Toyota Cup Raiders out to net Sharks
These two sides met in round one this year and as you would expect much has changed since then.For starters, both sides have lost their halfbacks and captains to NRL births, and their vast array of talents have ensured they have stayed there. Sam Williams and Chad Townsend were highly influential to their team’s play in the Toyota Cup competition and both clubs have had to adapt throughout the season to combat their absence.
“It’s been tough without Sammy but in saying that they’ve been winning without him [Townsend] so we’ve got to learn how to win on a more consistent basis,” said Captain Matt McIlwrick.
Compounding this is the fact the young Raiders have had to also contend with the further loss of strike players Nathan Massey and Josh Papalii to first grade and the loss of several experienced campaigners such as centre Haydon Hodge; who scored two tries in the previous clash with Cronulla.
In the round one clash the Sharks won 34-30. The victory was built on the back of a two try performance by Cronulla legend David Peachey’s nephew, Tyrone. Last Sunday against South Sydney, Peachey had a blinder with three line-breaks, eighteen tackle breaks and ran for 218 metres to his name. Further to this the creative lock forward has scored ten tries so far this year.
McIlwrick is aware of the threat he poses to his side, particularly around the ruck area.
“They’ve got a number of handy player’s in their team so we’ve got to watch out for all of them but he’s going great this year and I’m sure he’ll have a big future in footy. He’s very dangerous.”
The Sharks now sit in a commanding fourth position on the ladder, whilst the Raiders are in eighth position, with a finals position anything but guaranteed having won just one of their last six matches.
Last week’s 56-20 loss to the Sydney Roosters was particularly disappointing. After leading 20-12 after forty-two minutes, the Raiders conceded thirty four unanswered points in a particularly dismal second half performance.
“Last week it all came down to attitude in the end. I think we learnt quite a bit from that game about working more as a team as well as standing up individually,” McIlwrick said. “They’re in the top four for a reason and they’re going to be tough so we’ll have to be on our game.”
There’s only so much coach David Hamilton can do to prepare his side, and McIlwrick has encouraged his senior players to take up more responsibility and lead from the front. A win this week would provide the side with a timely confidence boost, as the young Green Machine looks to secure a place in the finals and build momentum for a shot at the title.
“Definitely we as senior players need to lead the side and as captain I’ve got to step up and lead the younger boys around more. I’m confident we’ll bring it all together for a win this week.”
“It’s very important to build up a bit of momentum [coming into the finals]. There’s a lot of team’s sitting around the same number of points as us and we need to skip clear of them. In saying that though we’ve got a number of tough games coming up and we need to perform well or we might not even make the eight, which would be extremely disappointing.
The match kicks off on Saturday at 3:15pm at Toyota Stadium.
Source: Raiders.com.au
Topic: Toyota Cup Raiders out to net Sharks
