Six weeks ago, the Canberra Raiders season was in tatters. They were in eleventh on the ladder, their season on life support. They held a meeting where they put it all on the line, and since then, they have gone 6-1 to secure a trip to face Melbourne in week one of the finals.
“No-one expected us to be here where we are now,” said captain Elliott Whitehead. “Six weeks ago, we all spoke about how we had to win six games to be in there and it took the pressure away knowing that.
“We’re not just here to make up the numbers. We’re here and we’re a definite threat. As you can see with the table, it’s a different top eight this year and any team can win it. We’ll be looking to give it a shake up.”
Whitehead revealed that the meeting focused on cutting off outside noise and drama around the club, as well as concentrating on the first principles that had made the Raiders an effective team.
The ‘weak-gutted dog’ incident, in which coach Ricky Stuart, was just the latest in a range of issues that have affected the club in the last 18 months.
“It was just us boys concentrating on ourselves and not worrying about the outside noise,” said the england international. “That’s where we had been letting ourselves down.
“If we put our faith in what we believe in as a squad and do the game plan that we get told, we play well. I think we’ve done that and we’re growing in confidence.
“For us as a squad, we play better when we make it all about us and don’t worry about the opposition. If we think about us, we complete our sets and finish in corners like we speak about all week, usually we come out with a result.
“We made a big focus on concentrating on us and not worrying about others because we believe we can match any team on our day, and if we do our things right, then we can match.”
The success since that meeting has earned Canberra a trip to AAMI Park at the weekend, where they have historically been more successful than most.
“It’s going to be a grinding game, especially against Melbourne, and it might take 20 or 30 minutes to crack them,” sid Whitehead.
“It’s going to be one of those arm wrestles where we go back and forth for a while. Hopefully we can come out of top and get the win.”
For Whitehead, the meeting empowered him as a leader, and now he is looking to bring his big game experience to the finals, and to help some of the younger squad members who will get their first taste of finals footy.
“In the past, I’ve sat back and probably not spoken up when I’ve needed to, whereas now, I’ll be one of the first to speak up,” he said.
“With Jack Wighton, Josh Papali’i and Joe Tapine we have a good leadership crew underneath me and we’re building good.
“I’ve been around a long time now and I’ve played in big games, World Cup Finals, NRL Finals and over in Super League. I’ve got the experience.
“At this time of the year, a lot of people get nervous, but for me as a leader, I have that experience to make the younger boys a bit calmer and make them believe in what they do.”
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