WRaiders Wreview: Woeful in Wagga

It’s now been three days since the NRLW Raiders shit the bed in their 18-16 loss to the North Queensland Cowboys in Wagga.

I’m still filthy about it.

We could talk about Kasey Badger’s shabby officiating over the 70 minutes.

We could talk about the apathetic Cows finally bursting to life in the second half.

What we really need to talk about is the WRaiders.

Round 1 was a good start.

Round 2 was a life-affirming moment.

Round 3 was a courageous stumble against the top team.

Then, in round 4, the rot set in.

Round 5 was an evolution of the malaise the Raiders displayed against the Sharks.

They weathered the deadlock with the Cows until Elise Simpson’s icebreaker just before the break. They raced ahead with two more tries in the second half.

And then the moment things changed they folded like origami.

Stalwart defenders like Gallagher suddenly couldn’t make a tackle to save their life. The Cows constantly went left, easily stripping the numbers on the Raiders right side defence multiple times (I’m so cross about this I don’t even want to watch the highlights).

Lapses in defence were compounded with errors in possession. Gallagher dropped a near-sitter metres from the line (the setting sun in golden hour may have contributed). Players in green pushed desperate passes when what was actually needed were cool, calm hands getting the ball upfield to an attacking position.

The Raiders last twenty minutes of this match was a piss-poor effort from a side that should have been cementing their place in the top six. Instead, they handed the Cows their first win of the season.

Gone was the pace they displayed through the first few rounds. Gone was the confidence, the conviction and the directness of the attack. Gone was a dominant middle. Behind them was a backline that went sideways more than it went forwards.

If Darren Borthwick wishes to see inside the Finals in the NRLW he desperately needs to instill some match resilience in these players, or they’ll just keep falling short when they should be putting teams like the Cows to the sword.

NRLW players have said they want more objective feedback and criticism – if the NRLW Raiders ever want to make it past the season regular they’ll have to start playing like they mean it.

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