Raiders' vital stats ahead of the final round
The GoodThe Raiders have been producing a lot of second phase ball in recent weeks, making 40 offloads in the past three rounds, third most in the competition.
On the other side of the coin, they have also been good at shutting down the opposition’s ball, only allowing 10.3 offloads a game over the same period.
The BadThe Raiders defence has been loose. They missed 44 tackles against the Rabbitohs and 42 against the Titans. Things were tightened up a little bit against Penrith, with Canberra only falling off 26 tackles.
Obviously poor defence means more tries conceded and the Raiders have let in 15 over the past three rounds, second only to the Titans.
With the Bulldogs sure to let scoring machine Ben Barba off the leash on Sunday, the Raiders will have to work hard on locking down their line.
The GunBlake Ferguson has to be one of the best buys of the season. The young winger has been motoring through metres this year, sitting fourth in the competition with 3079. He’s the equal fifth in the try-scoring tally, with 13 to his name, and tops the Raiders for tackle busts (94),
The Bad BoyJosh McCrone will have to work extra hard if the Raiders are to shore up their defence. He has missed 67 tackles, the most of any Raider this season.
The Raiders also have three players in the NRL’s top five for errors, with Blake Ferguson on 39, Josh McCrone on 36 and Jarrod Croker on 35.
Stats LeadersTop tryscorer – Blake Ferguson (13)
Top tackler – Shaun Fensom (1110 & 48.3 per game)
Most missed tackles – Josh McCrone (67) & Sam Williams(3.8 per game)
Top line breaks – Josh McCrone (12 & 10 line break assists)
Top offloads – Shaun Fensom (35)
Penalties conceded – Shaun Fensom (22)
Top try assists – Josh McCrone (16)
Most metres – Blake Ferguson (3079 & 133.9 per game)
Tackle busts – Blake Ferguson (94)
Errors made – Blake Ferguson (39)
* All statistics are current as of the completion of Round 25, 2011.Source: Raiders.com.au
Topic: Raiders' vital stats ahead of the final round
