Raiders VS Bulldogs

[legend]

The result of this match will depend on how Carney performs. As brilliant as he is, he picks and chooses his moments to inject himself into the match. We neec more than that this weekend.

He needs to run to the line all day against the Dogs as the Eels showed they are very soft in the middle of the park after the 20 minute mark.

 

[raidersforme]

Goodwin pays high price for mistakes
Daniel MacDonald

Canberra speedster Bronx Goodwin was yesterday dumped from the Raiders NRL side after a string of mistake-riddled matches. Coach Neil Henry swapped Goodwin and injured fullback William Zillman for last weekend's Premier League stars Marshall Chalk and Brett Kelly.
Henry said Goodwin needed to reduce the number of errors he made on the field.
Chalk's call-up came after the versatile player scored a hat-trick of tries against the Manly Sea Eagles last weekend.
Kelly, who also scored a try in the 54-4 win at Brookvale Oval, won selection to play the Bulldogs on Sunday on the back of his good Premier League form.
"Bronx probably didn't have the happiest of nights," Henry said about Goodwin's performance in the Raiders' 28-22 loss to the Cowboys in Townsville on Saturday night.
"But Brett Kelly's been very good in Premier League for the last couple of weeks.
"We're rotating our outside backs around. We thought we'd give Brett an opportunity to come back into first grade.
"Bronx has had nine games now in first grade and we're rotating him back.
"He's a bit disappointed about that but he needs to go back and cut some of the mistake rate."
Chalk has not played fullback for more than 20 rounds and his selection at the back surprised him.
"It is pretty surprising especially the form that Bronx and Zilly had been showing but with the injury it gave me an opportunity so hopefully I can get back there and do a good job," the 26-year-old said.
Henry said he thought Chalk was more of a back-rower but was sure he would be comfortable in the new role.
Chalk said the constant changing of positions had made it hard for his game to improve.
"I've found it pretty hard over the last couple of months to find form and with a few injuries as well," he said.
"But you know hopefully now I can just play well and do well for the rest of the season.
"It's a tough sort of thing to play [utility role] and sometimes your form does suffer because you're being thrown around here, there and everywhere," he said.
"I'm happy to do it for the team. You've got to play your role in the 17 and if my role is as a utility then I just want to do a good job no matter what position I play."
Zillman will miss up to nine months after he ruptured his left anterior cruciate ligament against the Cowboys, requiring a knee reconstruction.
Captain Alan Tongue's broken nose has him under an injury cloud and the club finds out today whether he will be available to play.
The mercurial leader suffered his second broken nose of the season and had surgery under a general anesthetic late yesterday, where he had fluid drained from his nose.
"The surgeon's saying he should be right, he's done that before and played," Henry said.
"But we're expecting that he'll go in and be there overnight and be right to play Sunday afternoon.
"At the moment he can't breathe through his nose at all so it's quite difficult for him out on the field."
The Bulldogs named prop Mark O'Meley to make his return from a hamstring strain.
Centre Willie Tonga is on track for a miraculous recovery from a rib injury, named to play despite being originally diagnosed for a four-week lay-off.
Back-rower Brad Morrin is out and will plead guilty when he faces the NRL judiciary tonight on a charge of biting Parramatta centre Timana Tahu.
SUNDAY
Canberra Raiders v Bulldogs, At Telstra Stadium, 2pm. TV Time: Live on Fox Sports3



http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/de...league&story_id=1033824&category=rugby+league

 

[woodgers]

Lets get as many Raiders fans in Bay 103 as possible. It was great for the semi last year. Let's be realistic, this is probably the last chance to get to an away game for Canberra and NSW fans this season. I think we should make the day a celebration of a pretty good, if not frustrating year.

If we lose, we lose, but at least we go down supporting till the end.

We had no drama's with any of our mob for the semi last year and there will be much less Dogs fans or trouble makers at a day game in normal round footy, especially with the Dogs struggling a bit. Get out there if you can and enjoy watching the Raiders live for one of the last times this season, and let them know you're behind them.

Syd, Leg and others, will I see you there?

 

[legend]

Sorry mate, I've got my son's round robin on Sunday and I'm the coach so I can't make it unfortunately.

 

[Chachi]

Time for TLL to fire this weekend. I was disappointed with his effort last week. Making allowances for it being his second game back and the humid conditions. Costigan and Bickerstaff will also be better for the run and it will be up to these 2 to shut down SBW.

Hopefully Logan will not give away stupid penalties and Dobson will be able to find room with his kicks in general play something he was unable to do against the Cowboys.

Would of been confident in this one but team selection has left me less than hopeful.

Mate, I agree. It's time for TLL to step up and lead us to the finals. With Tongey likely to be out all the boys will have to put in an prove what they can do.

 

[Raidersrawesome]

Its time the pack stand up as one , instead of only a couple a week , the dogs have an intimidating pack , but I see no reason why our pack cant dominate them . I thought TLL was quite last week , he needs to hit the fringes hard , run at their smaller men like mason does. The dogs are not travelling great but one thing they do well is grind out a victory, we have have to stick it to them early .I dont agree with 4 forwards on the bench again, maybe Henry knows something we dont. win this we are still a chance for the 8.

 

[Chachi]

I have no problem with Bronx 'doing time' back in the reggies. His defence was woeful in my opinion. This year was always going to be a chop n' change affair to see where our squad sits in 08. He'll be a great player though.

Surely somebody knows about Campo? If he did something wrong he should be demoted but nothing has been reported?

I think the depth of our squad is pretty damn good. The only problem is that there are not many stand outs in our roster. We don't lose much bringing in one player for another. This has probably been the case for a number of seasons now.

Yep, I can't understand the infatuation some people have for Goodwin. Sure the kid's got talent, but he's up and down like a yo-yo and has been like that for years in PL. When he's on fire he's great to watch and really has a dig, but some weeks he plays with a total lack of enthusiasm. Todd Carney suffers from the same syndrome sometimes.

Zilly is going to be a massive loss for us over the next 9 months (or whatever it is). I thought he was only just starting to hit his stride and play with real confidence - which is saying a lot for a bloke who has been our best try scorer and near the top of the NRL for metres gained this year.

Bronx deserved to be dropped and I can't understand why people are whinging about it. If we're to have a real crack at this comp next season Neil Henry has to shake any complacency out of the fellas right now because we really suffered from that in the last 3 years of Elliott's tenure.

I've bagged out Chalk a little bit this year, but I hope he and Howell have a blinder this weekend because we're going to need it.

 

[Raidersrawesome]

I rate chalk big time and also hope he has a blinder , but Im just not confident while he's at fullback. we know Henry likes to drop the younger guys back to PL to gain confidence and work on areas of their game , but i was surprised doing it this week with bronx ,with Zillmans injury , we know bronx can be very good like against the panthers so I thought this would of been a good opportunity for him to show case himself in the fullback role. Im worried that sometimes this tactic of dropping a player may cause the player to become disillusioned and may look else where for a FG spot. Hope Im wrong and I hope the players have faith in Henry's tactics.

 

[yellow]

someone needs to get to the bottom of this story

The premier coach has a big say in who comes into the top side but the final say comes from Henry. For the life of me I can't understand why Campo is not in the picture. He was outstanding in premier league. Bickerstaff starting, I can't believe it. He scored a try and what else. A forward dominated bench. Wrong move. The Bulldogs are strong in the forwards even without Mason and O'Meley. SB Williams will kill us if not contained maybe that's where Bickerstaff comes into the picture. The word is Bickerstaff will be off-loaded next year.

 

[Chachi]

The premier coach has a big say in who comes into the top side but the final say comes from Henry. For the life of me I can't understand why Campo is not in the picture. He was outstanding in premier league. Bickerstaff starting, I can't believe it. He scored a try and what else. A forward dominated bench. Wrong move. The Bulldogs are strong in the forwards even without Mason and O'Meley. SB Williams will kill us if not contained maybe that's where Bickerstaff comes into the picture. The word is Bickerstaff will be off-loaded next year.

If that's true I can't say I'd be too disappointed given our back row depth. Bickers is at the end of his career and clearly injury prone. He'd be on big bucks that could be better spent securing our younger guys or improving our backline.

For it to be worthwhile we'd need somebody to take up his contract though, and I can't see that happening unless he goes back to the ESL.

 

[Chachi]

I rate chalk big time and also hope he has a blinder , but Im just not confident while he's at fullback. we know Henry likes to drop the younger guys back to PL to gain confidence and work on areas of their game , but i was surprised doing it this week with bronx ,with Zillmans injury , we know bronx can be very good like against the panthers so I thought this would of been a good opportunity for him to show case himself in the fullback role. Im worried that sometimes this tactic of dropping a player may cause the player to become disillusioned and may look else where for a FG spot. Hope Im wrong and I hope the players have faith in Henry's tactics.

I think Henry's able to forgive a few errors in people's games (hence Milne and Goodwin staying in firsts after a few shockers) but I don't think he's very forgiving when it comes to poor effort come game time or on the training paddock.

Good coaching. Dobson, Best, Goodwin, Weyman have benefitted from the policy already this season...and maybe Campo too for all we know... Bronx (quite clearly IMO) needs more work in this area.

In a way that's why I think our coaches seem to like Howell. I think he puts in 100% each week (probably at training too for all I know) and sometimes that's what lets him down in defence as he rushes in to make the tackle. I'd much rather that than Frawleys total lack of respect for his teammates for example. But I'm digressing here...

 

[donkey|rope]

circa campo: i was browsing through posts at a forum not be named (wink, wink) and one poster reckoned he knows the reason but isn't allowed to post it publicly or he'd get banned. i would have pm'd him but i was cbf registering to the joint just to ask that one question. i'm sure someone here should be able to get to the bottom of it (nudge, nudge).

another geezer reckoned that campo hadn't been following henry's game plans.

somehow i don't think the latter is the real reason.

 

[raidersforme]

Raiders face Tongue-less test
David Jean

Canberra Raiders captain Alan Tongue will miss Sunday's match against the Bulldogs at Telstra Stadium, severely denting his team's chances of a vital victory. Tongue yesterday pulled out of the must-win game after requiring more surgery on his broken nose than first expected.
He had initially hoped to play against the seventh-placed Bulldogs, but will wait until next Saturday's home game against the New Zealand Warriors before returning to the field.
The 27-year-old had his septum straightened in an operation on Tuesday night, allowing him to again breathe through his right nostril.
It was the second time he's had surgery on his nose in the past six weeks.
Josh Miller is now likely to play lock after filling in for Tongue against St George Illawarra in round 17.
Tongue yesterday returned home from an overnight stay in hospital and said he would not resume light training until Monday.
He will wait until an appointment with his surgeon next Friday before deciding on his comeback.
"It was probably a bit more than what we first thought needed to be done," Tongue said.
"If it just needed to be drained then I would have been right but the doctor had to straighten it as well.
"He said I need to at least have one week off.
"It's pretty tender because they actually had to cut it and straighten it so there's a bit of pain there."
The Raiders must win to keep their slim finals hopes alive, but their record without Tongue suggests that will be a tough task against a Bulldogs outfit boosted by the return of Australian prop Mark O'Meley.
Canberra has struggled without its captain on the field this season, losing all three games he has failed to finish through injury and copping a 42-point thrashing to St George-Illawarra when he was sidelined with a knee complaint.
The Raiders were leading 12-4 in the 32nd minute against the North Queensland Cowboys last Saturday night before Tongue left the field. They then faded to lose by six points.
The team was also within striking distance of the Cowboys and Wests Tigers in rounds 15 and 16 before Tongue left the field.
But possibly the worst sign for the team is the fact it was trounced 58-16 by the Dragons in round 17, the only full game Tongue has missed.
The only game the Raiders have lost with a fully-fit Tongue since round 15 was a 34-6 defeat to the Melbourne Storm.
Tongue said he would travel with the team to Sydney on Saturday.
"I can breathe again and that's the main thing." he said.
The Raiders are 13th on the NRL ladder, four points and percentage out of the top eight.
They must win their final four games and rely on other results to make the finals.
SUNDAY
Canberra Raiders v Bulldogs, at Telstra Stadium, 2pm. TV Time: Live on Fox Sports3



http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/de...league&story_id=1034362&category=rugby+league

 

[Raidersrawesome]

BIG blow , we will struggle big time without him and the stats already back that up , its a must Campo comes in on the bench, Miller isnt an 80 minute player and wont do the workload of tongue , not looking forward to sunday.

 

[thickos]

Not a fan of Josh Miller at lock. Offers little to no creativity... should have really put someone with an offload like TLL in there, or called Campo up from reggies.

 

[legend]

What about Plum? He is similar to Tongue but we should have enough workers in Bickerstaff and Turner you would think.

Miller doesn't deserve to start let alone sit on the bench at the moment.

 

[Macko8]

Miller at lock,hmmm interesting. and whys it say round 17 against the dragons??typo?

 

[Chachi]

I've been critical of Miller this season, but he did make 160 metres and 28 tackles from the bench last weekend. If he can repeat that sort of form then I'll be happy.

Tilse, Logan, Bickerstaff, Turner and Miller. It will certainly give us a massive starting pack, not to mention the likes of TLL and Weyman off the bench.

The Campo thing certainly appears to be a major discipline issue so without knowing the details there's not much point whingeing about it IMO.

 

[colly raider]

I think the fans deserve to know what is going on with Campo. Surely he is our no.2 option for lock. The guy has a lot of talent and should be in first grade.
All I can say is he must have done something really bad to be held out of the team this long. The guy was in the press , saying our good he was and is going to be, and then all of a sudden drops off the face of the earth. I have heard a couple of stories but none that would give him this long of a layoff.
Does anyone know what his form has been like in PL?

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

last report was that he was doing real good in PL..also tore up Manly.