NYC Round 23 Match Preview Raiders vs Dogs Laying a good foundation for their upcoming finals campaign will be the Canberra Raiders NYC side’s main objective when they take on the Canterbury Bulldogs on Saturday. The junior Raiders all but wrapped the minor premiership last weekend after registering a 38-32 win over the Sydney Roosters. The Green Machine scored eight tries (including four to Jonathon Rueben) compared to the Roosters’ six and the winning margin would have been greater had their goal kicking been a bit more accurate. Raiders’ coach Mick Mantelli said he was pleased with the win but emphasised that he would like to see a more controlled start from his team in the coming weeks. “We tried to force too many passes early on,” Mantelli said. “We have to learn how to compete with teams, grind with them a bit and put some early pressure on them. “We need to take a breath and learn to score at the back end of our sets, we don’t have to score on the first tackle.” Raiders fullback Jack Ahearn was a deserved man of the match against the Roosters after putting in one of the most dominant Holden Cup performances of 2013. The classy fullback set up four tries, three line breaks and ensured the Raiders had great field position with some clever kicks close to the Roosters’ line. Ahearn has improved leaps and bounds this season and seems to be relishing his role as the side’s key playmaker in the absence of Mitch Cornish. Coach Mantelli is expecting the Valley Dragons junior to play a key role in his side’s upcoming finals campaign. “Jack just gives us that nice cool head,” Mantelli said. “He will be extremely important to us in the lead up to the finals. He reads the game very well and I’ll be looking for him to stabilise the team a bit more.” The Bulldogs have had a good 2013 and are currently sitting 5th on the Holden Cup ladder. They will be looking to carry on the momentum they generated last Monday when they thumped the Gold Coast 54-20 at ANZ Stadium. “They’ve got a big pack that likes to intimidate other teams and make metres through the middle. Most teams try to do that to us because we’re not a big side,” Mantelli said. “We’re preparing hard to knock back the big boys and I’m sure we’re going to get them on the edges with some pace.” The Raiders are yet to play Canterbury in the competition proper but it was an exciting contest when they met in Goulburn during the pre-season with the Raiders snatching a late 26 all draw. Their big gun is fullback Patrick Templeman, who currently leads the NYC competition in both try assists and line break assists (23 in both categories). If the Raiders want to win they must prevent Templeman from creating attacking opportunities for the Bulldogs’ potent outside backs. With Canberra Stadium also hosting a NSW Cup game this weekend, this game is set to start at 10:45am so make sure to come down early to watch the boys go around.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 23:39:42 +0000
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