BY DAN

The Canberra Raiders got their 2024 NRLW season off to a cracking start with an impressive if not clinical 32-12 dismantling of the Wests Tigers. This victory showed their strength: an ability to pry open their opposition middle like a can opener, providing the space for a smart and effective spine to take advantage. It wasn’t clinical and their own imperfections were the only thing that let the Tigers into the game, but if imperfect games can result in twenty point wins then we can expect good things this year.

The nature of the first game of the season is that we’re always wondering what the opposition will bring. Canberra and the Tigers have been predicted by most outside their own fans to be missing the finals. If there was as view that these two sides are therefore equivalent, it was put to the sword by an impressive opening half from the Milk.

The Raiders won this game for a range of reasons. They smashed their opposition through the middle, which was no mean feat given the Tigers boasted several handy players in that area of the field. But Simaima Taufa (13 for 131m, 57 post contact, and a try) and Grace Kemp (9 for 89m, 33 post contact, 2 tackle breaks) felt like a cheat code. They took the ball, they won contact, they got quick play-the-balls, and the Raiders rolled on the back of it. Sophie Holyman was also solid, and the back five shouldn’t be overlooked, with Cheyelle Robins-Reti and Mackenzie Wiki in particular having some brutal and important carries.

This middle dominance meant that Canberra could attack all three points on the field at pace. When they managed to hold the ball and play with patience (their 69 per cent completion rate was not nice) they would take near ten before contact, and if Taufa or Kemp in particular were carrying, then a few extra post contact. A quick ruck would follow and the entire side would spring into a shift at speed. In return the Tigers wanted to shift but couldn’t win the middle in the same way. It meant that in defence they were often going sideways and not forward, searching for a hole. It was a stark contrast to the north-south running of the Canberra halves and edges.

It turns out winning the middle allows a bit of freedom for your halves and makes cohesive attacking shifts that much easier. The circumstances were favourable but Zahara Temara was stellar in her organisation of the side, playing both sides of the ruck, playing very much like the old fashioned seven despite the six on her back. She usually was the first half to touch the ball, allowing her to manage the direction of the side and allow Ash Quinlan to attack at pace on the left edge.

Good things followed. The first try had Temara snaking across the field in front of a defence already on the backfoot, shifting to Quinlan. Wiki turned a not-perfect-pass into a try by simply powering into the defence like a wrecking ball, leaving defenders scrambling as she popped a pass to Maddie Bartlett. That was the fifth minute, and another try came that way in the tenth when Taufa took the place of first receiver, engaged and hit Quinlan who this time played short to Monalisa Soliola running a line that would make you believe humanity is worth saving (seriously, watch her jink inside and go out. I will go to war for that line). She threw a ball just as good out to Wiki, and because of a try gifted from a Tigers error in the 8th minute, the game was effectively over.

Another cheapie followed on a Taufa crash ball a few minutes later. This was born the play before when another shift built on the back of the good work of Taufa allowed Quinlan to hit Api Nicholls at pace. She was inches from scoring, but all that a good tackle did was delay the try by a few seconds. A whole other try came from a similar mix, but instead of Taufa, Temara hit Kemp on the burst, an offload followed and Temara got a try for her good work. Another try came in the second half, with the same parts and slight amendments. This time it was debutant Sereana Naitokatoka outside Temara, Kemp hitting a hole outside her, offloading, and Nicholls slinging the final pass to Maddie Bartlett for her second.

It was an intoxicating formula, and one that you can only play when you’re winning the middle in the way the Raiders were. NRL stats will tell you the Tigers ended up with more metres than the Milk but look, I dunno, maybe not all metres are created equal. When they wanted to win a ruck Canberra did. When they wanted to play with width they were able to play direct into the line with bodies in motion, making defenders make more complicated decisions than when to slide out.

This was reinforced by the fact that they adapted to the powerful breeze well before the Tigers did. In the old money this was a four goal breeze, turning well-intentioned kicks into seven tackle sets, or into meaningless adventures in turning over possession in effectively the same spot. After a few minutes both teams basically gave up on kicking for touch on penalties. But Canberra adapted much earlier, and one of the reasons the Tigers never mounted a serious comeback was because Temara found the only way to kick to advantage against the breeze (by kicking into the sun, and at least stopping the opposition from attacking the ball).

There were weaknesses that will need fixing. Canberra were profligate with possession, in good ball and bad. After establishing a 22-0 lead after 15 minutes they spent as much time giving the Tigers opportunities to make a comeback as they did trying to extend their lead. It was frustrating. There could have been more chances to score in the second half if they’d been a little less headstrong and chaotic in the face of a defence that wasn’t really a match for them. Api Nicholls kick-drop error was perhaps the most brazen example.

And while their defence was good and physical (more than once they forced an error simply because the opposition had the stuffing knocked out of them), it still felt flimsy. This was mostly on their left edge where Quinlan could be got if she couldn’t close down the space, or if she didn’t get inside-out help. It’ll happen to anyone occasionally, but it looked like a spot the Tigers thought they could get through repeatedly.

But that’s nitpicking, a happy problem to have walking away from a twenty point victory. Canberra need to be smarter and make less errors, we already knew that from the trial. That Ash Quinlan is a target for opposition attacks should surprise no one. That these weaknesses were rendered meaningless because of the strengths in other areas is what should appeal.

There’ll be tougher battles than this. The Milk don’t have to look further than next week to know that (seriously ban 11am games though). Canberra may not have been predicted to be part of the finals but this should serve the competition notice. If they can clean up their game it’ll be five-alarm stuff in Newcastle and Bondi. This is a talented, well-drilled and even occasionally smart footy team. Let’s see how far they can go.

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