Who is the Raiders' most important player?

[kaon]

Thankfully, the balance of our side is so great that unlike the Roosters, Broncos and knights, we don't fall to bits when we lose a player but that poses the question, Who is the MVP for the Raiders?

The contenders are Schifcofske, McLinden, Drew, Woolford, Wiki, Davico and Croker. With our forward depth, it comes down to Schifcofske and McLinden.

Even though Choc is the person who organises our defence from the back, a vital attacking weapon, ever reliable (at least 99% ) fullback and goal kicker, i feel the time most damage is done to our side is when McLinden goes off or is moved. At least 50% of our tries have been setup by Mac in the second half of the season which in my view, is reason enough to call him our MVP.


What does everyone else think, Schifcofske or McLinden?

 

[kaon]

Forgot to add that both these players were injured against the Eagles (i think Clinton was carrying his from last week) and without them fully fit for the finals, i think we will struggle to score any points.

 

[Ms_Greenmachine]

That's a really good question! Macca plays well at 1/2 and Choc is our best fullback inyears I would have to say both of tehem it's to hard to single out one of them. :roll:

 

[legend]

At the moment, I think Macca is our most important player but the injuries aren't too bad.

We still have Martin, Weyman, Hodgson, Robertson, Graham, Monaghan and Cross waiting in the wings. We have depth baby and the blokes should be ok for next week.

 

[bucko]

How about the forwards. If we leave the backs for a moment and look at our pack who is the mvp?? I think It's out of Wiki, O Hara and Hindmarsh myself. Hindmarsh is our best tackler all year statistics wise out of the forwards, besides toots who spends his time at 5/8 now. I think O Hara is our most damaging runner, and Wiki adds his own brand of grunt and power. So it's hard to pick this one.

 

[Edwahu]

It would be between Schif, Wiki and Davico as the players who make the most difference over the season for mine.

Schif is just brilliant in every facet and he adds an unpredictable aspect to our side. Davico takes alot of pressure of the other forwards by doing the softening up work and taking care of the bash and barge. Wiki is just inspirational and does what Davico does but wider, so the backs benifit.

I agree Macca is becoming more and more important and J.Monas is becoming a real go-to player. If there was any justice he would start getting mentions as a Kangaroo bolter.

 

[legend]

In the forwards, I have to say Davico has been leading the way in the last month and I think he and Wiki are the rocks to build our finals campaign around.

O'Hara has been quiet of late but I think he will come good at the right end of the season.

Joel should be on the Kangaroo tour. He has been sensational this year with 16 tries. An absolute superstar in the making and he never fails to dispoint.

I think we are emerging as a true contender in the eyes of the media and if we beat the Roosters and Bullodgs leding up to the semis, no one will stop us.

 

[dubby]

Like the old saying says, i'd rather have a champion team than team of champions. This is the best balanced team the Raiders have had in years.

Choc, Macca, Wiki, Davico, are my picks, yet are never mentioned come rep time(except Wike, F.O.R). Gus Gould cries about the salary cap, yet we do alright. Actually, i might go pick a fight in the NRL thread... 8)

 

[Ultima]

I can't pick anyone.... Hmm... Elliot?

 

[mike83au]

My pick would be Schif.

I'm sure i don't have to preach about how good he is at fullback, but he's also an important senior player in team and good goalkicker.

 

[legend]

What I have noticed in the last couple of weeks is we are getting respect. A close loss to the Roosters and a win against the odds against Manly have seen supporters of the Bulldogs start to think there might be more than just two teams vying for a grand final berth.

Ideally, once the finals start and depending on injury, I would like Canberra to field this side and see how we go:

Schif
Joel
Mogg
Booger
Lolesi
Croker
Macca
Smith
Wiki
Hindmarsh
Davico
Woolford
O'Hara

Drew
Hodgson
Thompson/Tongue
Martin/Cross

The luxury is we have guys who can step up at a moments notice and I have not included Weyman, Robbo, Graham and Evans. We can cover every position multiple times over and not skip a beat.

 

[Paullyboy]

Has anyone been checking out the First Division team? Because id love to know how Phil Graham is going, i really loved watching his genuine speed.

 

[Raider_69]

I think Schif is the most important to the team...... however the experience of woolford, davico, wiki and croker is invaluable!

 

[greeneyed]

I didn't see the last two weeks of Premier League, but before that Phil Graham was still looking a bit lost/down on confidence. It might be the 68 point drubbing last week helped clean out the cobwebs.

 

[Raider_69]

the great thing about the raiders this year is that simple fact

Graham would get a start at almost any other club and with a fair few no matter how poorly he was playing he would get in top grade

This year Elliot is picking off form and he isnt just going to drop someone if they arnt doing anything wrong i.e See Boogs and Graham

i great to see such depth at the club!
I agree with Jenno, something special is building up

 

[kaon]

I agree it's great that Elliott is picking solely on form, as he should.

 

[I Bleed Green]

Graham played excellently last week against Manly, I think he scored one or two, and set up one more. He was also very solid in defence. But he looks to have lost some speed as of late, he wasn't as fast as he was at the beginning of the year. I wonder if he's playing injured? His right knee might be troubling him, he's had it strapped for a few weeks now.

 

[Raider_69]

Graham played excellently last week against Manly, I think he scored one or two, and set up one more. He was also very solid in defence. But he looks to have lost some speed as of late, he wasn't as fast as he was at the beginning of the year. I wonder if he's playing injured? His right knee might be troubling him, he's had it strapped for a few weeks now.

what i think he might be doing is bulking up a bit to become a better defender, while trying to retain as much speed as possible. If this is what he is doing, i recon it is a great idea

 

[Ultima]

I would assume the same... The rest of the team bulked up a lot but Graham didn't change that much (at least visibly). Also he scored one try last weekend... He should be able to keep most of his speed if he bulks up the right way!!!