Gold Coast Titans vs Canberra Raiders
5:30pm Saturday 20 August - Skilled Park
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Gold Coast Titans vs Canberra Raiders
5:30pm Saturday 20 August - Skilled Park
Raiders smashed again
The Canberra Raiders are in danger of claiming the dreaded wooden spoon after they were thumped 47-18 by the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Canberra Stadium today.
The Rabbitohs were in total control from start to finish in front of a crowd of 12,150, never giving up the lead after running in four unanswered tries in the first 25 minutes.
Rabbitohs fullback Nathan Merritt extended his hot try-scoring form with a hat-trick to take his tally to 21 for the season, while Greg Inglis also crossed for a double.
It was the second-largest losing margin to the Rabbitohs in the Raiders’ 30-year history.
The Raiders are 14th on the table with three games remaining but only two points clear of last-placed Gold Coast Titans.
The two teams meet at Skilled Stadium next Saturday night.
Meanwhile, the Rabbitohs are two points outside the top eight on the back of their third-straight win.
The Rabbitohs opened the scoring in spectacular fashion in the 9th minute when halfback Chris Sandow sparked a 105m effort.
The Eels-bound playmaker swooped on a grubber kick in his own in-goal, sprinting downfield before putting Dylan Farrell under the posts.
The Rabbitohs were in again soon after when Inglis picked up a deflected John Sutton pass for the easiest of tries.
More pain was inflicted on the Raiders when big Ben Ross waltzed through some woeful defence on the back of a simple Sandow inside ball.
Worse was to come when Inglis intercepted a Josh McCrone pass and ran 60m to collect his double.
Sandow’s fourth straight conversion gave the Rabbitohs a commanding 24-0 lead after as many minutes.
Raiders utility Michael Picker made his NRL debut in the 30th minute when he replaced captain and dummy-half Alan Tongue.
The Raiders needed a bit of luck to stem the tide.
They got it when Josh McCrone’s clearing kick bounced horribly for Merritt, allowing Blake Ferguson to pick up the scraps and get the Raiders on the scoresheet.
Ferguson appeared to reduce the deficit further on the stroke of halftime when he planted the ball down in the right-hand corner.
However, the replay showed the flying winger had put a foot on the right-hand touchline before grounding the ball, resulting in the video referee denying the four-pointer.
The Raiders trailed 24-6 at halftime.
Merritt opened his account in the 50th minute when the Souths custodian sliced through a massive hole in Canberra’s left-edge defence.
Four minutes later Merritt was in again, finding a gap up the middle before side-stepping the final defender.
Holding a 30-point buffer the Rabbitohs took their foot off the pedal.
The Raiders made them pay, fullback Josh Dugan beating Sandow one-on-one with a neat step in the 58th minute.
And when winger Reece Robinson strolled over in the left-hand corner the Raiders trailed 36-18 with 15 minutes left.
But a long-range Sandow field-goal, followed by Merritt’s third on the back of a clever John Sutton chip kick, quashed any thoughts of a miracle comeback.
Rabbitohs winger Chris McQueen finished off proceedings when he dived on a loose ball in the 78th minute.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/
Hopefully we will win this, the Titans haven't lost to the Raiders on the Gold Coast. We need to bag this game to set us up to lose the spoon.
Interesting game.
If Srama runs from Dummy half well then there is massive amounts of metres to be made in this game. I can only say it's a toss up for who wins this one :(
If we can't beat the Raiders at home, we probably deserve the spoon. I really don't want it to come down to Round 26 against the Eels! :doh:Quote:
Originally Posted by teke
Raiders arn't as bad off as the Titans for injuries so Im not expecting too much. However, their form is truly terrible :DQuote:
Originally Posted by DIEHARD
Apparently Dugan might be out. Not entirely certain if that's a good thing or a bad though.
With Parra playing the Roosters in a couple of weeks this is a must win game for the Titans to have a chance at avoiding the spoon.
It's like a semi final at the bottom of the table really :D
Come on Titans - my last home game of the year to watch - I wanna see a WIN!!!!!!!!!!!
Raiders don't usually get us a big crowd either so we will need to make LOTS of noise to lift the boys - I'm up for it!!!!!
Just went to order a child's ticket to bring my daughter to the Raiders game and it is telling me that tickets are no longer on sale!!!!!! How bloody rude! Am going to check back in a day or so and hoping the error is fixed - we'll have a very small crowd if thats the case :-O
You are right. They don't bring many fans, they bring passionate and loyal fans but not in huge numbers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mushi
So we need to seriously pound the pavement and get the word out. Try and get the best crowd possible.
There is only so much we can do about crowd size, but there is all the things in the world we can do about crowd support and atmosphere. So let's all go the extra mile.
I've contacted the club about it. With the short timeframe until the game, every minute of ticket sales is important and it'd be a shame to lose half a days worth of sales.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mushi
Hopefully it gets fixed or the Titans take action to fix it promptly.
Thanks so much for reporting this Mushi. It's so important that we know what is going on and at the end of the day a few more people might be at Saturday's game because of it. Hopefully either Ticketek.com.au rights itself or the Titans pounce on it first thing in the morning.
Well we have 2 teams here, both coming off big losses at home, the difference is we lost to the competition leaders, and they lost to the current flavour of the month. I'd say of these 2 teams, we were the better one this round. Melbourne always seem to have luck on their side, that combined with a bit of soft defence, some poor options in attack, added a dodgy penalty against Bull for a strip (which denied us some points and some much needed momentum), plus an error called against Zillman which looked as though the Storm interfered, plus Michaels getting tackled high in goal, yet a dropout is called; take all that out, the game would be a lot closer. A few more kicks from Srama, and get the ball to Mead more often, these 2 things are what worried the Storm defence the most in the second half.
The Raiders on the other hand, were also unlucky, a couple of tries to the bunnies against the run of play, combined with Sandow and Merrit in white hot form. The Raiders did have some valuable possession on the bunnies line, and couldn't capitalise for a while, and there were times where the Raiders were shredding the bunnies defence as well.
Traditionally we win this clash by 20 points, but traditionally we are also a team that doesn't lose games at home, never gives up, and sit in the top 4. So I'm gonna be negative and say we can't win this game, in the hope that it is a good omen for the team, cos being positive, doesn't seem to work, but than again I'm a little superstitious :laugh:
SHould be a good game, Raiders have been terrible of late so they may make us look good.
Ticket sales for this game are now available online again, after being offline for at least half a day. The Titans have corrected this.
1. Zillman
2. Michaels
3. Peyroux
4. Thompson
5. Mead
6. Rankin
7. Campbell (c)
8. Bailey
9. Srama
10. Laffranchi
11. Bird
12. Minichiello
13. Harrison
14. White
15. Lawrence
16. Matthews
17. O'Dwyer
Woops... Included Harrison for some reason.
1. Zillman
2. Walker
3. Peyroux
4. Joseph Tomane
5. Mead
6. Rankin
7. Campbell
8. Bailey (c)
9. Srama
10. Bodene Thompson
11. Bird
12. Minichiello
13. Harrison
14. Laffranchi
15. Lawrence
16. Matthews
17. Ben Ridge
thanks Brad - will get on there and order that ticket ASAP!!!!
Quote:
Jordan Rankin, Steve Michaels, William Zillman, Dominique Peyroux, David Mead, Beau Henry, Preston Campbell, Luke Bailey (c), Matt Srama, Matt White, Anthony Laffranchi, Mark Minichiello, Greg Bird. Interchange (from): Brenton Lawrence, Will Matthews, Bodene Thompson. Luke O'Dwyer, Clinton Toopi
http://www.nrl.com/News/OfficialTeam...8/Default.aspx
And it's Boof's 100th game for the Titans!
You just had to do it, didnt you Brad hahaQuote:
Originally Posted by DIEHARD
we are screwed now
Dugan is out apparently.
:drinkies: :drinkies: :drinkies:
:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Coaster
Not many milestones next year though !!! ;)
yes i have heard dugan is out and milne to be his replacement
I've been stroking my chin waiting for the team announcement for the chance to remind you all. :laugh:Quote:
Originally Posted by Coaster
Let's get them all out of our system this season.Quote:
Originally Posted by teke
Good news if Dugan is out!
Clinton Toopi set to retire after fainting in Gold Coast Titans game NRL game against Melbourne Storm
Marco Monteverde From: The Courier-Mail August 15, 2011 12:00AM
The 31-year-old former Kiwi international, set to quit football at the end of the season, spent Saturday night in hospital after falling victim to a type of vertigo at Skilled Park.
Titans coach John Cartwright, who visited Toopi yesterday, described the player's collapse as a "one-in-a-million" incident, but stressed every precaution would be taken during Gold Coast's final three weeks of the season.
"It's definitely sent a scare through our camp," Cartwright said.
"We're going to be erring on the side of caution in regards to him playing again."
Toopi's predicament comes hot on the heels of utility back William Zillman's recent heart murmur scare.
However, Cartwright said Zillman was fine and would have no problems completing what has been a disastrous season for the last-placed Titans.
But Gold Coast can at least jump off the bottom of the ladder if they beat fellow strugglers Canberra at home on Saturday night and the red-hot Wests Tigers defeat battlers Parramatta at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday.
"We've been saying the same thing for eight weeks. We want to finish the season strongly," Cartwright said.
The Titans coach tipped Melbourne to find the going tough if Storm halfback Cooper Cronk's ankle injury became a long-term problem.
"He's got the best kicking game in the competition," Cartwright said of Cronk.
"It's going to be a very tight battle for the premiership."
*http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/...-1226114723610
Terrifying stuff. I hope Clinton is doing well. It'd be a shame to see him retire. But Rugby League is such a high intensity sport that pushes the human body to great limits. So we and players must also be guarded against it's rigors.
William's heart condition is was frightening as well. And Im pleased that it has righted itself.
Two very scary eventuations in 2011!
Raiders name team to tackle Titans
The Canberra Raiders have been forced to make changes to their team for their round 24 clash against the Gold Coast, with injuries to Josh Dugan and Josh Miller forcing a reshuffle of the side to take on the Titans at Skilled Park.
David Milne returns to the NRL team this weekend for the first time since round two in what will be his 50th NRL match, after Dugan was ruled out for one week with a groin strain.
Joe Picker comes back onto the interchange bench this weekend for Josh Miller who could miss the remainder of the season with a collarbone injury, with Michael Picker retaining his spot on the bench after a solid debut performance last weekend.
Jarrad Kennedy has been named 18th man for the match and will travel with the team to the Gold Coast.
Raiders Coach David Furner said the loss of Dugan for a week was disappointing, but said he expects David Milne to step up against the Titans on Saturday night.
?Josh (Dugan) has had a tough year with injury and it?s disappointing for him and the team for him to miss out this week after he was our best player last weekend,? Furner said. ?David Milne will be excited though to play in his 50th NRL match which is something he probably thought he wouldn?t be able to achieve this year.
?We?ve had a tough run with injury this season so Dave gets another opportunity and his form playing for Woden in the local competition has warranted his selection.?
Furner said the loss of Josh Miller was another injury that?s disappointing for the team, but said he has the confidence in Joe Picker having a big game on his return, especially playing alongside his brother Mick for the first time.
?Josh (Miller) has been a tremendous player for the club and it looks like there is a possibility he won?t play again this year through injury which would be a tough way for him to leave the club, but there?s still a very slim chance he could play in the last round,? he said. ?Joe Picker though will be keen to come back into the team and play alongside his brother Mick who had a strong debut last weekend.
?Mick showed last weekend that he could come out of the local competition from Goulburn and play well and this is hopefully what we?ll see from David Milne this weekend.?
To view the NRL team this week please click the link below:
NRL Teamhttp://www.raiders.com.au/default.aspx?s=teamTo View the Raiders NYC team this week please follow the link below:
NYC Team
http://www.raiders.com.au/
Milne replaces injured Dugan
David Milne has been named at fullback for the Raiders in place of injured star Josh Dugan in the only change to the starting line-up that went down to South Sydney on the weekend.
Dugan suffered a groin injury in Sunday's 47-18 loss to the Rabbitohs.
Injury has also forced the exclusion of Josh Miller, with Joe Picker joining his brother Michael on the bench.
Halfback Michael Picker will again act as backup hooker to captain Alan Tongue.
Coach David Furner today named second rower Jarrad Kennedy as part of an extended bench for Saturday's game on the Gold Coast.
Full team
1 Milne
2 Ferguson
3 Croker
4 Thompson
5 Robinson
6 McCroine
7 Williams
8 White
9 Tongue
10 Shillington
11 Galea
12 Harrison
13 Fensom
14 M Picker
15 J Picker
16 Papalii
17 Mataora
18 Kennedy
http://www.canberratimes.com.au
WE CAN DO IT!
JETSTAR TITANS v CANBERRA RAIDERS
5.30pm, Skilled Park
Saturday, August 20
1 Jordan Rankin
2 Steve Michaels
3 William Zillman
4 Dominique Peyroux
5 David Mead
6 Beau Henry
7 Preston Campbell
8 Luke Bailey (c)
9 Matt Srama
10 Matthew White
11 Anthony Laffranchi
12 Mark Minichiello
13 Greg Bird
INTERCHANGE
14 Brenton Lawrence
15 Will Matthews
16 Bodene Thompson
17 Luke O’Dwyer
18 Clinton Toopi
Bailey gets the (c) :salute:
About timeQuote:
Originally Posted by Ryan
If u watch the game while wearing Sports Ears u will know Bails has Always been the Captain & no one is game to tell him otherwise :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Ryan
Not that I'm complaining, but wasn't it stated last week that Presto would be the captain for the rest of the season?
I dont want Toopi to play again especially after his heart problem last week. Health before play in my opinion.
Well it was Zillman with the heart issue. But I don't think the club will risk Toopi.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lonely Turtle
Great to see Bailey as captain. He is a great leader and my respect for him grows with every game. Especially in the tough ones.
Well I guess it was just for his 100th. I read into that being the remainder of the season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rage
Zillman happy travelling positions
By Nathan Ryan
16 August 2011 05:47PM EST
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GOLD Coast centre William Zillman has been a journey man of positions this season.
After kicking off 2011 at his preferred position of fullback, a position he naturally gravitates to, he found himself wearing the No.6.
He was just becoming accustomed to five-eighth when Beau Henry arrived at the club, meaning Zillman found himself playing in the centres, a position he is now beginning to grasp and enjoy.
?I don?t really mind. I have played more fullback so I probably feel more comfortable there,? Zillman said of the No.1 jersey.
?In saying that, I?ve I have played about eight games of five-eighth this year and really like being up in the line and now I have had a couple of games in the centres.
?I enjoy playing anywhere in the backline if I?m playing NRL.
?I take it more as a challenge and haven?t played any games in the centres until this year, it was a challenge and I?m enjoying it out there.?
Faceing his former club Canberra on Saturday, Zillman is eager to put his best foot forward when he again don?s jersey number three for the Titans this weekend against a team he began his career with in 2006 before leaving to join the Titans in 2009.
Still emotionally tied to the Green Machine, the 25-year-old Logan Brothers junior is pumped for the encounter.
He remains close friends with their skipper Alan Tongue, Joe Picker, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs and Glen Buttriss who are both out injured, the Queensland native admitted the Raiders still pull at his heart strings.
?It is exciting playing against them because I know all the boys and they?re always tough to beat,? Zillman told sportsnewsfirst.com.au of playing his former side.
?I would say I like coming up against them.
?I still certainly keep an eye on them... I?ve certainly got a lot of friends down there which is another good thing about playing them because we will get to catch up.?
Keeping tabs on his friends and old teammates, the fullback turned centre has been overly impressed by the Raiders two young second rowers in Josh Papalii and Joe Picker.
While Canberra has struggled to fire this season, Zillman believes the club's future is in safe hands.
?(Papalii?s) really good he?s only young as well,? said Zillman.
?Another back rower Joe Picker he has been going really well and they have a few good young players after a year or two can be a force to be reckoned with.?
http://www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au/ar...ing-positions/