BY ROB

Round 8 sees the Green Machine undertake their first rematch of the season as the Sharks travel to the nation’s capital for a spot of Sunday arvo footy. Cronulla-Sutherland are currently flying high in 1st place, courtesy of a 5-1 record spiced up with an easy 2 points from their bye. The Raiders are only one win behind them, but a 4-3 start to the season has them down in 8th. The logjam is real.

Both teams enter this round with an adjusted available roster. The Raiders now face 12 weeks without the cool head and kicking game of J-Fog aka Bomb Daddy after he underwent surgery for a ruptured bicep, while the Sharks find themselves without the services of Braydon Tindall, who exercised extremely poor judgement behind the wheel. How both sides cope with these changes will be an insight into their fortunes going forward.

The Milk must surely be keen to get back in front of a favourable home crowd after a disastrous trip to Suncorp. The Broncos were almost in Globetrotter mode in the rain, countering the Raiders early possession/position by running in freakishly athletic tries that left those in green playing stuck in the mud.

The Raiders need a medium game plan this week: get Tapine to weaken the line through the middle with his huge carries, and then either try and poke in behind the ruck to get defenders collapsing in or go wide to try and catch the Sharks short. Canberra should also explore the early shift if the opportunity presents itself.

The key metric in this game (like all others) is completion rates/ball control/possession. The Raiders dropped far too much ball in their loss to the Sharks in Rd4, and you can bet Sticky will have been on their case all week about the need to get to kicks and so on.

Changes

Kaeo Weekes makes his debut in green (excluding trial games), taking up the spot of Fogarty. When he paired with Strange in the trial it was with Weekes as the secondary half, so don’t be surprised if this comes into play again Sunday. In those games they played opposite sides and it should give Canberra running/kicking options either side of the ruck.

The Opposition

The Sharks have snuck into 1st place partly by playing a host of sides that have erratically spasmed in and out of form over the opening rounds. Their only loss came against an energised Wests outfit (who’ve since gone off the boil). Not undermine what they’ve done thus far (now watch as I do) but they’ve got arguably one of the softest draws possible this year. Still anything can happen on game day, and the Raiders will need to be mindful they don’t fall into the complacency of round four. The Sharks currently boast the best differential thanks to some mild blowouts, and are only bettered on PA by the Storm and the Panthers.

Match-ups

Danny Levi vs Blayke Brailey

Levi ran hot and cold against the Broncos, laying on an excellent grubber for Huddo’s no-try and then fumbling a very greasy Steeden minutes later. He needs to be at 100% if the Raiders are to maximise their forwards getting a roll-on. Brailey provides excellent service for the Shire guys at nine (what a dream that would be), and Raiders defenders need to be awake to any plays he sets up close to the line.

Morgan Smithies vs Cameron McInnes

We had this match-up back in round four (thanks auto fill!) but it bears repeating – both of these players are key ingredients in the fortification of defence either side of the ruck, while also adding an extra tinge of doubt for defenders when they’re carrying the ball. Both get through a huge amount of work without complaint.

Rookie Radar

All eyes and hearts will be with Stewart this round as he takes the next step on the journey of a young fullback. Anyone calling for him to get turfed at this point can, quite frankly, get fucked. He’s an 18 year old learning arguably the hardest position in the game, and needs to be afforded the space and time to make mistakes and learn from them. Don’t make me tap the “No Death Riding” sign.

In Conclusion

The Raiders currently are teetering near the bottom of the 8 and a loss here could see them fall out (as I write this the Roosters in 9th have just walloped the Dragons). While we’re all keenly aware of the rebuilding status of 2024 it’d be nice to see some short-term learning gains and another Raiders win come Sunday evening.

Raiders by 6!

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