Raiders suffer double blowTHEY have overcome plenty of adversity this season, and the Canberra Raiders are confident they can do so again without Josh Dugan and Sam Williams against the Warriors.
The Raiders suffered a huge blow when the key duo were ruled out of today's game due to injury, after failing to train in Auckland yesterday morning. Williams injured the left side of his trapezius muscle during last week's win over the Bulldogs, and has not recovered in time for the final round clash.
Dugan strained his ankle at training on Thursday, and will miss his ninth game this season. Reece Robinson will shift from wing to fullback, while veteran utility Shaun Berrigan will slot into the No.7 jersey.
The Raiders can still earn a home final should they beat the Warriors and Cronulla lose to North Queensland at Toyota Stadium today.
''Sammy did a bit of contact at the start [of training] to see what the shoulder was like, but it doesn't look likely [he'll be playing],'' David Furner said yesterday. ''Dugan's the same, he's had scans and it's not as bad as first thought, but we'll be likely to go in without them.''
Berrigan's shift to the halves means hooker Travis Waddell will come onto the bench, but Furner was tight-lipped on who would slot in at wing. Toyota Cup star Edrick Lee has performed well when elevated to first grade this year, but it remains unclear whether he will be drafted into the squad.
''We've got two options there, and we'll just leave it at that,'' Furner said. ''We'll make that decision [today].''
The injuries to Williams and Dugan means Canberra have just 18 fully fit players to choose out of those who made the trip. An option they may consider is shifting second-rower Joel Thompson into the centres, with Blake Ferguson returning to the wing. Furner also ruled out youngster Jack Wighton making a shock return from a toe injury after playing eight games on the wing earlier this year. Raiders skipper David Shillington said his side had learned how to win without its most influential players.
''We've missed Duges [Dugan] before and Reece slotted in really well at fullback, he was excelling there not just making up the numbers for us,'' Shillington said. ''It was a shame, in a way, to move Reecey out of fullback, that's how good he was going.
''Duges is a class player but we'll gain in different aspects of the game with Reece's ball-playing at the line.''
Shillington expects a fired-up Warriors side after the shock axing of highly rated halves pairing James Maloney and Shaun Johnson.
It is a clear statement from interim coach Tony Iro that reputations count for little after a poor season from last year's grand finalists.
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Source: http://www.melbourneweekly.com.au/news/national/national/sport/raiders-suffer-double-blow/2657101.aspx?storypage=0
Topic: Raiders Confident Huge Double Blow Won't Hurt Chances Against Warriors
