Raiders V Dragons

[Walt Flanigan]

Neil Henry has said on Radio that Withers will be right to go and will play both him and Hinchcliffe with Hinchy to start.
Picker will replace Plum in the run-on side.

 

[dolphinboy]

Appalling first 37 mins where we were treated to the same tried and trusted 5 hit ups and sh*t fifth tackle option dotted with the odd dropped ball.

The Campo try on half time was more luck than good planning and even Campo knew that he was a bees knob away from dying with the ball in hand on the last yet again.

The second half was a sustained effort which produced some expansive p;ay and a Monas double but given the weight of possession and missed conversions we did not kill of the game until the 78th minute when Todd nailed the one pointer.

If we have control of a half we need to hurt a team on the board.

Very pleased with Weyman and Tilse's games. For once we saw these two blokes play like props.

Withers tackling off the bench was excellent but as usual the odd brain explosion spoils the good, and his coat hanger on Soward was just f**king dumb.

Bronx was brilliant at full back and on two occasions where we normally would cough up points Bronx cleaned up when swooping on Hornby's grubber kick which Chase looked a monty to turn into points and getting back into play from the other side of the posts.

Great to see the flashbacks with Monas crossing the stripe en masse.

Carney's kicking game and overall organisation was super in the 2nd half when he was first to get his hands on the pill. I still would prefer to see Campo in the centres or 2nd row as he is definitely IMO having a negative effect on Todd's game.

Our biggest worry is Purtell's defence on bombs and kicks - the guy is a f**king turnstile and I for one am sick and tired of watching us year in year out bleed easy points on that left corner.

Still cannot believe Best's play the ball early doors - I know he copped a bump on the scone but why for f**ks sake would you play the ball when you are in Disneyland.

Well 2-1 after 3 and a game clear of the Storm - heady heights :alcho:

 

[Chachi]

IMO it's up to Todd and the dummy half to take control of the game db. The fact that Campo has to command the ball at stages through the game indicates to me that TC is falling short in his role.

Todd's passing game is nowhere near 100% right now and apart from that 40/20 I thought his kicking game was pretty ordinary - a few nothing grubbers, one ball kicked dead from 2 metres out and a bomb that did nothing but got a lucky bounce for a line drop out. Most of the dangerous short kicks were from campo.

He's still got a way to go before we really click in attack and I don't think it can all be blamed on the fact Campo is wearing number 6 on his back.

 

[Mick_63]

Congratulations to 1 thru 17.Everyone contributed to the result and when youre down on fit players it was great to see that playing for each other mentality.
Mick Weyman has found his place.Heis a starter for sure and certain.You need an agressive ball runner who can drag a few in and get the quick play the ball/penalty.And an offload before the line was also a sign of confidence from the big man.He got thru a power of defence work to.
Bad luck to Phil Graham.
Well done to Linc,100 straight,cops a ribs injury and bounces back to have one of his best games in ages.A real clubman.

 

[shear_joy9]

I would drop campo just for that horror pass in the first half, extreamly lucky they did not score.

what about purtell taking a hitup from dummy half on the 4th when the ball was needed closer to the posts for the fieldgoal? Very fortunate carney was able to nail it.

Best made some excellent metres on his runs, I was very impressed.

Also Hinchcliff and Withers' talking was supurb, very strong and aggressive, putting the dragons on the backfoot.

 

[Timbo]

God I'd be tempted to axe Carney. He played some very, very selfish football. He needs to realise he's not the only one on the field! I'd be quite alright seeing a Dobson/Carney combo next week.

I have no idea how our 3/4 line will look next week with Graham gone, do we even have 4 backs who are fit at the moment? Chalk tries hard but, geez...He's just not an outside back anymore. As far as I can figure, we have exactly 5 outside backs fit - Goodwin, Best, Monaghan, Purtell and Milne....

We won't want anymore injuries anytime soon.

 

[shear_joy9]

chuck purtell in the centres and put Milne on the wing. I'd be happy with that.
Here's hoping it's nothing serious for phil.

on a side note, Mona's is fantastic in the air! I can see a number of tries in the future from bombs in the corner, with either him cathing it over the line, or cathing and passing back inside.

 

[donkey|rope]

I still would prefer to see Campo in the centres or 2nd row as he is definitely IMO having a negative effect on Todd's game

thats the biggest cop out ever. carney's poor showing thus far in 08 is his own fault. he pulled off an adequate performance tonight in spite of himself. during the first half he played selfish football and didn't organise our attack what so ever.

 

[dolphinboy]

thats the biggest cop out ever. carney's poor showing thus far in 08 is his own fault. he pulled off an adequate performance tonight in spite of himself. during the first half he played selfish football and didn't organise our attack what so ever.

In the first half he was deplorable but he is too often second reciever, he has to be first as Campo only has two fifth tackle options in his kit - dying with ball in hand or bombing short to Monaghan who has no option but to bat it back to inept recievers like Chalk.

Campo is not an organisers butt crack and needs to go to the second row or maybe centres and leave the distribution to imaginative and constructive players.

Dobson's worst is more creative than Campo's best.

We now have an opportunity to give Herbert a gig this week by putting Campo in the 3 to replace Big Ears

 

[Timbo]

Campo doesn't have the pace to be a centre. As big a defencive liability he is, I'd prefer Milne get the open 3/4 slot.

Perhaps even someone untested like Grintell? Or recalling Brad Cross? God I wish I knew how Souths-Logan were playing, having no PL sucks.

 

[julian87]

How is Brophy playing in Toyota Cup?

I think Best will move to centre and either Milne or Kelly will come onto the wing.

The rest of the team should remain unchanged, unless Chalk plays centre and is replaced in the back row by Plum.

 

[Timbo]

Sunday footy show just said Phil Graham's preliminary medical exam suggests a best case scenario of 3 months, but that in all likelyhood it's an ACL and he's done for his season.

Gah.

 

[God-King Dean]

Congrats boys.

F*ckers.

 

[donkey|rope]

In the first half he was deplorable but he is too often second reciever, he has to be first as Campo only has two fifth tackle options in his kit - dying with ball in hand or bombing short to Monaghan who has no option but to bat it back to inept recievers like Chalk.

Campo is not an organisers butt crack and needs to go to the second row or maybe centres and leave the distribution to imaginative and constructive players.

Dobson's worst is more creative than Campo's best.

We now have an opportunity to give Herbert a gig this week by putting Campo in the 3 to replace Big Ears

Campo isn't the problem. Carney is. The whole team is structured around Carney wanting to play 7. In an ideal world, Carney would play 6 and Herbert would get a run at 7 for an extended period. But in saying that, I don't want the revolving door halves policy that brought absolutely no value to the team last season. Therefore, I don't really care to change the Campo/Carney combination at present.

Dobbson is beyond a joke - I'd rather have Mick Weyman at 7.

Campo's best position is 13. He does a decent job at 6 but he ain't no centre.

 

[Bay56]

What a strange game it was.

I got the impression we dominated the dragons in the first half but found ourselves down on the scoreboard due to an undefendable kick by Soward which bounced straight into the arms of the winger and some absolutely stupid plays by the Raiders (not to mention Best thought he was back with the dragons). Other than that the defence was at it's punishing best.

I thought in the 2nd half that if we dispensed with the mistakes, kept up the defence and Carney got a touch more involved we'd win and that is exactly what happened.

I can remember shouting out GO WIDE just before Mona's first try, we did and we got the benefit of playing a bit more expansive ... I hope the guys take this on the road ... Monas is proving a good weapon out wide and we should milk it for all its worth.

Good performance by all (mixed up with a lot of stupid stuff in the first half). Special mention to Bronx and Monas who saved us a few times with last ditch defence and both combined well for Mona's first try.

Lets hope they sort out the stupid errors before next weekend cause that is what almost killed us tonight.

 

[Bay56]

Ohh yea I forgot to mention the performance from Weyman ... he may no have broken the line but I bet everytime the Dragons saw him cme their way they had all hands on deck to make shore ... all Weyman needs is a clever offload and it's GL al over again ...

... also good to see that Henry had enough confidence to place him in the starting 13 ... didnt make as big an impact as I thought but he'll do so soon.

 

[dolphinboy]

Campo isn't the problem. Carney is. The whole team is structured around Carney wanting to play 7. In an ideal world, Carney would play 6 and Herbert would get a run at 7 for an extended period. But in saying that, I don't want the revolving door halves policy that brought absolutely no value to the team last season. Therefore, I don't really care to change the Campo/Carney combination at present.

Three games in and it doesn't look like working so pointless really blowing our good start by being beligerent and not fixing something because we dont want to make a change.

Carney needs to learn the 7 but I prefer him at 6 with either Zillman or Herbert at 7

Dobbson is beyond a joke - I'd rather have Mick Weyman at 7.

Agree 110% - I see no value in Dobson as he has neither the smarts for top level footy not the will.

Campo's best position is 13. He does a decent job at 6 but he ain't no centre.

Two words - Alan Tongue. I see zero value shifting our most consistent player to accomadate a bit player.

Sadly like Chalk Campo can play many positions, just none terribly well.

If we want to retain blokes like Carney, Goodwin and Zillman long term we simply need to draw up our best 17 and the guys who are on reasonable bucks not listed need to go and I have a feeling Campo and Chalk may fall in that criterea.

 

[Bay56]

If we want to retain blokes like Carney, Goodwin and Zillman long term we simply need to draw up our best 17 and the guys who are on reasonable bucks not listed need to go and I have a feeling Campo and Chalk may fall in that criterea.

Spot on DB ... we need to spend big on a few players and let the rest fight out the what is left ... marquee players win you matches when the going gets a bit tough or the ref has given the other side more possession than they deserve ... the likes of Purtell dont cut it in that department.

I hope we can keep Chalky ... he has proven on a number of occassions that he's a very handy player to have on the bench when you get an unexpected injury.

If they Raiders want to keep Campo, subject to his performances this year, I think they could afford to offer him $150-$200K and still have room to give a decent pay package to the remainder of the squad.

We desperately need another centre of the calbre of Monas .. we then have fire power on both flanks, fed by the likes of Carney/Herbert and giving good service to those who hug the sideline.

 

[Bay56]

How is Brophy playing in Toyota Cup?

I think Best will move to centre and either Milne or Kelly will come onto the wing.

The rest of the team should remain unchanged, unless Chalk plays centre and is replaced in the back row by Plum.

I've seen two of the three TC games this season ... Brophy has been OK but I like Justin Carney in the centres ... socred another two tries last night to add to his two last week ... he looks mean, plays mean, doesnt go down too easily when tackled ... I understand he is also a pretty good all round sportsman ... this guy imo has a future at the Raiders and we might even see him in FG if we lose a few more to the medical staff.

Btw Joel Thompson has been OK but not the outstanding player some made him out to be.

 

[Bay56]

God I'd be tempted to axe Carney. He played some very, very selfish football. He needs to realise he's not the only one on the field! I'd be quite alright seeing a Dobson/Carney combo next week.

Everyone for his own Timbo but imo a brilliant 40-20 with the resultant try 60 secs later that gave us the lead is why every club needs a TC ... his long passes keep the opposition thinking ... he'll come good but FFS I'd like to see management give him every opportunity to fully realise that undoubted potentional with more than a few sessions with a specialist halves coach ... sen him to the coach if the coach cant come here.

If I was to give a bit of friendly advise I'd tell him to have a good look at some of Finchy's tapes and take some of his arrogance into the game plan ... Carney is a shy guy by nature ... he needs to spark up a bit and make sure that the team know to gather round as he's the ball player.