R
Raider_Joey
Guest
New to the forum, as you probably can see. Just my view, and how I see our encounter on Saturday night.
Not too confident of a victory TBH. Our match against the Broncos on Friday night was atrocious to say the least. Bar Blake Ferguson and Shaun Fensom, no one performed. Orford had his moments (only really in the first half), but will definitely become more adjusted to our team over the coming weeks. Whether this is occurs before the Tigers game this week, I don't know… but it will be a better performance. Dugan will be back. I am getting the feeling that he may have been fit to play against the Broncos, but we would've been better off with a 100% Milne than an 80% Dugan. Milne was rubbish though.
Our record against your lot is awful in recent memory. We haven't beaten you since 2008, and haven't beaten the Tigers away since 2006\. However, they certainly have been close encounters and quite fiery affairs. Never really a hell of a lot to separate the two teams.
Blake Ferguson vs Lote Tuqiri is bound to be a great match-up. Ferguson is in amazing form, while Tuqiri is just class all round. Don't know whether or not he is in the same form as Blake, but one thing for certain, is that this battle will be worth the price for admission alone.
I can imagine we will be seeing a lot bombs ( :blush: ) towards Utai, as Vidot seems to be solid under the high ball when attacking, but when defending he is very suspect. Even towards Tuqiri we will see this, as Ferguson is also fantastic under the high ball.
Don't know whether Dugan will be at his best, coming back from an injury, but it was only a cork to the calf, so it shouldn't set him back too much.
The battle of the forwards will be an interesting one. Correct me if I'm wrong, but for your lot, Ellis and Fulton are out, while Gibbs is in doubt? For our pack, we will be full strength, but they had an awful night on Friday, a huge difference from what they dished out the week prior. I think Brett White adds a lot to our team, and he was sorely missed on Friday. He is back, and our notorious prop rotation will hopefully be at its best come Saturday.
Another very interesting battle will be Fensom vs Heighington. Fensom is one of the unsung heroes in our team, and his work isn't praised as much as it deserves. Again, Heighington is just all class.
Personally, I'd like to see Williams on the bench ahead of Waddell, or even someone like Sam Mataora or Danny Galea, but I doubt it.
Our team to run should be something along these lines:
1\. Josh Dugan
2\. Blake Ferguson
3\. Jarrod Croker
4\. Joel Thompson
5\. Daniel Vidot
6\. Josh McCrone
7\. Matt Orford
8\. Tom Learoyd-Lahrs
9\. Glen Buttriss
10\. David Shillington (c)
11\. Joe Picker
12\. Bronson Harrison (c)
13\. Shaun Fensom
14\. Travis Waddell/Sam Williams/Sam Mataora/Danny Galea/Josh Miller
15\. Trevor Thurling
16\. Dane Tilse
17\. Brett White
IMO, that squad is more than capable of beating anyone on our day, and that is why our loss to Brisbane, an ordinary Brisbane at that, shocked me and most Raiders fans.
Whatever team line-ups run out, it should be a very good game, but I do sense a Tigers win.
26-22 Tigers
Not too confident of a victory TBH. Our match against the Broncos on Friday night was atrocious to say the least. Bar Blake Ferguson and Shaun Fensom, no one performed. Orford had his moments (only really in the first half), but will definitely become more adjusted to our team over the coming weeks. Whether this is occurs before the Tigers game this week, I don't know… but it will be a better performance. Dugan will be back. I am getting the feeling that he may have been fit to play against the Broncos, but we would've been better off with a 100% Milne than an 80% Dugan. Milne was rubbish though.
Our record against your lot is awful in recent memory. We haven't beaten you since 2008, and haven't beaten the Tigers away since 2006\. However, they certainly have been close encounters and quite fiery affairs. Never really a hell of a lot to separate the two teams.
Blake Ferguson vs Lote Tuqiri is bound to be a great match-up. Ferguson is in amazing form, while Tuqiri is just class all round. Don't know whether or not he is in the same form as Blake, but one thing for certain, is that this battle will be worth the price for admission alone.
I can imagine we will be seeing a lot bombs ( :blush: ) towards Utai, as Vidot seems to be solid under the high ball when attacking, but when defending he is very suspect. Even towards Tuqiri we will see this, as Ferguson is also fantastic under the high ball.
Don't know whether Dugan will be at his best, coming back from an injury, but it was only a cork to the calf, so it shouldn't set him back too much.
The battle of the forwards will be an interesting one. Correct me if I'm wrong, but for your lot, Ellis and Fulton are out, while Gibbs is in doubt? For our pack, we will be full strength, but they had an awful night on Friday, a huge difference from what they dished out the week prior. I think Brett White adds a lot to our team, and he was sorely missed on Friday. He is back, and our notorious prop rotation will hopefully be at its best come Saturday.
Another very interesting battle will be Fensom vs Heighington. Fensom is one of the unsung heroes in our team, and his work isn't praised as much as it deserves. Again, Heighington is just all class.
Personally, I'd like to see Williams on the bench ahead of Waddell, or even someone like Sam Mataora or Danny Galea, but I doubt it.
Our team to run should be something along these lines:
1\. Josh Dugan
2\. Blake Ferguson
3\. Jarrod Croker
4\. Joel Thompson
5\. Daniel Vidot
6\. Josh McCrone
7\. Matt Orford
8\. Tom Learoyd-Lahrs
9\. Glen Buttriss
10\. David Shillington (c)
11\. Joe Picker
12\. Bronson Harrison (c)
13\. Shaun Fensom
14\. Travis Waddell/Sam Williams/Sam Mataora/Danny Galea/Josh Miller
15\. Trevor Thurling
16\. Dane Tilse
17\. Brett White
IMO, that squad is more than capable of beating anyone on our day, and that is why our loss to Brisbane, an ordinary Brisbane at that, shocked me and most Raiders fans.
Whatever team line-ups run out, it should be a very good game, but I do sense a Tigers win.
26-22 Tigers
