round loss to Newcastle.
Raiders five-eighth Terry Campese conceded yesterday his team had failed to bring its most dangerous strike weapons into play last week and said himself and halfback Todd Carney were to blame.
He said the Raiders' halves must lift their talk and attempt to make greater use of the likes of Phil Graham and Colin Best at CUA Stadium.
"We're the ones that have to organise the shape around us and get the ball to the outside backs," Campese said.
"There's a lot more improvement [needed] from me and Toddy."
We need a lot more talk. For most teams in the NRL their halves need to be firing."
The Raiders rarely spread the ball against the Knights, but when they did it worked to great effect.
Winger Adrian Purtell scored twice in the second half after accepting cut-out balls from Carney.Penrith will enter the game with the untried halves pairing of Jarrod Sammut and Maurice Blair after coach Matt Elliott dropped halfback Joe Williams following his team's dismal performance against Brisbane on Sunday.
The Panthers struggled to find any attacking structure against the Broncos during their 36-point loss.Sammut and Blair have played just 16 NRL games between them and Sammut has featured in the halves just once at first-grade level.Elliott said his new halves trained confidently this week despite their lack of NRL experience.
"They are inexperienced but we're looking for a good amount of workload off them," Elliott said.
"They've trained really well this week in those positions so I'm just looking forward to a much better performance."
Raiders back-rower Joe Picker said his team would target Sammut and Blair in an attempt to disrupt Penrith's attacking flow.
"Last week we probably didn't put too much pressure on Newcastle's halves so this week we're going to try to make amends and work them over a bit more," Picker said.
"They're not that experienced especially in the positions they are playing, but in saying that they're good players."
The Raiders have won five of their past six games against the Panthers including an away win at CUA Stadium.
Campese said the team was eager to stretch its winning streak over former Raiders coach Elliott to three."There's a bit of rivalry any time you play an old coach so the boys will be fired up," he said.
"Last year we had two away wins and one of them was against Penrith up there so we'll take heaps of confidence out of that."
Raiders coach Neil Henry may make a late change to his team, drafting in Bronx Goodwin for his first game of the season in place of Best.
Hooker Lincoln Withers remains in doubt with a rib injury.
Canberra Times
David Jean, Canberra Times | March 20, 2008 - 8:26AM
The Canberra Raiders will aim to get more ball into the hands of their outside backs against Penrith on Saturday after key players were starved of attacking possession in their opening-round loss to Newcastle.
Raiders five-eighth Terry Campese conceded yesterday his team had failed to bring its most dangerous strike weapons into play last week and said himself and halfback Todd Carney were to blame.
He said the Raiders' halves must lift their talk and attempt to make greater use of the likes of Phil Graham and Colin Best at CUA Stadium.
"We're the ones that have to organise the shape around us and get the ball to the outside backs," Campese said.
"There's a lot more improvement [needed] from me and Toddy."
We need a lot more talk. For most teams in the NRL their halves need to be firing."
The Raiders rarely spread the ball against the Knights, but when they did it worked to great effect.
Winger Adrian Purtell scored twice in the second half after accepting cut-out balls from Carney.Penrith will enter the game with the untried halves pairing of Jarrod Sammut and Maurice Blair after coach Matt Elliott dropped halfback Joe Williams following his team's dismal performance against Brisbane on Sunday.
The Panthers struggled to find any attacking structure against the Broncos during their 36-point loss.Sammut and Blair have played just 16 NRL games between them and Sammut has featured in the halves just once at first-grade level.Elliott said his new halves trained confidently this week despite their lack of NRL experience.
"They are inexperienced but we're looking for a good amount of workload off them," Elliott said.
"They've trained really well this week in those positions so I'm just looking forward to a much better performance."
Raiders back-rower Joe Picker said his team would target Sammut and Blair in an attempt to disrupt Penrith's attacking flow.
"Last week we probably didn't put too much pressure on Newcastle's halves so this week we're going to try to make amends and work them over a bit more," Picker said.
"They're not that experienced especially in the positions they are playing, but in saying that they're good players."
The Raiders have won five of their past six games against the Panthers including an away win at CUA Stadium.
Campese said the team was eager to stretch its winning streak over former Raiders coach Elliott to three."There's a bit of rivalry any time you play an old coach so the boys will be fired up," he said.
"Last year we had two away wins and one of them was against Penrith up there so we'll take heaps of confidence out of that."
Raiders coach Neil Henry may make a late change to his team, drafting in Bronx Goodwin for his first game of the season in place of Best.
Hooker Lincoln Withers remains in doubt with a rib injury.
Canberra Times
