Welcome back Canberra Raiders. We missed you. Obviously it would be presumptuous at this stage to suggest that the Raiders are out of the hole they dug for themselves during the first ten weeks of the season.
But for a weary Raiders fan base Sunday’s win against the Warriors on the permafrost at Canberra Stadium was a pleasant return to form.
The Lime Green were vastly improved from the embarrassing performance against Melbourne the previous Monday and the small crowd who turned out on a beautiful autumn afternoon were well rewarded for their loyalty.
For only the second time this season the Raiders actually scored more points in the second half than in the first half. More importantly they managed to prevent the Warriors from scoring at all in the final fifty minutes of the game.
This sort of tenacious defence was sadly missing in previous rounds, and in particular against the Storm.
More than the score line or even the defensive performance though, it was the return of the verve in attack was most exciting. With 24 offloads in the game (taking the Lime Green to 143 for the season which is equal top of the league) and with an obvious mandate to go wide early, Canberra reinvigorated an offence that had struggled all season.
Let us hope that the performance against the Warriors is an indication of improvement from Canberra and not an indication of how directionless the Warriors are at the moment.
The Good
Jarrod Croker was simply phenomenal. According to the NRL statistics Croker had 11 runs for 149m, 10 tackle breaks, 4 line breaks, 2 offloads and 2 try assists. Rugby League statistics are not always an accurate measure of a player’s contribution to the team but I think that little list indicates just how impressive Croker was on Sunday afternoon.
The most incredible part of Croker’s game is his ability to stand up in tackles and either break the first tackle or get an offload. Even with Phil Graham still relocating his best form outside Croker the left side attack is already looking imposing for Canberra.
Of course, congratulations should also go to Terry Campese for not only re-discovering a semblance of the form he showed in late 2008 but also for his selection in the NSW team for State of Origin.
Going into the game on Sunday Campese was probably at long odds to be selected after a poor run of form on his part coincided with a dominant stretch from his main rival for the sky blue number six, Jarrod Mullen.
However, whilst Campese did not have his best game on Sunday – threw an intercept pass, missed four tackles, had three ‘errors’ and even got into a verbal spat with fullback David Milne – he did enough to remind fans, and NSW selectors that he is a top tier creative talent in this game.
With Marc Herbert finally showing some ability and some enthusiasm for attacking the line, Campese may well continue his path back to top form over the next month or so.
It would be remiss of me not to mention that once again the entire forward pack played admirably. With Big Tom Learoyd-Lahrs leading the line and solid efforts from the rest of his cohorts the forwards certainly did their job to create attacking opportunities for the Lime Green.
The Bad
There are still some absolutely bone-headed errors in the Raiders defensive game. Thankfully for the Lime Green the Warriors were not able to capitalise but if I see one more Raiders outside back lurch out of the defensive line and then just bounce off an attacking player I may well scream (truth be told I already did scream at Jarrod Croker for doing just that).
There is also a budding selection conundrum for David Furner with neither Adrian Purtell nor Phil Graham looking especially dangerous at the present time. With the cannonball Justin Carney due back in the side in the near future, and Josh Dugan busy shredding Toyota Cup teams, there will be increased pressure on the two older wingers to prove they should be keeping the young tyros out.
The Ugly
There was hardly anything in this performance that could be described as ugly. It may not have been the most polished performance possible but there were certainly no horrible errors. Perhaps the ugliest part of the game was Terry Campese castigating David Milne after Milne spilled a bomb in the Raiders in-goal.
Had Milne been turning in an error-filled performance it might have been appropriate for Campese to get on his back but as it was Milne was superb aside from that particular mistake.
Mr Sports Verdict
When you’ve only won two games from nine and you’re coming off a forty point drubbing any sort of win is something to be excited about.
The Raiders showed tenacity in defence and vim and vigour in attack. Whether they can continue that form without Terry Campese and against teams that are travelling better than the aimless Warriors remains to be seen. But for now let’s just celebrate the return to form. I give them Seven Victors.
Next Up
For the third time this season the Raiders have the Monday night fixture, this time against the enigmatic Rabbitohs.
The form of the Bunnies has bounced up and down considerably this season and the loss of Craig Wing to Origin duty will be a significant blow. The game is at ANZ Stadium where Canberra actually have a very good record over the last couple of seasons.
The game will turn on which team accounts for the loss of their Origin representative better but I’m tipping the Raiders forward pack to put Canberra in a position to win.
A final thought: just how good is Jarrod Croker?
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