Quiet achievers to lead Canberra from darkness
They're the emergency front-row combination which has vowed to carry the last-placed Raiders out of the NRL darkness.
Dane Tilse and Brett White rarely make the headlines.
But with representative stars David Shillington and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs in the casualty ward, the underrated pair has picked up the slack.
Tilse echoed the thoughts of both he and White ahead of tonight's stern test with the Canterbury Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium.
''There's been a bit more responsibility on the both of us to get the team moving forward, so I've enjoyed that,'' Tilse said.
''We both really wanted to step up for the team and felt we did that.
''We both had pretty strong games last week against the Storm.''
Tilse churned through a mammoth 153m from 22 hit-ups along with 21 tackles in the 20-12 victory, as well as producing the key offload which led to Josh McCrone's four-pointer.
White racked up 134m from 16 carries and completed 21 tackles.
Even when Learoyd-Lahrs has been available, Tilse has been preferred in the starting rotation this season.
White has no doubt why the 2m man mountain is having a career-best season.
''He's been the form front-rower for the Raiders this year,'' White said.
''His tackles, his offloads, his defence, the amount of work he gets through, he's certainly been leading the way.''
Tilse and White are more than adequate replacements for their injured teammates.
Learoyd-Lahrs is due to return from a fractured eye socket for the round 13 clash with the North Queensland Cowboys the Raiders' first game back after next week's bye.
Shillington is another four to six weeks away with a torn pectoral muscle.
While they recover, the Raiders have blooded two of the their most exciting forward prospects in Junior Kiwis duo Sam Mataora and Josh Papalii.
Twenty-one-year-old Mataora got a taste of first grade last year, making four appearances.
Papalii celebrated his 19th birthday last Friday with an eye-catching debut against the Storm.
Several strong games for the club's National Youth Competition side caught the attention of not only the coaching staff, but also the Raiders' leadership group.
''I don't want to put too much pressure on [Josh], but he's only just turned 19 and he's going to be a really good player for the club,'' Tilse said.
''All the senior boys know what wraps we've got on him after watching him in the 20s ... he's got a big future.''
The Bulldogs will unleash a monster of their own in 122kg enforcer Sam Kasiano.
In his first outing since round four, the 20-year-old will form an imposing combination with overlooked NSW hopeful Aiden Tolman.
''They have a pretty strong forward pack,'' Tilse said.
''They got a couple good buys in the off-season with Tolman and [Greg] Eastwood.
''We know we've got a big challenge tonight then we have the bye, so we're putting everything into it.''
Source: The Canberra Times
Topic: Quiet achievers to lead Canberra from darkness
