With only five games remaining and the battle for spots in the top eight closer than ever before, the battle at the other end of the table between the Knights, Sharks and Raiders for the wooden spoon is one that all lovers of rugby league will keep an eye on.
I have often spoken before about that the best defensive side in the NRL deserves to win the competition. It follows that the worse defensive side in the NRL deserves to ‘win’ the wooden spoon.
When you look at the numbers as they stand, the Knights have conceded 449 points at an average of 23 points per game, the Sharks have conceded 481 points at an average of 25 points per game and the Raiders have conceded 527 points at an average of 28 points per game.
With those numbers, the Raiders are almost double what the Rabbitohs have conceded this year, and it makes you wonder what the mindset of the players is when, in the end, defence comes down to attitude.
For the third time this year we saw Canberra concede 50 points or more on the weekend and as a player you would be embarrassed by that. Defence is something you, as a player and a club, pride yourself on. When teams can score that many points against you in such an even competition due to the balance and talent equalisation of the salary cap, the question of attitude and commitment has to be asked.
For me, it has been Canberra’s downfall all year.
We have seen them beat the Rabbitohs, Storm and the Cowboys, but at stages throughout this year their performances have been below NRL standards.
You can accept an off day but to concede, on average, almost five converted tries per game and more than 50 points on three occasions throughout the year is totally unacceptable.
Some are suggesting that the Raiders don’t have enough top quality players but I disagree.
No team can down the likes of the Rabbitohs, Storm and Cowboys unless the ability is there.
I’m sure Ricky Stuart and his coaching staff are doing all that is possible to prepare the team but the commitment and determination to defend must come from within and the players should be taking a long, hard look at themselves.
It is imperative that they put in a huge effort over the remaining five games; if not for themselves then their hardy band of supporters and club sponsors.
Pride must return to their ranks – what we saw from them against the Warriors at the weekend was dreadful and not up to NRL standard.
If the attitude of the Raiders players doesn’t change over the coming weeks, I can only see the wooden spoon for 2014 going to The Green Machine.
Elma Dudd
Guest
And when they get the spoon all the players should stand in a circle and take turns at beating tricky with it .
Meesta Cool
Guest
In the games that Raiders have won this year, their tactic of entertaining 'throw the ball anywhere' as come off. some days it will!, HOWEVER, on most days those balls will not be lucky enough to hit their mark, (these were the 50 point games), Yes it comes down to attitude and BAD coaching and a weak game plan. I can see a shocking comparison with last years Eels and this years Raiders , is it coincidence?.
LewieC
Guest
'Canberra Raiders deserve the wooden spoon'. Yes they do, they hired Ricky Stuart!
Muzz
Guest
D is mostly commitment and attitude and this reflects on a coaches ability to convey his message re structures and motivate his players.I mentioned in an off season thread that Parra 2013 conceded 101 tries, more than double some of the other teams.The writing was on the wall but the Raiders board chose to overlook such an important stat.
watcher
Guest
3rd party agreements are why the Roosters (or as Warriors fans call them the Rorters) stockpile players. Meanwhile teams like the Titans and Sharks are in the gun for Salary cap breaches. It is not an even playing field.
parrafan
Guest
I'm glad Milford will be restricted to one side of the field. No offence but I think you might be lacking in the forwards and if I were Brad Arthur I'd be instructing the forwards to run at Milford all afternoon.
Magic Sponge
Guest
Ricky can do it. Spoon it
Jim
Guest
I'm not convinced that Williams or Thompson have their contracts topped up? Williams has been shipped off to England anyway, and Thompson is on good money at Saints, but hardly on marquee money.
Jim
Guest
I'm not convinced that Williams or Thompson have their contracts topped up? Williams has been shipped off to England anyway, and Thompson is on good money at Saints, but hardly on marquee money.
bunger
Guest
Absolutely. The Raiders do all the hard work, then your modern selfish player buggers off, biting the hand that fed it, time after time, after time..after time....The NRL ...makes me laugh.
bunger
Guest
Yeah. The Raiders are not defending well. Sure. That's true. I was at the game watching disinterested players, browns cows and touch football tackling. The players, the coach, club and fans have been taking lots of lows and insult after injury in many ways for a while now. If u ask me, its all simply too much at the end of the season and the players have given up. As a fan, I don't blame Ricky, I don't 100% blame the players...I blame a lot of things.
bj
Guest
This is what annoys me about rugby league journalism and writing. steve mentions the 'equalization of the salary cap' but fails to dig deeper and see that the Raiders have lost 5 juniors in the last year such as dugan, sam Williams, Joel tompson, Anthony milford and matt allwood who are or will have part of their contract topped up by 3rd party deals. This is where the salary cap and nrl rules are hurting the Raiders and helping other teams
bj
Guest
This is what annoys me about rugby league journalism and writing. steve mentions the 'equalization of the salary cap' but fails to dig deeper and see that the Raiders have lost 5 juniors in the last year such as dugan, sam Williams, Joel tompson, Anthony milford and matt allwood who are or will have part of their contract topped up by 3rd party deals. This is where the salary cap and nrl rules are hurting the Raiders and helping other teams
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
I might need to see a psychiatrist but I really like the look of the Raiders team this week. Jordan Rapana at full back who has been playing well with South Logan, Jack Wighton back in the centres will stiffen up the defence, big Edrick Lee on the wing after what looked like a season ending injury, Milford in the halves will offer some creativity, Kennedy back to the second row, McIlwrick to lock and Cornish on the bench. At least Stuart has had the balls to make a few changes. I probably shouldn't be but I'm actually excited to how this side will go on Saturday.
Parrafan
Guest
Yet Cornish is still coming off the bench.
david
Guest
3rd party payments mean the salary cap is far from equal. Not sure why people keep saying that the salary cap makes the comp equal. It does not it just stops teams from going broke.
Pete
Guest
You say "I’m sure Ricky Stuart and his coaching staff are doing all that is possible to prepare the team but the commitment and determination to defend must come from within and the players should be taking a long, hard look at themselves" The problem is Ricky Stuart has no idea how to fix it and that's the biggest problem.
MJB
Guest
Good news, apparently Milford is playing in the halves this weekend.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
McFadden seems to be just the coach that the Warriors needed. Listening to Alan Tongue on the ABC radio commentary of the game he was very impressed with the way the Warriors followed up tries with sensible options such as finding touch near the Raiders tryline and putting pressure on the opposition. Other Warriors team of the past may have tried to play with too much razzle dazzle and lost possession. I'm pretty sure that the Raiders were disappointed to see McFadden go as they really rated him as a coach but he saw an opportunity in NZ and who could blame him. I suppose the Raiders could have thrown more money at him. In terms of the Raiders U20s you're right they've had a pretty lean year. But I'm not sure it's an issue. I suspect the Raiders may be moving away from relying on youth towards recruiting more experienced players as we've seen with the three players recruited for next year who are in their mid to late 20s. The Raiders have been burnt in the past by the immature behaviour of Carney and Dugan and the loss of the homesick Milford to the Broncos. All are great players who were expected to be the backbone of the club for the following 10 years but for one reason or another ended up elsewhere. The club must be gutted to see young players they've invested scarce resources into playing their best football with other clubs.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
The defensive issues have been partly created by Croker having to cover for Campese's defensive errors which leaves other players unmarked. Have to agree with your comments about the ridiculous 2nd tier system. The Raiders have no opportunity to blood young players for the rest of the season such as Jeremy Hawkins, Patrick Mago, Luke Bateman etc who are proving themselves in reserve grade. It is probably a similar situation for other clubs. The NRL really has to look at this issue. The Raiders problems have been compounded by the fact that Ricky Stuart won't pick one of the highest paid players in his squad in Tom Leoroyd-Lahrs (when he's not injured) and his highest paid player in Campese is not performing. That's about 1 mill down the drain. I hope the club has learnt from the experience with Campese to never in future lock in players on five year contracts. It's too much of a risk. Campese missed two seasons with knee reconstructions and has been virtually a passenger this year. All while earning top dollar which could have been spent on other players. Campese was never going to be anywhere else but the Raiders so why lock him in for 5 years?