Raiders rue loss of their leader
By Chris Wilson Rugby league
Thursday, 9 September 2004
Experience tells Canberra Raiders coach Matt Elliott he will promote Mark McLinden to the starting side for Sunday's elimination final against the Sydney Roosters at Aussie Stadium.
Elliott is likely to go with the experienced pairing of Brad Drew and McLinden as his hooker-halfback combination, after Raiders skipper Simon Woolford was officially suspended last night.
Represented by Elliott in Sydney, Woolford had his original charge lowered from a grade two to a grade one careless high tackle - effectively banning him for two matches instead of three.
Elliott said he was disappointed, but his only concern on last night's return flight to Canberra was working on ways to cover for his captain.
Already missing experienced players such as Ruben Wiki and Luke Davico, the favoured scenario is to switch Drew from halfback to hooker and bring McLinden off the bench to start at No.7. Veteran Jason Croker will take over the captaincy.
"I probably think in semi-final football you've got to sway towards experience as far as your combinations go. So we're probably looking at Drew and McLinden," Elliott said. "I'm really pleased with the progress of both players. Obviously there was reason for concern about their form, but I've been happy with the way they've played over the last two games in particular.
"Brad's given us some much-needed direction and creativity and Mark, you can see his confidence growing. I'm not going to say that's my final decision, but I probably feel it serves us best."
Elliott's other option is to promote Premier League hooker Jarred Lawrence, who has been endorsed by Woolford.
Lawrence, 27, has played two NRL games this year and trained extensively at dummy- half yesterday.
Elliott won't decide the final make-up of his side until a training session in Sydney on Saturday, but Lawrence is tipped to remain in the 17-man squad.
"The fact he's got some versatility and gives us some backrow cover, I'm going to be hard-pressed to leave him out," Elliott said.
Elliott said Woolford got a "good hearing" last night, the charge resulting from a high tackle made on Souths player Ashley Harrison last weekend.
"I'm a tad disappointed because I wanted Simon available this weekend, but in reality I'm reasonably content," Elliott said.
Woolford also missed a final against the Roosters in 2000 when he was one of three Raiders suspended for a dangerous throw.
"I'm sure the guys [teammates] won't be looking at me saying I've let them down. It's just one of those things that happens," Woolford said.
"You don't want to miss the semi-finals but deep down there was a bit of realism there that I was going to be missing out this week - but you've got to remain hopeful.
"I've been in this position before. I'll train with the guys for the rest of the week and do everything I can to help them prepare for a good performance on Sunday."
Woolford's absence adds to Canberra's inexperience.
The Raiders are expecting the Roosters to target them out wide on Sunday. Rookie wingers Nathan Smith and Marshall Chalk have only played six and two NRL matches respectively. Smith has averaged a try a game, while halk crossed the tryline four times against Souths last weekend. But both are expecting to be targeted in defence.
The Roosters used the high ball effectively against Chalk in his debut, two weeks ago.
"They'll probably target me again because they had some success doing it last time, so I'm going to be looking for a better performance," Chalk said.
"I'm feeling a little bit more confident this week than I was going into that game."
Fullback Clinton Schifcofske (flu) and centre Joel Monaghan (knee) didn't train yesterday, while prop Ryan O'Hara (back) and outside back Phil Graham (ankle) did not complete the field session. All are expected to be fit by the weekend.
Elliott said the Raiders would need a near perfect performance to upset the minor premiers.
"We've got some new people there and we need to make sure everyone executes the plan the way it needs to be executed," Elliott said. "If we don't do that we don't give ourselves any opportunity at all."
