What do we make of that one?

[Bring back choc]

Penalty count killed us obviously, but I don't think the result is too bad. Hate losing but that game was all about momentum. All it does is put more pressure on us against Newcastle, which is great preparation for finals. Soward needs to tackle low. Gaz was good and getting better. We were flat, but is that a bad thing??

 

[ebbedfred]

I just got home having not seen a minute. I was getting score updates and all I heard was Canberra played well but had all the ball and all the luck. A but worrying to see them put on 32 points in one half.

Can anyone fill me in as to where we went wrong?

 

[Willow]

We played a crappy second half.

Raiders were playing for their season, we were slack.

Move on. Next week.

 

[Zoggy]

no possession = loss

we move on.

 

[TheRev]

A run of 5 Bad Decisions in the 2nd half, we didnt recover, we got marched back and that change in momentum killed us, by the time we composed ourselves, it was over.

Its pretty normal for us though, we play such a defensive game that we are very vulnerable to refs decisions, because its hard for us to score points. In any case Canberra were the better team and deserved the win.

Positives were Gasnier getting some confidence (though he still needs to stop trying to shimmy before the line, just run at it first..), and we showed that when we chase points we are dangerous.. but also that chip n chases are not always the answers (dugens runaway intercept try).

Newcastle are in white-hot form too, will be a tough game, though unlike Canberra, Newcastle dont seem to rattle us nearly as much...

 

[Red_Vee]

i thought there were glimpses of enterprising attack late in the second half, we did well to get a sniff given the possession and penalty count in favour of the opposition. good to see gaz's step back in action! i hope we get the raiders again in week 1 of finals, no better chance to shake off that dreaded hoodoo!

 

[Saint 60]

their forwards seemed to make many (much) more yards than ours did..
semi breaking us at will...took em a while to get points but always looked like happening..they wanted it much much more.

anybody got the yards for the game please>?
Crea seemed to play very well in our pack..

just my ops..

 

[Dragon]

Gotta give Raiders credit, but we all knew they would lift. A few lucky bounces of the ball (Campo grubber, Jamies 40/20 etc) and then they ran away with it.

They looked good on the back of offloads, and their speedy play the balls had us backpedaling all day. Offloads wont come off like that every week, but it was perfect conditions for that gameplan (was hoping we'd do the same). They refused to get into a grinding game and it worked... today.

I think the Knights will be more inclined to get into an arm wrestle with us and we will see a better performance all round.

 

[STG-Dragon]

We always struggle against big packs especially aggressive ones like the Raiders and Sths. We lost because their forwards simply dominated ours and our style makes that hard to overcome especially away from home.

 

[Mr Red]

next week will be interesting on how we bounce back. last season it was the exact same match where we were curising at the top of the ladder and then went to canberra where their forwards smashed the crap out of us. we never recovered from that match mentally - our confidence was shot, and we were bundled out of the finals without a whimper.
i really hope we have learnt something from that and bouce back with a solid win next week.

 

[cleary89]

Raiders gf, playing for their season.

We just beat roosters at the scg, and then manly. we were playing a game that had no implications on our season, and we rested probably our two best back rowers.

No biggy.

 

[thommo4pm]

Not a major concern at all.

Canberra had 44 sets to our 31, they should have beat us by more.
Strangely enough I thought we played pretty well.

I'm feeling more confident now than I did before today.
And today's game didn't take as much out of us as what the same game last year did.

Bring on Newcastle next week.

 

[SET2JT]

I just got home from the game. Our Army was great. What killed us was about five 50/50 calls going to the Raiders in the 2nd half, starting with the knock on call that should have been.

 

[Mighty Saints]

I just got home from the game. Our Army was great. What killed us was about five 50/50 calls going to the Raiders in the 2nd half, starting with the knock on call that should have been.

It's funny, but I think that decision not to award a knock on was a vital one. Things like that turn a game. Mind you.....their pass was more than a little forward which led to the try.....all those things add up.

I was stunned at how much possession the Raiders had.

I think now it's going to be a test of the teams mental toughness.

 

[Drew-Sta]

I thought we played well, all things considered.

Canberra were electric. Had me managed to hold on to them until the 60th minute we would have run away. Once they scored that first try, they got a boost and then scored another two in quick succession.

Gas, Jamie, Soward, Horse, Fien - All played well. The team played well, we just got jumped by the Green Machine who arc'd up in the second half.

Notice when we finally did get the ball, they were fricken tired and had we had more time to compose ourselves, I think we could have chased them down.

 

[Godz Illa]

They were camped in our quarter for the first 40 minutes and we kept them at bay. As per our usual modus operandi, we played with patience waiting for the flow of possession and field position to balance out... it never did.

 

[dubby]

I have to hand it to you guys, you have impressed me with your sportsmanship. If this was a Roosters thread the bitching would be dominating every post.

Good luck for the rest of 2010 STG.

 

[grandorient]

You too dubby, thanks.

GO

 

[Ulysseus]

I have to hand it to you guys, you have impressed me with your sportsmanship. If this was a Roosters thread the bitching would be dominating every post.

Good luck for the rest of 2010 STG.

We do what we can
If there is no real controversy, why try and invent it?, we will leave that to another group of supporters who are still bitching about a loss last year which led to them declaring both match ups this year as "Revenge matches" and lost both of them, scoring a total of 12 points in two games........
Saints were.........
Beaten.On.The.Day.
Simple as that, and by a team that had it all to play for and everything to lose, there was extensive pressure on Canberra, and they delivered.

The only question it raises, to a degree, is that when Canberra are capable of that result, why the f**k can't they do it more consistently so they are not dog fighting for one roll of the dice in September and are instead perched safely in the top four?

 

[dubby]

.

The only question it raises, to a degree, is that when Canberra are capable of that result, why the f**k can't they do it more consistently so they are not dog fighting for one roll of the dice in September and are instead perched safely in the top four?

Mate, we've been asking the same thing all year.

We do have a very young team with a very young coach. It was always going to take time to get the best from this team. The important thing is, they are getting better.

I anticipate we will be even better next year. We have so many players under 50 NRL games (Dugan, Vidot, McCrone, Waddell, Buttriss, Fensom and not to mention the coach) who will be better next year, and then we have some more with 100 or less (Miller just cracked 100, Campese, Picker, TLL)

Good days ahead for the Raiders!

I have to say this about the "chokers" tag: I think its crap. You guys have been the model of consistency for a long time. That is something every club should aspire to. The clubs who fade in and out each year have no right to label a more consistent side as "chokers" until they can learn consistency themselves.