Toyota Cup Preview: "Roosters will be our biggest test so far"If you asked Canberra Raiders Toyota Cup Coach Andrew Dunemann what he desired from his troops this weekend against the Sydney Roosters, it would be a combination of the efforts of the previous two rounds.
The yet to be defeated side disposed of the Melbourne Storm 16-10 in round one on the back of a resolute defensive display and then followed it up last week with a 40-26 win over the Gold Coast Titans which highlighted the team’s exciting attacking ability.
Dunemann is praying the side employs both facets of play this Sunday against a Roosters side he describes as “their biggest test yet.”
“Round three needs to be a case of combining the two efforts from the previous rounds; the defence from round one and the attack from round two,” Dunemann said.
“Defensively I thought we were fairly scrappy in some areas last week although with the footy I thought we were pretty good.”
“We came up with a few simple errors which let them back into the game and made it a bit harder than what it should have been for us. Overall though when you take into account the conditions it wasn’t a bad performance.”
For such a young team, the Raiders Toyota Cup side has portrayed maturity beyond their years in the last couple of weeks in having to contend with two polar opposite playing conditions. Firstly with the torrential rain in Canberra for round one and then the dry heat of the Gold Coast in round two.
One player who adapted to both conditions magnificently is the side’s Captain and halfback Mitchell Cornish. The Goulburn Stockman junior’s kicking game and smart ball play were a feature in the wet conditions in round one and in the dry conditions at Skilled Park, Cornish was able to unleash his full attacking arsenal.
“If you saw he’s performance in round one it was a thoroughly comprehensive performance as well. He set up three tries for us and he’s kicking game was as good as any that I’ve seen. Then again on the weekend it was a more open sort of game and he showed what he’s capable in those conditions too.”
Cornish’s statistics for the year are thoroughly impressive. He leads the competition in the total number of kicks in play, 40/20 kicks and try assists and is second in top long kicks and line-break assists.
“He’s definitely a key for us and I think everyone knows that. As the season goes on he’ll be targeted a fair bit I’d imagine which will make it harder for him but we’ll see how he goes.”
“He’s playing style definitely helps the players around him and that’s something all the good players do. They make the players around them play to the best of their ability and I think Mitch is a player of that ilk.”
Strike centre Edrick Lee is a player Cornish combines sublimely with and their attacking combination is sure to captivate the crowd at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
“I thought Eddie Lee was really good for us last week. He signed a new contract during the week, and deservedly so, he’s thoroughly deserved it. The performance that he put out on the weekend needs to be his benchmark now and he’s capable of performing like that week in week out. He’ll be a real asset for us moving forward this year.”
After viewing the tape of the Roosters 26-14 win over the Penrith Panthers last week, Dunemann believes his forward pack, aided by the return of Uiti Baker, will need to be on song for the Green Machine to overcome their biggest hurdle to date.
“I’ve had a look at the Roosters game from last week and it’s fair to say this will be our biggest test so far.”
“Their pack in particular is very impressive. They’ve got some punch in there and some really good players that will kick on. Just by looking at the players in their roster we know we’re going to have to be at our best.”
The match kicks off this Sunday at 11:45am at Allianz Stadium.
Source: Raiders
Topic: Roosters Set to be Raiders Biggest Test Yet in Toyota Cup
