BY DAN

The Canberra Raiders 32-6 victory over the Melbourne Storm was an imperfect outing. Neither team really found their groove. That Canberra walked away so comfortably ahead on the scoreboard reflected more that it has built a talented roster than any perfected machine. In the coming weeks we’ll get to see if they’ve built a structure to match. But it was still heartening that our only piece of evidence so far is that Canberra’s build continues.

This was no definitive affair. Players worked hard in what seemed warm conditions, and did their best to find a groove in their first competitive outing for the year. The result was a lot of error-ridden, haphazard, chaos-ball. The game bouncing end-to-end on a whim and a run. It was so in line with a characteristic trial game that the FBI is using it is a typology to profile the kind of sickos that watch pre-season footy.

It was an interesting mixture of football. For periods it was heavily regimented, two sides trying to build Lego by the booklet. Then errors intervened and the game quietly became more haphazard. The Raiders dropped a heap of ball, particularly in the first half. They ended the game completing just under 80 percent, but that number was closer to 50 for much of the opening stanza.

They mixed this with some frustrating ill-discipline. In a game that has basically deemed most of the ground a ‘no penalty zone’ Canberra still managed to give away seven, standing in the sole dog shit in a backyard, over and over again. Thirteen errors, nine infringements and a sin bin would normally be a recipe for disaster but the Raiders never felt in trouble.

Their defence wasn’t stout, but they covered for each other admirably. The middle had some weak moments, and the left edge when manned with Ethan Alaia and Savelio Tamale, found itself in full ’emergency scramble’ mode more than once. But they covered across (one time it was prop Vena Patuki-Case making the extra effort) and got back in order to force the Storm to make extra plays. The outside backs were aggressive in their reads. While some were imperfect, it was pleasing to see them fuck up at 110 per cent. Perhaps Canberra is going to fix their weakness by scaring the beejeezus out of people?

Broadly in attack it’s hard to draw through lines. Tries came through some moments of unrepeatable individual brilliance, some good connections, and plenty of good ball against a tired and physically overwhelmed defence. Both backup halves for the Milk (Alaia and Jalen Afamasaga) scored tries by being stronger/faster than multiple opposition defenders. Seb Kris ran over fools. Daine Laurie put a kick in for Michael Asomua which was both excellently executed, but also allowed with a winger so high in the defensive line there was only one possible outcome once it left his boot. Outside of Kris running like the 8 year old in the 4 year old ball pit, none of them felt repeatable.

There were glimpses of structure. Owen Pattie worked the ruck over, and used the middles – Patuki-Case and Joe Roddy in particular – and his feet to drive up the middle of the ground. When he connected with Daine Laurie – standing at first receiver mostly – on shift movements the ball shot across the field with pace. On Canberra’s second try that cohesion got Laurie outside his man, which mean a half overlap stretched into a full one, and saw Michael Asomua stretch his legs down the wing and finish well for his second.

While he was on the field Pattie was so far and away the best player. He chose excellent moments to run, his service was excellent and his single long kick reminded of his comparative advantage in that area of the game. He was guilty of trying to do it all himself, reflective of the need for him to continue to learn lessons about picking moments. But there was nothing he did that did not excite me at the talent therein.

Daine Laurie too showed his worth. He looked perfectly backup worthy standing at right half, handling a good chunk of the kicking. His deft grubber was a moment of poise that had been lacking in the game to that point. His injection on the left side to dig into the line, hold the ball, and hit Kris so perfectly he almost dropped the ball out of surprise on his way to the try line, was such a beautifully precise interjection. His control of tempo and pace in the attack was noticeable. He looked too good for the competition. That is both expected, and a good sign.

Seb Kris too was better than the game. If there was a battle for his position at left centre then it’s over. Savelio Tamale looked great running the ball, but defensively he wasn’t superhuman enough to overcome the defensive imperfections of those around him. Kris had so such issues. Tamale is a winger, for now at least, and the Raiders will be better for it.

Those experienced players were great, as one would expect. Of the next generation, Vena Patuki-Case and Joe Roddy impressed most. Patuki-Case was brutal in contact and through, consistently bending the line to his will. Roddy was perpetual, constantly taking another run, making another tackle, another effort as a decoy runner. If there was a concern that the Raiders didn’t have layers to their roster, this was just further proof the pipeline is flowing.

Ethan Alaia and Jalen Afamasaga both had immaculate moments in attack. Alaia strikes me as a player suited to being the cherry on top of a structured attack. His jitterbug style, his constant search for half of an advantage, his willingness to toy with defenses, is a style of football many modern fullbacks play. Afamasaga seemed more the smooth engine purring within the machine. He had moments of marvel (like his try, or the pass that floated for Finau’s first) but it felt within the system, as opposed to Alaia’s outside-the-box approach.

If there were concerns it was Matty Nicholson’s ‘just fine’ performance. He looked lithe and agile running the ball, but not physically dominant. He lost his feet on both sides of the ball, and his leverage in contact. In defence that impacted him most on the Marion Seve near-try, where the backrower was overpowered as his feet fell beneath him. I was hoping we’d see a more dominant display. Next week awaits. Chevy Stewart was also just ok.

There were plenty of areas of improvement. Handling, discipline, on occasion even direction. They need to be smarter about exploiting Vlandos dumb extension of the set-restart zone to 80 metres of the field. So often they gave away penalties at the opposition goal line. The Storm cheated better, consistently giving away six again as soon as Canberra were over the 20, re-setting their line and trying to muscle Canberra into poor field position. When it comes to bending the rules to your will, you have to learn from the best.

There’s no need to harp on the need for improvement yet. The players making these errors for the most part won’t line up for the Raiders in week one. Trials are meant to expose the rough edges for work. If Canberra proved anything in this game is that they have the talent and the capability to give the competition a shake, this year and into the future. Finding out whether they can do it is what we’ll find out over the next six months.

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