Raiders v Roosters - The Battle to Make The Grand FinalThe Canberra Raiders SG Ball side will be looking to secure a Grand Final berth when they take on the Sydney Roosters at St Mary’s Leagues Club Stadium this Saturday afternoon.
The Raiders come into this match in good form after mauling a previously undefeated Balmain side 40-8 at the Windsor Sporting Complex almost two weeks ago.
The Green Machine was merciless running in seven tries against the toothless Tigers, however, Raiders coach Peter Marrapodi said the victory was built mainly on defence.
“Our defensive attitude was excellent and at this time of year when it comes to the big games that’s what really carries you through,” Marrapodi said “Our forwards’ line speed took all their momentum away.... their halves have really scored a lot of points this year, but they didn’t really get a look in because of the good work of our forwards”
However, while the win against the Tigers may have been comprehensive Marrapodi feels that his team will have to improve on their last effort if they are to be the best side in the competition.
“It was by no means our best game this year. Defensively we were poor with some of our decision making, particularly on the edge.
“We also gave them a lot of opportunities with the ball, we made a fair few errors and our completion rate wasn’t up where it has been.”
Under the newly revised finals series the win against the Tigers gave the Raiders a week off leading into this weekend’s game. According to Marrapodi his side has benefited from the break as it has allowed a couple of players carrying niggling injuries some well needed recovery time.
Expect a big game from boom Raiders centre Brenko Lee. Lee has been hampered in recent weeks because of a minor groin injury; however, Marrapodi says this week he is fully fit and raring to go.
The Green Machine’s opponents, the Sydney Roosters have been the surprise packets of this year’s finals series. After just qualifying for the finals in seventh place, they are now just one game away from the big one after impressive victories against the Bulldogs and the Sea Eagles.
“From all reports they’ve got a lot of points in them,” Marrapodi said “They’ve got a couple of big forwards that like to offload and they like to throw the ball around... we’ll try and use our defence to force them into errors.”
The Raiders boys should keep an eye out on Roosters prop Lloyd Perrett who crossed for five tries against Manly last week.
Should the Raiders get through the Grand Final their opponents will be the winner of this weekend’s other clash between Balmain and South Sydney.
This week’s game against the Roosters will kick off at 1:30pm.
Source: Raiders
Topic: Raiders v Roosters - The Battle to Make The Grand Final
