BY ROB

You may have gathered already, courtesy of Dan’s piece, that Sticky has made some interesting selections for the starting 17 in the Raiders second pre-season (challenge!) hit-out. Perhaps the most left-field of these choices is the naming of one Albert Hopoate at fullback. Stuart is clearly keen to experiment with the remaining 80 minutes between now and round 1, no doubt bolstered in confidence by the effort served up by his younger charges last weekend.

Changes

A handful of youngsters from last week’s adventure have been cut to make way for returning seniors – Lewis, Spencer, Martin, Taateo, Esera and Patuki-Case are all out. In their stead are the familiar names of Whitehead, Papali’i, Young and Timoko. Transitional youngsters Trey Mooney and Hohepa Puru are also in, along with new signings Zac Hoskings and Morgan “Gobbledok” Smithies. Joe Tapine is rested for the match, but Stuart clearly wants to get a bit of voltage through the likes of Smelly and Papa before the footy starts in earnest. Zac Woolford remains in limbo, no doubt waiting for clearance following his early game-ending head knock last weekend.

The Opposition

The Cowboys fell a fair way down the ladder in ’23, having been prelim contestants in 2022. Their slump was somewhat perplexing, given the team on paper, but writing them off in any season is an exercise best left until the dying rounds. Much like the Raiders the Cows have had minimal personnel upheaval during the offseason, which should give them a solid platform of connections, something the more heavily recruiting teams may be striving for in the opening rounds. Nth Qld can be quite the bogey team for the Raiders, something that both coaches will be acutely aware of. Stuart will want to see solid defence holding the Cows out, while Payton will want to see his men grinding the Green Machine down set by set.

Match-ups

Levi vs Robson

The Raiders 2nd/1st/3rd string hooker (depending on who you ask) up against the Cows incumbent #9. With Woolford possibly/probably sidelined until round 1 Levi has a golden opportunity to demonstrate his wares. Dan pinged him for some unnecessary runs in last week’s match, so hopefully there’s a bit more variation as he distributes the ball. Robson is a crafty character when in form, and the Raiders will need to be mindful they don’t give him too much latitude around the ruck, lest he start poking holes in behind tiring markers.

Smithies vs Cotter

The Raiders new unknown quantity up against the Cowboys representative cult-hero player. Smithies will get his first taste on NRL grade footy this Sunday and Canberra fans are already drooling over the prospect of unearthing another British gem. The question is can he convert his massive workload in the Superleague into similar stats in the NRL? Cotter is a bonafide star, firing up both Cowboys fans and Queenslandahs whenever he takes the field. Bustling carries and staunch defence are the hallmarks of his game. This should be an explosive contest.

Rookie Radar

With Stuart cutting away half the rookie field there remains a handful vying for a possible berth early in the season. Utuloa Asomua gets a nod at starting centre, with Ethan Strange retaining the #7 jumper after a pleasingly competent showing against the Eels. Jed Stuart has been rewarded for his efforts by being listed in the top 17, while Chevy Stewart, Mitch Henderson and Hohepa Puru fill out the extended bench (as I type that all I can hear is the Pork yelling “Extended bench!” out of my car stereo). I get the feeling that Stewart may be in the fullback spot by game’s end, while Puru could get a run at either lock or dummy half (yes I know he played last year but it wasn’t even double figure minutes before he got knocked senseless).

In Conclusion

If the seniors can harness the youthful enthusiasm of last week the Raiders could find themselves $100K up thanks to the Pre-season Challenge’s arcane points incentive system. Stuart will be looking for consistency and rhythm – here’s hoping the Green Machine is in the groove!

Raiders by 20 because why the heck not?

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