BY DAN

Winning a premiership, something that was inconceivable to all but the greenest eyed Canberran a few months ago, is a genuine goal for the Canberra Raiders this season. What has come since has been nothing but impressive, but even with that success the club is still seeking to improve. Even entering a bye week, there is no time to rest.

It’s an insane thought. Little ol’ Canberra shaking the tree of the NRL? How fun! they’ve come along way this season. Overcome more trials than Hercules. Made more improvements than Thomas Edison. Second most points, most line breaks, most metres, most post-contact metres (by a mile), most tackle breaks, most try assists. This is beyond anyone’s wildest dream at this point, and as the esteemed commentator Mike from the Green Machine Podcast has noted a few times, this year is already something to celebrate.

What’s exciting about this team though is that they’re winning despite not being perfect. They’ve been playing some exhilarating football, but equally they’ve been their own worst enemy at times. Stick has tried to be circumspect about the challenge, as he said in the post match press conference:

We’re not going to win every game…but stick with us, it’s a tough competition…You don’t get to see what we’re doing…This is not the end product by any means of the imagination. I don’t know where we’re going to end up at the end of the season, but I can tell you one, next year we’re going to be even better.

In that statement we get all sides of the Stuart narrative this year. Pumping up the team while also trying to lower expectations. It’s a tough gig being a NRL coach. Winning a premiership means that task takes on more commitment to improvement than a public school teacher (shouts to the teachers out there). And it’s clear Stuart’s intent is to keep this side improving.

There are places these efforts can be aimed, at least to continue their march to the perfect season. No better is this exemplified than their inconsistent discipline. Canberra have the third worst infringement differential in the competition, according to the very handsome Rugby League Eye Test. They’ve had 15 more infringements than their oppositions have been penalised for this season. It cost them the Manly game when they couldn’t get on the right side of the referee. It also happened against Souths when all their opposition’s points started with errors or penalties from the Milk. The fact they’ve still managed to turn that discrepancy into victories is remarkable.

Improving discipline is not just a matter of being very good boys. As the Rugby League Eye Test right noted way back in 2020, in the set-restart world finding a way to push the envelop to control the ruck, and not draw the ire of the officials too much, is the aim. Given they’ve conceded more penalties than set-restarts, it suggests infringements more to the foul play side (i.e high tackles) than just rubbish in the ruck. Those can be improved without much role for the referee. If they can find a way to control the ruck, and not draw the ire of the officials, then that could be an even bigger boon.

Discipline isn’t the only area they’re trying to fix. They also have some structural weaknesses they’ve been working on. Their right side defence has been a focus for opportunistic oppositions seeking for a way through an otherwise resolute defence. Over 50 per cent of the tries scored against them have come down that edge. They conceded two more on the weekend.

Any solution requires the adherence and cohesion of the entire edge unit, lest we individualise what is a collective problem. The good thing is that this is something the Raiders have been working on. As Stuart again noted in the post game press conference

They peppered that side of the field which they do every week and we’re working really hard on that side of the footy field during the week.

It’s pleasing to see they’re trying to fix those issues. To an extent there’s only so much you can do there. Club’s will attack the Raiders’ right simply because teams like heading that way. That the club has recognised and is making improvements is the kind of of commitment to perfection one can appreciate.

These solutions will only go so far if injuries keep interrupting their progress. The Raiders have now suffered two major injuries that have impacted their edges. Right now all of the proposed solutions require further changes to what Stuart called the hardest places on the ground to defend in the post match press conference. They’ve managed so far, which is impressive, but the next steps (as we’ve covered here) are all imperfect.

That’s the challenge of winning a competition. When you’re in the middle of the pack things being imperfect is expected. But getting to the top requires working towards a goal that would seem unattainable in the past. Right now they’re building. The work doesn’t stop when you’re chasing heaven.

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