BY ROB

Having successfully defended Canberra stadium over three games and a bye the Raiders finally hit the road again, this time with a jaunt down to windy Wollongong for their second match against the Dragons in five rounds.

The last time they met the Dragons made sure the game finished with a close score line, but ultimately they were just another notch on the Raiders shield. Since that encounter Canberra have racked up two victories outscoring their opponents by at least 24 points.

In fact the Raiders, once brutally and factually known as the “Raiders”, have turned the second half squeeze into a zen art form. You might think you’ve drawn level with them at the break, heck you might even lead by two, but rest assured they will simply wear you down across the second 40 minutes, kicking in the front door and then running amuck inside your half.

The Dragons meanwhile have lost their last four games, all by a margin of 7 or less. They’ve managed to keep teams like the Roosters and Bulldogs honest, but they just can’t land that knockout blow.

The Milk welcome back Seb Kris this week, after he sat out the Knights game due to concussion protocol. His stand-in Simi Sasagi (who did an excellent job at centre last week) goes back to the bench, with Noah Martin dropping back to the extended bench/NSWcup.

Normally I wouldn’t dwell too much on the forecast for a game but the conditions for Saturday will be grim, with the ‘Gong expecting anywhere between 10-50mm of rain, wind speeds between 25-40kph and the chance of thunderstorms. Expect a more cautious, conservative game from both teams.

The Raiders best weapon in this scenario will be Fogarty’s boot – if he can launch floaters into the Dragons red zone he’ll be giving their back line nightmares in real time, as even on mild days the coastal breeze of WIN stadium can steer the ball clear of a receiver’s bread basket.

Defensively Canberra need to tighten up their edges, particularly on the right side, where they leaked another try against the Knights, once again because X jammed in leaving the Knights winger unmarked. They’ve gotten better at not committing this defensive sin, but it’s clear that the defensive trio of Fog, Timoko and Savage still need to work more on trusting one another, particularly X who is usually the one coming in. Expect the Dragons to come a-knocking.

Aside from that there’s not too much else to write – the Raiders have a formula and a matching philosophy that has served them well throughout the season. They play to their strengths, and while they may not play to their fullest across 80 minutes they’re clearly able to plan, or at least persist, across the entirety of the game.

After this round there’s one more home game against Manly, then the final bye round before Canberra launch into their final three game run to September: two away games against the now-surging Panthers and the enigmatic Dolphins sandwiched around the last regular home game of the season against the Tigers.

In Conclusion

Every week the Raiders find the will and the way to keep on winning, tenaciously terrorising teams who think they’ve finally got the drop on the Green Machine. I think the Dragons will be notch number ten on the lime green shield.

Raiders by 6 in a messy, muddy slugfest!

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