It's probably all been covered by now, but my thoughts on the match:
I'm not stoked we lost, but in a way, I am a little glad... the hype was getting a bit much, and no matter how hard they try not, I'm sure there's some young blokes in our team letting it to get their head
The Raiders deserved to win. They weren't outlandishly better than us or anything, but right from the off you could see the intensity they brought, and they didn't let up for most of the match. They are an ugly, dirty team though.
Five wins on the trot has papered over some of the cracks, which were a little more exposed last night. We've all mentioned it - forcing the play and not respecting possession. We don't need to try and score off every play, some of these blokes need to understand that. Build pressure and it will come.
I'm not a big fan of a forward passing it to another forward just to take a hit-up, with almost no momentum built-up. I'm sure there's a reason we're doing this, but it just seems to me like more of a risk of a dropped ball, with no real improved gain. Yes, Patty is passing more this year, but it's getting a bit much - pick and choose when to pass, otherwise you lose that element of unpredictability.
Every try we let in last night was a throwback to the last few seasons. Some absolutely ghastly defence. That try Rapana scored from dummy-half just isn't acceptable at this level of footy. That was pathetic. The focus was really lacking in defence last night, which we saw in our woeful kick-chase too.
