BY DAN

Sometimes you fight and fight well, and still lose. That was Canberra’s experience in their 22-18 loss to the Canterbury Bulldogs. They battled to the end, played to their strengths, and even added a bit of flair to their game. But against a very good team the margin of error was small, and the things Canberra did better than their opposition didn’t cover for the reverse. Nearly but not enough. That happens when you play against quality.

Canberra came into this game needing to win to keep their finals hopes realistic and self-determined instead of ‘alive’ and alarmingly close to the dreaded mathematical. The Dogs were coming into the game seeking validation, a coronation of what has been achieved in the last few months. It was a clash of trajectories, and a clash of styles. Canterbury wanted to play with width, swishing back and forth with all the ease of a summer’s breeze. The Raiders aren’t that fancy. They’d rather punch you in the teeth than risk missing by aiming for the cheek.

The Raiders tried that in this game behind yet another exemplary performance by Joe Tapine. He cranked out 160 plus metres, 77 post contact, six tackle breaks and a line break, and that doesn’t seem to do it justice. On each carry he tested the defence, sometimes with power, sometimes with footwork, or an offload. Always he won contact, won the ruck, won extra metres for his side. It was an impressive effort. No better was his dynamism shown than in the lead up to Canberra’s first try, as he burnt through the front door to collapse the defence, throw a frankly audacious flick pass and essentially create the conditions that led to Trey Mooney scoring off a crash ball.

Josh Papalii (14 hit ups and 125 metres) showed his continued worth, using quick feet at the line to great effect. Morgan Smithies (118m and three tackle breaks) also had his best day running in a while (a shame that he’ll likely miss the next game because of a HIA suffered late in the game). Hudson Young cracked 100, and all of the back five save Seb Kris did similar.

The Raiders were getting good metres for the most part but it didn’t get them into as many attacking positions as they would like. For many reasons – the Dogs ability to kick well and generate metres on the edges – the Raiders spent much time coming off their own line. Metres were important, and they rarely kicked from disadvantageous positions, but it was almost always in that area between attacking and yardage.

And save for a few moments Jamal Fogarty and Adam Cook, subbing inexplicably (fuck your rest, it was a must win) for Ethan Strange, couldn’t find consistent quality in their kicking. Fogarty in particularly had his worst day with the boot all year. It wasn’t bad but just not the game-flipping quality we’ve expected. Even then he still created a try through a grubber for Timoko (again against a defence cratered by a Joe Tapine run). Cook’s long kicks were better, but twice in the first half the ball came his way on the last and Canberra came up with nothing but a poor option.

Between the ‘mostly’ victory in the middle and the ‘just adequate’ kicking it meant that points were hard to come by. It took errors (either penalties or dropped balls) to get the Milk into attacking position. Two of their three tries came on the set after a Dogs’ error in their own redzone. Even Mooney’s try, primarily the doing of Tapine, started with a Canterbury dropped ball, admittedly at the Green Machine’s 35.

When Canberra did get into attacking area they were relatively efficient, and on occasion even innovative. They moved with hard, straight running, both through the middle and from the edges, as though the purple dot was a beacon. Even when they got wide, they attacked the defence north-south, trying to use pace and power to find ways through the defence. Key to this was the use of Kaeo Weekes out the back. It’s been a massive win for the Milk this year, and his extra step allowed him to get outside Stephen Crichton and set up Jordan Rapana for the Raiders last try. This was a threat that had nearly paid off on several occasions throughout the game.

Outside Weekes there were other moments of innovation. There were exciting scrum plays, one of which led to Rapana’s try, another which resulted in the most exciting ‘burrow’ from a nine you might ever see. I hope they use that ‘bunch’ formation again because I bet there are options that aren’t ‘run it up the guts’. A worthy trick play though. They also played with some exciting width on occasion. Fogarty’s return has pushed two ball players wide, and the Raiders attack looks like it is something that can be built from. If only they knew they could use this flash and dazzle outside the red zone. In a game where they spent so much time outside that area, it may have been a useful variation.

Alas they didn’t, and instead chose to try and grind it out. Canterbury on the other hand almost exclusively attacked the good guys’ edges, only paying lip-service to a battle through the middle third. Each set was two sides dancing together, shifting and swaying as the ball swung side to side. The Dogs targeted the Raiders right edge early in sets, shifting to fat sides with Stephen Crichton in space coming back the other way.

And for the most part Canberra held them out. They scrambled well, and held their structures. Kaeo Weekes had a host of try-savers, and got into important positions at the back. Tom Starling and Jamal Fogarty were targeted by Viliame Kikau and held out. Elliott Whitehead did his part there too, though Zac Hosking looked less stout when he came on. Matt Timoko had trouble with Bronson Xerri’s pace in space, and this led to at least one line-break and arguably was on Xavier Savage’s mind when he (incorrectly) abandoned his wing to help in on a well-covered centre for Josh Addo-Carr’s first try. But for the most part the Milk were able to bite and shift at the right times.

In the end the difference, and unsolvable problem was Crichton. He scored twice, one an admittedly shocking effort from Seb Kris. But another came when the Raiders scrambled admirably, nearly had a problem solved, only for the former Panther to chip and chase with no space and no right to score. He did. A final try came when Crichton simply outjumped Kaeo.

There’s nothing to be done about that. This is the rub. Two good teams battled each other to a standstill and the difference was a star player having a day. That happens. But Canberra’s losing streak of a month ago put them in such a position when the variance of brilliance means the impact on their season is substantial. Instead of talking about having to get back to winning to keep their spot in the eight, we’re hitting conversations about ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ and something about your grandmother being a bike because she put ham in the carbonara.

It’s not a mark against the Canberra of now they lost this game. They weren’t perfect but no one ever is. They showed plenty of gumption, a willingness to use their strengths to try and win this game. They were enthusiastic and, for the most part, well structured in defence. Play like this and you will win most weeks. It also provides a grain of hope for the future that they have something that can build for the future (provided the future aren’t told to rest) and that’s nice but it won’t give them something to do this September.

We’re getting dangerously close to hope territory. Unfortunately for a host of reasons related to injury and other things, the Raiders spent too much of the season not playing like this. It means these days cost. In the end the major frustration is less with this game but the sins of the past.

Canberra were nearly good enough, in this game, and as it increasingly looks, this season.

Do me a favour and like the page on  Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or share this on social media and I’ll sing you a song about the summer’s moon. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.