Bulldogs v Raiders: Five key points

[Nash]

Canterbury's return to their spiritual home ground wasn't enough against a Canberra side now firmly entrenched in the top four. Jarrod Croker starred in the 22-8 win, scoring 18 of his side's points, while the Bulldogs lost centre Chase Stanley to injury in what was his 100th game in the NRL.

1. Stanley's milestone match ruined by yet another injury

Monday night's encounter was meant to be a celebration for Bulldogs centre Chase Stanley.

But his 100th NRL game ended prematurely after sustaining a hamstring injury late in the first half.

The 26-year-old has had a horrible run of injuries throughout his career, and scenes from the dressing rooms at half-time showed the emotional toll the latest setback had had on the unlucky centre.

"He's done a hamstring. He'll have that scanned but it's not good. He'll miss a couple of weeks," Bulldogs coach Des Hasler said.

The news didn’t get any better for the Raiders, with veteran back-rower Iosia Soliola forced from the field in the first half with a broken arm.

Soliola left Belmore with his arm in a sling, and is set for an extended stint on the sidelines.

"We've got to go get some scans, but they think he's broken his arm," Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said.

"We'll miss 'Sia'. He's the backbone to a lot of our work, and someone has to step up and now and take his duties. Bad luck creates opportunity."

2. Canberra's forwards win the battle of the big men

Monday night's clash was always going to come down to which forward pack could win the ruck.

In a battle littered with representative talent on both sides, the Raiders came out on top, out-running the Bulldogs by nearly 300 metres.

In fact, James Graham was the only starting Bulldogs forward to break the 100-metre barrier, while Frank-Paul Nuuausala led the way for the Green Machine with 129 metres of his own.

"I thought they played well. I thought all our big men played well," Raiders skipper Jarrod Croker said.

"It was one of those sorts of games where it was physical. It always is against the Bulldogs.

"You've got to match them up front and I thought our boys did pretty well. The challenge continues next week [against Parramatta]. They're a big pack and we've got to ice our bumps and bruises and move on."

3. Bulldogs not quite on their game

Coach Des Hasler admitted his Bulldogs were slightly off their game on Monday night and that was enough to cost them the two competition points.

"I thought we were a bit off tonight, which is disappointing at our home ground and for our fans," Hasler said.

"The boys are generally disappointed, but that's the nature of the competition. You've only got to be a little bit off and you can get done.

"Certainly consistency is a really key part of it. We've got to get our heads around that. We know that."

Bulldogs skipper James Graham blamed his side's poor start for the loss, saying the early 14-point deficit was always going to be tough to chase down.

"We probably didn't get out of the blocks as well as we would have liked. Canberra really did and we didn't. One thing led to another and we found ourselves in a poor position."

4. Raiders overcome Belmore hoodoo

Canberra's 14-point win on Monday night was their first at Belmore since 1990, and just their third overall from 17 attempts.

In what was their first game at the venue since 1998, the Raiders shot out to an early 14-0 lead, effectively taking the crowd out of the contest.

Raiders skipper Jarrod Croker told NRL.com it was special to get a win at a place that held such historical importance.

"It's always tough against the Bulldogs in general," Croker said.

"I know for myself and probably most of the boys it was their first time being here. It was a great atmosphere, a great environment and to come away with the two points is a good effort from the lads."

5. Hopoate keeps the streak alive

Bulldogs fullback Will Hopoate has made the most of his move to Belmore, scoring his fifth try in as many games for his new club.

His 68th-minute try breathed life into the contest, but ultimately wasn't enough to get his side home.

The former Eel has now run for over 100 metres in four straight games, but more importantly, has scored in every match he has played since donning the blue and white jersey.

Source: https://www.nrl.com/bulldogs-v-raiders-five-key-points/tabid/10874/newsid/94511/default.aspx

 

[Mr Invisible]

Guarantee we lose Hoppa to origin..

That said, he's been decent.

 

[The DoggFather]

Here are the real 5 key points...

1. Des is a myth
2. Our forward pack are a myth
3. Our halves are rubbish
4. Our game plan is non-existent
5. Nobody fears us and knows exactly how to shut us down

 

[c-b-b]

Coach Des Hasler admitted his Bulldogs were slightly off their game on Monday night and that was enough to cost them the two competition points.

With a win we would have gone back to the top of the ladder. I know it's early in the season but it would have been nice to be there and cement a top 4 spot.

 

[Allan]

Five points I learned from the game:

1. No matter how good your team is in this comp on any given day the other team can come along and make you look foolish
2. For games against clubs with no Sydney based supporters like the Raiders, local venues like Belmore are an outstanding success
3. Reynolds is getting better every game. Tried his heart out in a beaten team
4. Kasiano the best since Beetson, if he continues he will become a legend in the game
5. Jackson is the most underrated forward in the competition.

 

[c-b-b]

Five points I learned from the game:

1. No matter how good your team is in this comp on any given day the other team can come along and make you look foolish
2. For games against clubs with no Sydney based supporters like the Raiders, local venues like Belmore are an outstanding success
3. Reynolds is getting better every game. Tried his heart out in a beaten team
4. Kasiano the best since Beetson, if he continues he will become a legend in the game
5. Jackson is the most underrated forward in the competition.

You know that Reynolds is going to be 27 in the next few days. He's started playing in FG in 2011. And we're waiting for him to get better every week, if he's not playing at his top level already it's never going to happen.

 

[COVENS]

Five points I learned from the game:

1. No matter how good your team is in this comp on any given day the other team can come along and make you look foolish
2. For games against clubs with no Sydney based supporters like the Raiders, local venues like Belmore are an outstanding success
3. Reynolds is getting better every game. Tried his heart out in a beaten team
4. Kasiano the best since Beetson, if he continues he will become a legend in the game
5. Jackson is the most underrated forward in the competition.

There's no way someone who has represented Country, NSW, Australia and won Dally M Second Rower of the year is underrated.

What did Kasiano do last night that impressed you?

 

[The DoggFather]

There's no way someone who has represented Country, NSW, Australia and won Dally M Second Rower of the year is underrated.

What did Kasiano do last night that impressed you?

All I remember is that one big hit and that's about it.

 

[Raikkonen]

"slightly" off....

Takes some ownership of the performance and coaching Des.

 

[COVENS]

All I remember is that one big hit and that's about it.

I remember him passing the fucking ball way too much

 

[Allan]

1 Yes Jackson has received rep honours. No he is not talked about as one of the top forwards in the game. He just works hard and delivers.
2. Kasiano came on and played with passion. He tackled hard and bent the Raiders line on numerous occasions. Yes he passed the ball, that's his job. Williams/Graham/Tolman/Eastwood etc never looked like getting on top of the Raiders forwards

 

[Fruitty Pebbles]

Here are the real 5 key points...

1. Des is a myth
2. Our forward pack are a myth
3. Our halves are rubbish
4. Our game plan is non-existent
5. Nobody fears us and knows exactly how to shut us down

Agree with all points, However point 3 is more because of how our halves are being told how to play but yes they are playing pretty AVERAGE.

 

[bLaQDoG..]

Canberra haven't beaten us at Belmore since 1990. This generation is disgracing what it means to play at Belmore. Reminded me of how bad we were against Cronulla last year.

 

[Sauce Head]

"slightly" off....

Takes some ownership of the performance and coaching Des.

Here is the really scary thing: des actually thinks a performance like that is only "slightly" off. It makes sense though - the shit game plan, never dropping players. When you take all that into account, it's almost like he has no real desire to make this club succeed.

 

[Trendsetter]

There's about 80+ points we can make on last nights game, there was a fuck up every single minute without a doubt.

Was there a single play last night that we didn't look completely lost, beaten and dominated in every possible way?

Canberra were perfect last night, and by perfect I mean, they never threw blatant short forward passes, lost the ball or were ever offside.. even when they ran off there line and were half way to Lichaa before the ball was played, they were onside even then!

So what if we were the only side that was refereed last night, we couldn't even capitalize on repeat sets right on their line ffs! The refs had a hand in killing our momentum, but we certainly didn't let that stop us from further killing ourselves with stupid plays that went no where.