BY ROB

For the second week running the Canberra Raiders stunned their opponents with a three try combo before taking a wrong turn into frustratingly familiar territory.

There would have been many in the green fanbase secretly hoping this would be the week that the Raiders would blow the opposing team off the park. After last week’s golden point heart attack we wanted to see an absolute routing, a points romp in green.

For the first twenty minutes the Raiders obliged. The likes of Taufa, Kelly-Sines and Holyman punished the Eels down the middle corridor, while Robins-Reti and Bartlett handled the early dirty yardage coming out of the Raiders forty.

The Raiders first try was a thing of beauty. If it could be contained in a static image you’d frame it, march into the NGA and stick it on the wall. Playing the ball twenty out on the Eels left hand side Canberra used quick hands, including a wrap-around play from Zahara and Quinlan. The wrap-around put Quinlan into space, drawing defenders. It was already too late for the Eels – Quinlan popped a pass behind the back of a defender straight to Cheyelle Robins-Reti who in turn got the ball away to Maddy Bartlett, who capped off a brilliant passage of play.

The next try was comically easy. Playing it eight out in front of the posts Chante fired it right to her sister who jogged along the ten-metre line (normally I’m less than impressed with halves who run sideways but Zehara had bugger all room to move in and it turned out alright) before dropping it back inside to Holyman, who simply muscled her way past three tired defenders to score under the crossbar.

The Raiders third try came when Temara caught the Eels left winger up in the line. Twenty out on the third tackle she put in a short kick trying to pick up a racing Shakiah Tungai, who managed to get just the right amount of toe on ball before being rudely taken out by the Eels. It was such a perfect second effort that Alanna Dummett simply strolled into the in-goal and grounded it.

The Raiders were flying after twenty minutes of top shelf footy – and then they tried to get clever. Suddenly every set became a chance to score – passes got pushed, plays got muddled. Chante Temara dived at the Eels line, only to find the ball coming loose as she tried to ground it. A series of errors and penalties piggybacked Parramatta down to the Raiders line, where, in the 28th minute they finally crossed for their first try. The Raiders were struggling and yours truly was desperate for that half-time whistle to sound. The Raiders went to the sheds 12 points up, with a dejected Soliola icing her leg and Kemp waiting on the all clear from a HIA.

The Eels picked up where they left off two minutes after the break. Playing at dummy half Rachael Pearson kicked across-field into the waiting arms of Kimberley Hunt who crossed easily to score. The Raiders shot back with a medium range try. Forty out on their left they executed another good sweep, this time finding Nicholls in space, who managed to get in behind two defenders before getting the ball to Tungai who raced the last twenty metres to score out on the right edge.

The Eels turned the tide back their way, scoring when Zahara slid too far in defence, leaving Elise Smith with the too-hard task of wrapping up Abbi Church close to the line.

The Raiders fifth try was pure scramble. Ten metres out from the Eels line they went short side on the left, ran out of room and then simply turned back the other way, Bartlett linking with Quinlan who found a powering Robins-Reti. Despite defenders everywhere Parramatta couldn’t wrap her up, with CRR scoring a much deserved try.

The Eels finally scoring play came from some surprisingly lax Canberra defence. Thirty five out Cassey Tohi-Hiku caught the Raiders napping, scooting out of dummy half and sprinting past the likes of Chante, Matua and Quinlan before brushing off a diving Nicholls as she crossed the line.

The Raiders weathered the last ten minutes, walking off victors with a six point margin. There are defensive questions to be asked at training this coming week, and I’m certain that coach Borthwick will be reinforcing the idea that for this team simplicity can be a good thing, particularly when they’re up 18-0.

Taufa again led through the middle (12 carries/143 metres/58pcm). Chuck in 46 tackles and you can see why she’s the foundation of the Raiders platform. The backline churned through a ton of yardage, with Nicholls and Bartlett passing 170+ metres and Robins-Reti and Dummett breaking 100 (Tungai only had 88, but these were more than offset by her try and try-assist).

The forwards had a quieter game, but Matua and Kemp had some absolute line-benders while Kelly-Sines, Holyman and Smith shores things up with consistent carries (fingers crossed that Soliola just has mild bruising and is fit for the next round). In a somewhat weird turn of events Zahara didn’t engage in much positional kicking, probably because she was too busy laying on sharp passes and try-saving tackles.

The Raiders will no doubt find themselves in this situation again – three tries up and on a roll. It’s key that the next time this happens they don’t get carried away. Simple up-the-middle footy is more than acceptable, particularly when you have Taufa at your disposal. Their “guns-blazing” game is coming, they just need to keep cool when it does.

Rob loves the Canberra Raiders and also you. You can follow Rob on Twitter here. For other great takes you could follow Viv here, or you can do us a solid and like our page on Facebook, follow Dan on Twitter (or Threads!) or share this on social media. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.