Round 8 Preview of the Junior RepsThis Saturday afternoon the Canberra Raiders’ junior representative teams travel to the Windsor Sporting Complex in Sydney’s North Western Suburbs to take on the might of the Penrith Panthers.
It was a disappointing day last Saturday for the Harold Matthews side as they went down 38-18 against a Western Suburbs outfit desperate to keep in touch with the top eight.
The boys were competitive for most of the match and were only down by two points, 16-14, in the early stages of the second half. However according to coach Brett Maron they just couldn’t maintain their focus for the whole 60 minutes.
“In most of our games this year when we’ve been behind, we’ve usually had a late rally in the second half… but last week against Wests it [the late rally] just didn’t come,” Maron said.
A key man this week for the Harold Matthews side will be centre Lachlan Croker. Despite his side’s indifferent form, Croker has gone from strength to strength this season
“He’s been improving week by week,” Maron said “He’s been in really sublime form recently.”
Croker scored all three of the Raiders’ tries last Saturday afternoon and posed a constant threat to the Magpies’ defence every time he touched the ball.
Also look out for lock Charlie Mackenzie who has really impressed the Harold Matthews coaching staff since returning back last week from a broken nose.
“Charlie’s been a real rock around the middle for us both defensively and in attack,” Maron said “In his last couple of games he’s made about 30 odd tackles each… and has carried on the Canberra tradition of hard working back rowers.”
Penrith’s Harold Matthews side currently sit first on the table having won all their games so far this season, however Maron believes his team has the potential to match the Panthers, despite currently sitting second last on the ladder.
“They’ve [Penrith] been the dominant team in the comp,” Maron said “But if we get our basic skills right this week I expect us to stick with them throughout the game.”
While the Raiders Harold Matthews have had a rather disappointing season, the party just keeps on going for the Raiders SG Ball side. Last weekend’s big win over the Western Suburbs Magpies, 62-6, signalled their sixth consecutive win and all but guaranteed them a berth in this year’s final series.
Coach Peter Marrapodi was particularly pleased with the effort as it was the third win his team had registered within a seven day period.
“It was a lot of hard work, the team showed a lot of mental toughness but we were primed for it,” Marrapodi said. “The forwards did really well ... we realised Wests were a bit loose up the middle and that’s where we attacked them and did the damage.”
Mitchell Shaw and Josh Chudleigh were particularly prominent against the Magpies, making good metres throughout the game and creating a series of breaks which the outside backs were able to capitalise on.
The Penrith SG Ball side currently sit 5th on the table (one spot lower than the Raiders) and will probably prove to be biggest challenge the Green Machine have faced since their round 3 clash with South Sydney.
“They’ll be tough,” Marrapodi said “They gave us a flogging in the trial we played against them earlier this year and they have a really strong forward back … we’ll have to be on our game.”
The Harold Matthews game will kick off at 1:30pm this Saturday afternoon and will be followed by the SG Ball at 3:00pm
Source: Raiders
Topic: Raiders SG Ball and Harold Matthews Previews - Round 8
