Junior Representative Preview for Round 9This Saturday the Canberra Raiders’ junior representative teams travel north to Woy Woy Oval to take on the Central Coast Centurions.
The Raiders’ Harold Matthews side will be looking to end their season on a high against the Centurions in what will be their last game for the year. It has been a disappointing season for the boys, however, Raiders coach Brett Maron is certainly feeling confident coming into the match after his side held competition heavy weights Penrith Panthers to a 14 all draw at the Windsor Sporting Complex last weekend.
“We were really pleased with the way the game went,” Maron said “It would have been better to win, we missed a field goal in the last 10 seconds … but we certainly played well enough to hold our heads high.”
According to Maron the positive showing against the Panthers was the result of some good preparation in the week leading up to the game and the fact that his side finally achieved the ball control they’d been searching for all season.
“We had a slightly changed game plan put in place to move their big fellas around which worked very well,” Maron said “We held onto the ball and only had 2 errors in each half… we were really on song.”
Like the Raiders, the Centurions’ Harold Matthews side has not had a particularly successful season and are likely to miss the finals regardless of the result; however, Maron is still expecting a tough match and wants his troops to aim up for the game.
“I’m looking for the same application, same execution of plays and the same attitude as we had last week,” he said “If we finish off on that same note then we really will have taken something out of this season.”
Unfortunately for the SG Ball side their six game winning streak came to an end last Saturday against the Panthers. The Raiders looked good early on, shooting out to an 18-0 lead early in the contest but they just couldn’t maintain the momentum throughout the entire game with the Panthers emerging victorious 36-28.
However, despite the loss Raiders coach Peter Marrapodi was still pretty pleased with the efforts of his players
“We were pretty good, attack wise we were very well structured and we scored enough points to win two games,” Marrapodi said “But defensively we had a couple of lapses.”
With that in mind Marrapodi has this week emphasised to his players the importance of establishing and maintaining a good attitude in defence should they wish to go well in the finals series.
“We’ve spoken about our defensive attitude which is really what got us into this good position this season,” Marrapodi said. The coach felt there was a slight drop in the intensity of his side’s defensive attitude last week and it was this drop that ultimately let them down against the Panthers.
“We’re definitely looking to improve it (their defensive attitude) this weekend against Central Coast,” he said.
The Raiders are guaranteed to make the finals series irrespective of the result and thus Marrapodi believes the match should serve as a great opportunity to test out combinations and ensure that his team has the best possible preparation for the finals series
“I think it’s a good chance for us to build some confidence after the loss last weekend,” Marrapodi said “We’re just looking to play well and build confidence, get our structures right and make sure everyone’s happy and confident with what we’re doing leading into the big games”
This weekend the Harold Matthews will kick off at 2:00pm and will be followed by the SG Ball at 3:30pm
Source: Raiders
Topic: Raiders SG and Harold Teams Travel to Woy Woy for Clash with Central Coast
