Raiders to channel Bruce in Gold Coast stomping
Well - won't be a stomping. But we greatly favour Canberra Raiders in their round three fixture with Gold Coast Titans because 54 per cent in Townsville won't happen again. And because: Jack Wighton.
And so to Saturday night and Gold Coast Titans at the stadium once named for Stanley Melbourne Bruce, the 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, who fought on the frontlines of Gallipoli, who was Australia’s 8th Prime Minister (1923-29), who was the first Australian to serve on the House of Lord’s, who went into bat for Australia in World War II, and who requested that his ashes be strewn across Canberra, sweet Mal Meninga love him he sounds like a top Aussie, there are many letters after his name.
So yes - cometh Gold Coast Titans to the once Bruce now insurance company stadium for the round three fixture with our Canberra Raiders.
And they cometh, at least in relative Gold Coast Titans form, in a bit of form.
They looked handy in their 32-28 loss to Parramatta Eels in round one, scoring five tries after 41 minutes before three penalty goals by Mitchell Moses iced their evening.
Week later they got home against the game’s most enigmatic basket case New Zealand Warriors by 20-18, with standout games by some rumbling types in their back division notably wingers Philip Sami and Greg Marzhew who scored a double.
Their forward pack, too, sports serious footy players - Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, David Fifita, Jarrod Wallace, Kevin Proctor.
Someone called Beau Fermor led their Fantasy Points, whatever they are, on the back of 172 run metres, 40 of them post-contact, in just 12 runs.
Fermor - the only Fermor to play first grade rugby league and whose surname came to England in the wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066 and which means “tax farmer”, one who undertook the collection of taxes, tariffs, and such for a fixed sum, according to the internet, which would know - also scored a try, played 80 minutes and made 27 tackles at a team-high 93.1 per cent efficiency.
So yes - fair game for this Fermor fellow with his all-conquering bloodlines. And good luck to him and his Titans, they are no longer the cakewalk they were.
But, for mine, they still look like Raiders Lite.
And I still like us at home.
For even with the Great Abomination of Townsville last weekend – you couldn’t beat Harbord Devils with a completion rate of 54% - I believe our people will romp home against the flat-landers of the north.
Because: Jack Wighton.
Not just him, of course. And they probably won’t romp home.
But: Jack Wighton. A superstar who needs one thing: the ball.
And for his team-mates to not drop the ball. And to not give away penalties when they have the ball.
Basically just don’t give the other team the ball.
And just, sweet Bejeebus save us, play competitive, hard-boned, kick-and-chase-like-devil-dogs rugby league so that Wighton and his left-side posse can have a crack at Gold Coast Titans within 20 metres or so of Gold Coast Titans line.
Simple.
For give the good ones enough opportunity, they’ll take it. Give the bad ones enough they’ll take it, too, as the Raiders found last week in Townsville when the Cows, who remain contenders with Wests Tigers for the wooden spoon you may still take it to the bank via Sportsbet, scored four tries on the back of being given the ball 15 times.
Just an abomination. And we can just forget about it. Because that shit won’t happen again.
There is also: our forward pack.
Hudson Young – whom I’d like to see one day in the Blues back row with Victor Radley and Cam Murray – is all footy player.
Josh Papalii, Joe Tapine - world class people.
Corey Harawira-Naera is getting better. There’s a lot of him and all of it runs hard at the edge.
Tom Starling assumes the mantle of main man at nine.
Brad Schneider can show us what he’s got.
In news of man-movement Jordan Rapana is back and Nick Cotric is out and Seb Kris replaces Cotric on a wing meaning Ricky Stuart keeps faith with Semi Valemei in the centres leaving Xavier Savage on the non-playing pine.
And yet, that said … our man Gorski, or perhaps it is Porkski, the gibberers from the second-most popular Raiders podcast, tweeted that Savage remains a sniff of getting a run.
When asked why Savage remains out of favour Stuart said it’s none of your damned business curse your impertinent hide.
No he didn’t he said he was protecting the young man by allowing him to learn from his mistakes in reserve grade.
Which is fair enough, one supposes. But then if he’s scoring a hat-trick of tearaway tries in the big league, we fans are thinking: we will cop those mistakes, Sticki, we can’t see them anyway.
Anyway.
Key to victory for our Machine Saturday night at the stadium once named for the excellent Stanley Bruce remains: hold the ball; kick and chase like madmen; tackle like a wall of hard human meat; give Wighton one side and Elliott Whitehead the other side sufficient opportunities to pull off their plays.
And repeat.
And Raiders by 10.
In news of The Milk - which you may still purchase from all good internets here - we’re planning another launch, and lunch, this one at Kelly’s Irish Pub in Mudgee for Saturday April 2 ahead of the Manly game at Glen Willow International Sports Stadium, named after … I don’t know, and Google hasn’t coughed up an answer quick enough and I don’t care enough to Google further.
But yes - off to Mudgee for Manly, Saturday April 2.
Will create an Event thing on the Facey and you, yes you, are specifically invited to join us.
And bye for now.
And Up The Milk.