BY DAN

It is not clear if the Canberra Raiders are a good football team. What is certain is that they are a stupid one.

Their 36-22 loss to the Cronulla Sharks revealed a puppy of a team. Finally dry footy they tried to do everything at once. The result highlighted their still building connections on both sides of the ball, their inattention to detail, and their inability to get through five minutes without throwing up on themselves. What resulted was a game in which they held themselves back, again, with error upon error. If they intend to be anything but high-octane also-rans this year, then they need to find their patience, their confidence in their system, and their connection.

They made much coming into the game about finally getting to play on a dry track. No one was panicking; it had been tempest and squall, and a perfect day for footy at home would see them finally find their best footy. Instead, what came was their lowest completion rate of the season (76 percent, compared to 77, 78, and 80). Errors were made in easy situations, in foolish ones. In shifting ball and contact carries. They hurt, so, so much, leading to all the points the Sharks scored. I don’t want to bore you to death, so if you don’t want the details, you can skip the next two paragraphs. It’s all the pain in plain text.

In the third minute, Morgan Smithies dropped a catchable ball. That led to a penalty, which led to Corey Horsburgh’s brain snap sin-bin, and then a try. Another try came without the Raiders touching the ball, outside of Xavier Savage failing to jump from the in-goal to take an uncontested bomb. In the 21st minute Captain Joe Tapine pushed an offload he didn’t need, and Billy Burns scored on the next set.

Having found their way back into near-parity in the 48th minute, Xavier Savage dropped a bomb that became a try. In the 59th minute they made a break one way, failed to nail it shut (not the only time they did that), an error resulted and Cronulla scored on the next set. The door was finally shut when Noah Martin’s too-aggressive attempt to clean up a grubber was easily picked up for a Cronulla try. The opposition had that ball because Ethan Sanders threw a pass to no one in the red zone.

It would be one thing if this was bad luck; unfortunate errors for which Canberra played the ultimate price. But these were not the only gifts offered to the opposition. Too often when the Raiders needed to get through a set they instead offered a turnover. Hudson Young pushed unnecessary passes. Seb Kris dropped the ball in good ball and bad. Savage and Weekes both dropped bombs, one of which would have been a try if not for Nicho Hynes missing the memo.

It reflected a side trying to do too much. Gone is the 2025 model, tearing relentless in direct lines, outside in from the tram lines, only getting the ball to their backs when there was something to take advantage of. Instead they were shifting earlier and often, having failed to either earn the right or take advantage of the gaps around the ruck. The attack became hoping Simi Sasagi could beat his man, admittedly not a bad plan.

But when that option was taken away so was any idea they had. What resulted was disconnected sideways attack. It would be tempting to blame Ethan Sanders for this, but he felt a bit player in the mess. His kicking game was inconsistent, and the next time he gets to a red-zone kick will be the first. Given it was a weapon for him in Cup, and first grade, last year, it’s bizarre he (or the strategists) have shelved that for now. Maybe the problem was these hot-headed lunatics are trying to do too much because Sanders isn’t doing enough.

But if that’s the plan, it wasn’t working for anyone else. Ethan Strange is either running or passing, unable to engage the line and find the runners around him. It’s made Noah Martin a tackling bag rather than a Viking on a rampage. Sasagi does great things, but too often it’s because he’s beating his man, rather than running into a gap.

Zero creativity is coming from the ruck. The Tommy gun can fire straight and true but that’s all it does. Jayden Brailey is doing his job of providing stable service from the young halves, but it means they are not taking advantage of options closer to the ruck. Late in the game with the Sharks ruck defence cooked, he opted against finding a hard runner on a close shoulder, despite that area looking vulnerable. The Raiders need to give Owen Pattie a chance, or at least give Brailey a wider job description.

Despite all this mess they still managed to score points. Sasagi putting Savage into space to find Weekes on the inside was a hint to what could be. Young’s try took a miracle ball from Kris, but involved a strong shift movement in which Sanders engaged the line and connected gloriously with Kaeo Weekes who read the play perfectly. Another try came from Starling reading a three-on-two on the blind, and Weekes executing the pass to Sav Tamale perfectly.

Xavier Savage’s And1 impression is as unrepeatable as it was breathtaking, but these other movements, along with several of the line breaks they made and failed to complete or consolidate, showed that there is an attack that can be built on. But it needs work to build the connections, and that work can’t happen if they are constantly handing the ball to the opposition.

The old truism is good sides defend their errors, and while Canberra were capable before the red zone, they were vulnerable in short space. Sasagi and Strange, so often effective, were found in hot water on three tries. One of these came from a dead-play post a held-up tackle. That the Sharks found an overlap in that situation was unforgiveable. Seb Kris jumped the route on another try and saw a backrower stroll through where he should have been. I read these as individual errors. But on a day packed with them, the Raiders could ill-afford them.

It puts Canberra in a hole, and a season feels on the precipice before it should. There’s only hard work back from here. But more than just going harder, they actually need to slow their collective brains. In this game they seemed to panic their way away from the grind; but as we’ve seen this year, that’s usually when they’ve looked their best.

Right now it feels they are a team that doesn’t know themselves, doesn’t trust what they are doing. The insecurity is pervasive, driving their tentativeness in shifts, their search for a miracle pass or kick when taking the tackle is perfectly ok. They’ve been so intent on proving that last year was no fluke they’ve been trying to do it in single plays, and instead proved themselves wrong.

But you can’t get that all back in a second. 2025 was earned over a season, and if this side is going to find their way back to relevance it’s not going to be done in a game, or a set, or a moment. It’s going to built through finding their groove from the ground up. There are no shortcuts to greatness, only blood, pain and trust that your body can bear them. The resurrection game is played in the rain, hopefully metaphorically.

There is a good football team hiding in this mess, but right now no one seems to believe it. Not the rugby league community, not the mate at work who is going to gleefully ruin your Monday, and most importantly, not the Raiders. Soul-searching is a bit dramatic. They’re breathing in fire and calling it air. A few deep breaths of the cool Canberra air, a recommitment to a style, and a trust they have the talent and the systems to make it work. This is how they’ll find a way back. They are good enough. They are also bad enough. That’s the problem.

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