Junior Reps off to Raid Sydney’s Golden WestThe Canberra Raiders junior representative sides travel to Campbelltown Stadium this Saturday afternoon to do battle with the Western Suburbs Magpies.
It will be a short turn around for the Raiders boys as both sides were required to play games against Parramatta on Wednesday to make up for the washed out fixtures from round 4, just four days after their round 6 fixtures against Illawarra.
It has been a mixed last few days for the Raiders Harold Matthews side. Last Saturday they finally broke through for their first win of the season with a hard fought victory against the Steelers 24-22, however, they went down to the Eels on Wednesday afternoon 38-22.
Keep an eye out this weekend for halfback Jack Hickson and hooker Logan Reiss. Hickson played very strongly against the Steelers last Saturday, bagging one try and creating a series of scoring opportunities for his outside men throughout the match while Reiss got through a mountain of work against Parramatta on Wednesday afternoon.
The Magpies Harold Matthews side currently sit just one point outside the top eight and will be eager for a win on home turf in order to keep their finals prospects alive.
The Raiders SG Ball team has been going from strength to strength recently and will this week be looking for their sixth consecutive victory. The Raiders were in superb touch last Saturday scoring 10 tries in a commanding victory over Illawarra 48-4. They then backed that effort up with a 30-28 win over the Eels on Wednesday afternoon and currently sit fifth on the ladder much to the delight of coach Peter Marrapodi.
“We had a good week ... we trained well and against Ilawarra we executed our game plan really well,” Marrapodi said “The boys are very fit and resilient, however it will be big test for them to try and get three wins in a week this Saturday.”
Halfback Anthony Milford is again shaping up as a key man for Green Machine this week after scoring a hat trick of tries against the Eels on Wednesday afternoon, while Marrapodi will be looking for forwards Jarrad McIlwrick and Jeremy Cropper to lead the forward pack after recent strong performances.
The Western Suburbs SG Ball side hasn’t had the greatest of seasons this year. They are currently sitting 16th on the ladder with only one win from their six games played. However despite their position on the ladder, Marrapodi isn’t expecting an easy game.
“We can’t afford to get complacent,” Marrapodi said “The Magpies are very tough side, they’ve got fast outside backs and they’re not likely to take a backwards step”.
This week the Harold Matthews kicks at Midday followed by the SG Ball at 1:30pm.
Source: Raiders
Topic: Raiders Junior Reps off to Raid Sydney’s Golden West
