Are Canberra The Real Deal?

[Morkel]

They are a far better team then that Eels team from 2009.

You reckon? The Eels pack was pretty decent, lead by Hindmarsh, Cayless, Moimoi, Mateo, Mannah. All were in career best form. They Made Kingston, Keating and Mortimer look serviceable. Even Inu was keeping his stupidity in check.

The Raiders for mine are literally just throwing the football around. It's exciting to watch, and they have some very talented players who benefit from the style, but I don't think it's deliberate. Ricky has never been able to coach attack, There is no structure. No game plan beyond "keep the ball alive, offload, be ready to support". It's working for now, but won't work for finals footy. There are some very dumb footballers in that team.

Granted, how last week's impressive defensive display fits in I don't know. I'm claiming anomoly.

 

[Cult]

I don't remember, did the Eels of '09 have an easy draw too?

 

[Alec]

I remember there was a pretty crazy Sam Williams fan here. Probably excited about seeing him play again.

 

[Big Pete]

Would the Raiders have struggled if they had the Broncos draw?

At the end of the day, the Raiders have succeeded because Ricky Stuart was able to put together a quality 17 and keep them on the field. I don't think the quality of the opposition comes into it. Who are they supposed to beat? Cronulla? Done. Melbourne? Did that too. I personally think the Cowboys and the Broncos can beat them, but if the Raiders had have played either it would have been the Raiders coming out on top. Especially when the Broncos were playing that awful style of football in Round 20-21.

I think their run is an indication of this season. So many teams have just played themselves out of contention, that if you're able to keep your head above water and jag a few wins you'll be right. That's why Melbourne have been so dominant despite not being as impressive during their 'too good to be true' years. That's why a team like the Gold Coast Titans have rocketed into contention, it isn't so much that they're playing like a Top 8 side, rather so many other teams have dropped off.

In that sense, I think it's very similar to 2009. That year the likes of Manly, New Zealand, Cronulla, Sydney etc. fell off so a lot of teams like St George Illawarra, Canterbury, Gold Coast etc. found themselves in positions they shouldn't have been in and the form guide was far more relevant than it had ever been.

 

[vertigo]

It's certainly a blow, but as Rally Towel said, Josh Hodgson is their man.

They were winning without Austin and I'd dare say they'll still win without him.

It also doesn't help with the combinations side of things..

I'd say that's the only problem they face - the gelling of combinations.

The Raiders halves have been a non-factor this year and people who say it revolves around Austin obviously haven't watched many of their matches this year and are just repeating catch phrases from last year.

 

[LittleDavey]

Would the Raiders have struggled if they had the Broncos draw?

At the end of the day, the Raiders have succeeded because Ricky Stuart was able to put together a quality 17 and keep them on the field. I don't think the quality of the opposition comes into it. Who are they supposed to beat? Cronulla? Done. Melbourne? Did that too. I personally think the Cowboys and the Broncos can beat them, but if the Raiders had have played either it would have been the Raiders coming out on top. Especially when the Broncos were playing that awful style of football in Round 20-21.

I think their run is an indication of this season. So many teams have just played themselves out of contention, that if you're able to keep your head above water and jag a few wins you'll be right. That's why Melbourne have been so dominant despite not being as impressive during their 'too good to be true' years. That's why a team like the Gold Coast Titans have rocketed into contention, it isn't so much that they're playing like a Top 8 side, rather so many other teams have dropped off.

In that sense, I think it's very similar to 2009. That year the likes of Manly, New Zealand, Cronulla, Sydney etc. fell off so a lot of teams like St George Illawarra, Canterbury, Gold Coast etc. found themselves in positions they shouldn't have been in and the form guide was far more relevant than it had ever been.

Yup, like Gus said during the Dogs/Cows game lastnight, to win this thing there needs to be a team who will win 3-4 games in a row against other top-8 teams. At the moment, it's not clear who has that in them. Obviously once we get to knockout games, someone will do it because there's not another option. But it's far from clear who will. I'm still on the fence with the Raiders, but there's no doubt losing Austin is a significant blow.

 

[Porthoz]

Would the Raiders have struggled if they had the Broncos draw?

At the end of the day, the Raiders have succeeded because Ricky Stuart was able to put together a quality 17 and keep them on the field. I don't think the quality of the opposition comes into it. Who are they supposed to beat? Cronulla? Done. Melbourne? Did that too. I personally think the Cowboys and the Broncos can beat them, but if the Raiders had have played either it would have been the Raiders coming out on top. Especially when the Broncos were playing that awful style of football in Round 20-21.

I think their run is an indication of this season. So many teams have just played themselves out of contention, that if you're able to keep your head above water and jag a few wins you'll be right. That's why Melbourne have been so dominant despite not being as impressive during their 'too good to be true' years. That's why a team like the Gold Coast Titans have rocketed into contention, it isn't so much that they're playing like a Top 8 side, rather so many other teams have dropped off.

In that sense, I think it's very similar to 2009. That year the likes of Manly, New Zealand, Cronulla, Sydney etc. fell off so a lot of teams like St George Illawarra, Canterbury, Gold Coast etc. found themselves in positions they shouldn't have been in and the form guide was far more relevant than it had ever been.

I agree with most of the post, but that bit in bold there... round #14 disagrees with you.

 

[Big Pete]

Just to be clear, I was talking about recent form. Say if the Broncos or the Cowboys had have been in the Sharks or Storm's shoes, the Raiders would have won regardless. They were too hot while the Broncos and Cows were struggling to find their feet at that time.

In saying that, it's hypothetical and most importantly in the past. You can boot up some Queen, get that 'Another One Bites The Dust Playing' because that's one less team to worry about taking the premiership.

 

[Broncoman]

You reckon? The Eels pack was pretty decent, lead by Hindmarsh, Cayless, Moimoi, Mateo, Mannah. All were in career best form. They Made Kingston, Keating and Mortimer look serviceable. Even Inu was keeping his stupidity in check.

The Raiders for mine are literally just throwing the football around. It's exciting to watch, and they have some very talented players who benefit from the style, but I don't think it's deliberate. Ricky has never been able to coach attack, There is no structure. No game plan beyond "keep the ball alive, offload, be ready to support". It's working for now, but won't work for finals footy. There are some very dumb footballers in that team.

Granted, how last week's impressive defensive display fits in I don't know. I'm claiming anomoly.

Yes I think they are.

They are a lot more consistent to start of with. The 2009 Parramatta team had a 4 game losing streak at the start of the season and before their charge at the start of round 19 they had only won 5 games. The 2016 Raiders at the start of round 19 had won 12 games and had a draw as well and are currently on a winning streak.

The Parramatta lineup in the 2009 grand final was 1-17; Jarryd Hayne, Luke Burt, Krisnan Inu, Joel Reddy, Eric Grothe jnr, Daniel Mortimer, Jeff Robson, Nathan Cayless, Matthew Keating, Fuifui Moi Moi, Nathan Hindmarsh, Ben Smith, Todd Lowrie, Kevin Kingston, Feleti Mateo, Joe Gaulavo, Tim Mannah.

At full strength the Raiders team that beat the Storm in their best show of the year (from what I've seen) was 1-17; Jack Wighton, Edrick Lee, Jarrod Croker, Joseph Leilua, Jordan Rapana, Blake Austin, Aiden Sezer, Junior Paulo, Josh Hodgson, Shannon Boyd, Josh Papali, Elliot Whitehead, Iosia Soliala, Luke Bateman, Clay Priest, Joseph Tapane, Kurt Baptiste

That spine the Raiders have is miles better than the Parra one. Just having Sezer, Austin and Hodgson there makes them better as Robson, Mortimer and Keating aren't fit to tie their shoelaces. Of course though Hayne will always be picked over Wighton. In the backs they are all over the Eels as that Eels attack was pretty much Hayne and Grothe. Forwards is a lot closer but I would still rather the Raiders over that Eels pack all round as they are a lot more reliable than that Parra one. I can still remember though just how great Fui Fui was in 2009 that try he scored in the Grand Final was one of the best tries in a grand final I've ever seen. Hindmarsh was also an awesome player and I think he would've made 60 tackles at least in the grand final so he would be there over Whitehead.

The Raiders this year have scored 592 points and counting while the Eels of 2009 scored 476. Defensively the Raiders have conceded 416 and counting while the 2009 Eels conceded 473.

 

[benbarba]

The Raiders were pretty poor in their win against a severely depleted Manly today. Their defence in particular was abysmal. They won't trouble the top teams come the finals.

 

[abashii]

Canberra are stuffed. They played like crap today and only got away with it because Manly were worse. Instead of revving up his players or trying to learn from it, supercoach Sticky threw a fit about the refs and says he'll give Tony Archer a call.

 

[Alec]

Raiders have been like that all season. You never know which team will show up.