Smith ready to reclaim place in Toyota Cup teamA starting spot is not easy to crack in a side that has just won five games in a row. Just ask Brad Smith.
Smith would be a starting winger in most Toyota Cup sides however due to the talent in the second placed Canberra Raiders team he has been forced to ply his trade in the Canberra Raiders Cup for West Belconnen Warriors.
However, with a stroke of misfortune to teammate Malcom Congoo and an abundance of hard work and good form for West Belconnen in Canberra’s premier local competition, Smith has won the vacant spot on the young Green Machine’s flank.
“Brad’s been playing very well in the Canberra Raiders Cup and thoroughly deserves his call up after Mal was ruled out with a fractured jaw,” said Coach Andrew Dunemann.
“He was unlucky at the start to miss out on a spot. I thought he was going ok. He’s still got a bit of development to go and has to continue to work on his game but he’s looked a class above in the local comp and that’s what you want from players when they drop down a level.”
“There’s only one way to get back up and that’s to knuckle down and train hard and Brad has done that. Training hard is one of the biggest things I go on.”
Smith will have to transcend his good form from the Canberra Raiders Cup to the Toyota Cup to cover for the loss of Congoo who has been on fire playing outside of Edrick Lee on the left wing.
The Upper Ross Rams Townsville junior has crossed for seven breathtaking tries in just five games and courageously played through the entire game last week after sustaining the injury late in the first half.
“Malcom will be out to 4-5 weeks. He got a fair whack around the 30th minute mark after coming down from a bomb and received a head clash in attempting to make the tackle. He didn’t come off after the injury so he thinks he’s John Sattler now,” laughed Dunemann.
The side is brimming with confidence at the moment however Dunemann has his chargers well and truly prepared for the 11th placed Eels, a side who are capable of upsetting anyone on their day.
“The confidence is high in the squad at the moment. Obviously when your winning you enjoy yourself a bit more so hopefully that will continue.”
“We’ve got the bye next week so I’ll definitely be drilling it into the boys to really dig deep this weekend and earn the rest the following week.”
“We need to get our heads switched on for this weekend’s game and train hard. I think we’ve done that for most of the year and that’s been vindicated each weekend with our good performances.”
“Parramatta’s been up and down for most of the year but if you let them be good with the football in hand they’re definitely capable of putting some points on you so defensively we have to be very good.”
One player Canberra will have to watch is Eels strike player Jacob Gagan who has been shifted to from fullback to the centres to mark up on Edrick Lee.
Parramatta Assistant Coach John Billings likened Gagan to Jarryd Hayne in the Harold Matthews Competition before a broken leg in the Grand Final halted the rising stars progress. He has since recovered and gone onto represent the Australian Schoolboys and become one of Parrmatta’s most dangerous attacking weapons.
“I rate him highly,” Dunemann said. “He plays very well. He’d be right centre I’d imagine as he’s got a good left foot step so the matchup between him and Edrick Lee will be a really good contest.”
The match kicks off this Sunday at 11:45am at Canberra Stadium.
Source: Raiders
Topic: Talented Raider Reclaims His Starting Spot
