BY DAN

Hello, it’s good to be back. Like the Raiders, the Rumble continues on. This week the good guys are facing the dastardly bon vivants from Bondi, and your humble scribe has got some takes.

Winning last week has changed the vibe around here, and another victory would elevate that even further. With the softest bit of the draw on the other side of this game, scraping another victory this week would position them for something…. I believe it’s called a run. Rün? Maybe it’s a soft J.

I’ve been holding on to that hope for a while now. This team has felt so infected with the vibes of 2017 and 2018 and 2021. They look so close to recapturing the vibe like it’s the next chapter (where’s all my heads at?), that it seems like if they can just get healthy, and if they can just keep pace with the league, they can put something together that gives grown men an excuse to cry that doesn’t cost $200 of your most subsidised dollarydoos an hour. Sanders and Strange are coming good. The defence was not just solid but almost good. Is this what it’s like to feel pretty?

Jayden Brailey and Joe Roddy are back in the 19, and not a moment too soon. Seb Kris is out, meaning Daine Laurie will switch to centre, the latest residence of a person that moves around more than a renter (sigh – self own, those are rare). Losing Laurie from 13 is worth noting – he’d been a critical part of multiple tries for the Milk, and the ease and precision with which he made decisions to pass or run is noteworthy. But the Milk need more defence in the middle, and while Laurie did a good job there, my vibe is that they think the longer Laurie is in the middle, the better teams will game plan for it.

Roddy being in the 19 is interesting because it means the Raiders finally have a bit of a buffer in the pack. Roddy can play both backrow and middle as needed, and that just opens up some flexibility in how Stick uses the middle rotations. He probably won’t, but now he can switch Zac Hosking into the middle if needed, and he doesn’t have to leave Smithies out there if he’s cooked, or Brailey out there if he’s getting rolled.

The fancy-pants opposite are a quality side, and playing them after an embarrassing loss is probably the worst time to do it. They’re replete with talent and they’ll have all their Origin players too. Their halves will test our wingers’ ability to handle the high kick. Their backs will test our new edge combinations. There’s not really any weaknesses in this side, other than their tendency to occasionally forget how to catch the ball.

But maybe that’s the bit. Last week Canberra showed they can win by playing consistent, disciplined, and almost intelligent football for the entire game. The Roosters lost because they did the opposite. Let’s run that back and maybe the Milk are squeezing out two in a row and we’re starting to get a bit sparkly over here. Let Ethan Strange keep building on what he did in Origin. Let Huddo keep being a king.

Let last week be the start of something, instead of a brief moment of happiness in a frustrating season.

In conclusion

Why the heck not?

Raiders by 2

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