BY DAN

We’re all trying to work out how to deal with this right now.

It’s not so much the wins but rather the fact that the Raiders two-and-oh-my-god. Both victories quality. Both revealed a relentless playing style; high octane, direct, attacking on both sides of the ball. Fast, the pace matched with a defensive work rate, resilience and fitness that you simply cannot help but marvel at.

It’s a long season and all that. They were on top the world this time last year too. Two games aren’t a season. Zac Hosking is already injured. Joey Taps has another week in the sheds. The Warriors and Broncos might both end up being terrible and we’ll look back at celebrating victories over them like we did the Eels game last year, where putting 40 on them became the du jour thing to do. Yeah we’re good. But not that good….right?

Boy have the boys looked unwavering. It’s hard to explain something that isn’t so much a tactic as a way of playing. Pace on both sides of the ball. Not straight line running into a defensive wall, but moving in multiple directions, changing the point of attack to run inside and outside of identified weaknesses, make players make multiple efforts. Tire them down, find the hole. Win the day.

It’s not just with the ball. The hardest working man in rugby league stats, The Rugby League Eye Test, has provided evidence of just how relentless they are right now. Canberra had the third best pre-contact metres allowed last weekend, and are fifth across the league through two rounds. That’s a measure of how fast they’re getting off their own line. Talk about relentless. As long as I can remember their line speed has, to be technical, sucked. We heard multiple players mention this is the post match broadcast as a focus of the preseason. The improvement is noteworthy.

And the world is noticing. Prepare for a week of “dark horse” conversations. Bluster and flourish from people who didn’t watch, won’t watch, and never watch. It’ll be loud. It’ll be a test just to keep their heads. Jamal Fogarty looked like his dog died in post match press conference. The boys were subdued on the field (though not the sheds). Maybe it’s a sign they’re trying to level it out a bit. Maintain perspective. Turn two weeks into three, into four, into more.

If you are wondering if it’s real it’ll get nothing but tests in the coming weeks. At their best Manly play with a similar pace (if more fluidity than the Raiders ferocity of the past two weeks). Then it’s a trip to North Queensland where the Raiders last won in 2020 (everyone remembers August 2020 right? It’s so long ago our review has a photo of Curtis Scott in it). Then it’s the Sharks, who are everyone’s ‘other’ favourites for the competition. So if you’re wondering if you should get carried away, the next few weeks are going to tell you. Let’s revisit those pre-contact metres after that.

They’ll be walking into the first of those games with Xavier Savage back but Zac Hosking out. I hope Stick leaves Savelio Tamale in the side. He characterises what this side is about now. He’s powerful, but he’s also got a step. Having players across the park that can present a threat stretches the defence and only makes the fast-paced play in the middle more possible.

As we covered Zac Hosking’s absence is going to strip some of the dynamism from the pack. Wherever he’s played in his short Canberra career he’s added an urgency to everything they do. The Raiders will miss him. They have better options to replace him than any other time in their recent existence, but having a solution to a problem doesn’t make the problem a good thing.

In the meantime we should just enjoy the two weeks we’ve had in heaven. It’s been so long that they’ve played so pointedly. In the victories against the Roosters and Panthers last year it felt like a battle against themselves, against their demons, courage under fire and climbing the mountain despite the elements. This isn’t that. This isn’t insurmountable odds being overcome by the purity and capacity of the human spirit. This is just good footy played well.

That’s why you shouldn’t let the doubt cloud your judgment. The Broncos and Warriors may only be mid of the table teams (though I do not think that’s the case with Brisbane). But Canberra kicked their asses. Maybe they’re better than mediocre. Maybe they’re a good footy team. It’s allowed to happen. Right now the Raiders are relentless. Enjoy it.

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