BY DAN

Nothing buries the lede like a trial. The Raiders lost 36-26. They were outgained by 600 metres. At one point they conceded four tries in fourteen minutes. But instead of it being a disaster they showed plenty of elements that were heartening. Without getting carried away they showed that not only do they have a platform for competitiveness, they might just have the talent to exploit it.

It’s important to note that the score is really irrelevant in this one; even more than a usual trial. The Cowboys went 100 per cent full strength for best part of the game. When it was first-on-firsts the score was 14-8 Raiders (arguably 14-4 given the first rotation of forwards disappeared after 20 minutes and never returned). If Ethan Strange’s goalkicking was a precise as his in game kicking that could have been even more substantial. In the second half the Cowboys kept their first string in to run up the score as the Milk cycled through their second and third units. The Milk could have won if Adam Cook had a bit more, or at least a longer, toe.

They built their success with many familiar elements. The big boppers were excellent through the first half of the game. Josh Papalii – reportedly down 8kgs on last season according to the broadcasters – was excellent, and ably supported by Emre Guler. Morgan Smithies performed as expected, tackling everything that moved. His ball-play in the middle was limited but in a small sample size there’s little to be drawn from that.

The pack was well-moved by Danny Levi and Zac Woolford. Levi looked as lively as he has for the Raiders, not over-running or holding the ball too long (something that Tommy Starling had trouble with when playing with the second string team in the back of the game). He passed with width, allowing the Milk middles their pick of ABC defenders to run at. He only had one poorly executed pass that Smithies did well to turn into a dead tackle rather than a turnover. Before this game a combination of factors meant it would have taken him performing encopresis on the field to miss out on week one. He did not do that. My favourite aspect of Levi’s game was the width he was able to bring. That has something the Raiders have previously only been able to get from Woolford at rake. It’s pleasing they may have two options in that regard.

Woolford was imperfect but as advertised. He’s still superior in his ruck deception (Levi is unilinear in that regard) and his read to see the space for a grubber kick would have resulted in a try if not for his poor execution. He gets that more right than he doesn’t. Tommy Starling was consigned to playing the entire second half with the squad players. I don’t know if we can take that means it’s a 1-2 punch of Levi and Woolford. I wait for Tuesday (or Tuesday week? I’m not sure how this is all working. Huzzah for Vegas).

This is the platform that the Raiders can build from. But we knew that would be there. What was more exciting was that platform was expertly utilised by Ethan Strange. We will endeavour to be circumspect here. Lord knows there’s enough expectations on the shoulders of people who didn’t vote in the most recent federal election. But what we’ve seen over the last two weeks is beyond heartening – it’s downright exciting.

In this game again his kicking and organisation was excellent. He seemed (from my purview on the couch) to be instrumental in directing the side. He seized an opportunity to grubber and score for himself. It was opportunistic but it was also a sound read of a defence that had oversold on Matt Timoko (for good reason). In short he was a lead half and he barely even got to use his most dynamic skill – running the ball.

More than that he turned Helium Luki into a big fat zero with stout defence. The Cowboys were intent throughout the game on testing the Raiders’ edge defence. From the get go they were playing with width from the ruck and tipping passes to a second forward in order to force the edges into covering in, hopefully exposing the Milk’s young halves and making them make decisions that required experience beyond their years. Strange consistently shaded in to cover inside runners and was able to both cover back out on out-lines and bring down big runners on his inside shoulder. It took broken play, a Bert Hopoate busted-read and Nic Cotric’s being a smidgen too late for them to get down that edge in the second half. Strange didn’t return after he was sin-binned for a spear tackle, and one would think the only thing between him playing week one and not will be the judiciary’s gavel (update – he got off on a grade 1 with a fine).

Other young talent also performed well. One Raiders’ try came when Timoko just cold burned another representative back like it was under twelves. I’d feel sorry for Val Holmes, but at least he joins a club with Cam Munster (where they have a different kind of white line fever) and others. Before that he did that thing where he turns a bad situation good on plenty of runs, and interestingly played perfect defence on the Cowboys first attacking foray, combining with Utuloa Asmoua to drag the attack into the stands.

Xavier Savage too should have booked himself a spot on the wing in round one. He was strong in yardage runs and safe under kicks. He looked powerful. You wouldn’t have said those things about X before this season but the fact that he’s doing those things and still has the nitrous boost to press is a tremendous sign. Given Rapana is likely to start at fullback in round one (Chevy Stewart was much patchier in this outing than last week) it seems the backline is starting to fall into shape. There may be some who will want to blame him for getting harbour-bridged by Scott Drinkwater but he tied in well and trusted his centres decision making when the numbers were short. Drinkwater just made a perfect play.

On the other wing will be Nic Cotric, who Nic Cotric’d the hell of out his stint. He ran harder than he has in previous years, scored a dumb-but-brilliant try where he ran into five defenders on the goal line and somehow managed to come out on the other side. He then proceeded to not manage the old ‘just stay where you are dickhead’ on the kickoff. Nic has so much potential to be the next Rapa, just not in the way we’d hoped. I think he did enough though to ensure his spot on the wing for round one. James Schiller didn’t have as good an outing as he did last week, more reflective of a game situation than anything he did.

Where this game went backwards on the scoreboard was in the second half. There were a series of errors, a sin-bin and an inability to win back control of the game as things went particularly pear-shaped. The Cows kept their big players out there, and the Raiders response of Saulo, Puru and Peter Hola wasn’t big enough to turnaround disadvantageous position and possession.

But that’s not to say these players were write-offs as individuals. Saulo, Mariota and Puru all had very good and occasionally great moments. Saulo’s running has taken a step up over these two trials and he remains a hungry-hungry-hippo in defence. Mariota’s feet in the line are faster than a con-man hiding the cup you thought the ball was in. Zac Hosking looked more agile than an adult entertainer in a crowded room. Puru didn’t get a chance to pass but his running was great. It did go poorly more through combination than fault of players.

The inability of the pack to control the game in the second half was mirrored by mistakes elsewhere that compounded a difficult situation. The Raiders made six errors through the first twenty minutes of that half. They often didn’t get to a kick and when they did it lacked the execution of the first team. It’s easy to say the top line players won’t fall prey to a situation like that but come on: this is a feature of the system. But while it did go off the rails the Green Machine did peg it back. Maybe change is possible after all?

We still don’t know if more will be offered in attack. It was pleasing to see the emphasis on getting Timoko the ball before the line. Outside that the shifts looked more shuffle than structured; players tapping the ball on tentatively as though they’ve accidentally made eye contact at the urinal. Strange engaging the line with ideas and plans was a notable exception in my view. Perhaps change is Strange in more ways than one.

In any event the nature of trials make it impossible to sift out whether improvement has occurred there from the wreckage of the deeply unserious nature of the football and the personnel who put that together (both on and off the field). But this looked more vibrant than anything the club has offered since a man ate a pangolin and made QR codes king.

Will it translate into success or is it just a herald of a future we won’t see for sometime? That’s why they play the games. The silly stuff is over. Welcome to the real thing.

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