Harold Matthews (Under 16s)
Canberra Raiders 38 defeated St George Dragons 8 at Raiders Belconnen
The Canberra Raiders have bounced back from their first defeat of the year by trouncing the St George Dragons by 30 points at home.
After a painful defeat to the Eels last round, Canberra came out firing and led from start to finish in this comprehensive win.
“It was a real challenge for the boys to bounce back this week against the Dragons,” Coach Adam Kyle said. “It was a great win but it wasn't the result we were worried about, we just wanted to see the boys learn from the past weeks errors.
“If we can continue to learn week in week out then that's all we can ask.”
The side well and truly conveyed to Kyle that the relevant flaws in last week’s performance had been amended.
Canberra raced out to an 18-0 half-time lead before closing out the match 38-8.
“The boys really worked hard last week at training and we tried to focus on completing sets and staying composed with the footy,” Kyle said. “It was probably the best first half completion rate that we have had this season.”
Despite having a backline stocked with some of the competition’s most elusive players, the forwards were rewarded with the majority of tries in this encounter.
Dynamic back-rower Matt Lyons and smart dummy half Sam Finnegan stood out for the Green Machine with the pair each registering two tries apiece.
Whilst Kyle was proud of the way the boys bounced back from the Round 5 loss, he still believes there is plenty of improvement left in the team as they approach the semi-finals.
“Our defence still needs work,” Kyle maintained. “We have a great attitude with our defence and the more we work on it the better it will be. We pride ourselves on defence so it's a key target for us to keep improving.”
The comprehensive victory sees the Raiders maintain their position at second place on the Harold Matthews ladder.
Canberra 34 (Sam Finnegan 2, Mathew Lyons 2, Daniel Keir, Dustin Lister, Jedidiah Simbiken tries; Jese Smith-Shields 2, Nikola Cotric goals) def. St George 8 (Joshua Cassidy, Sam Matenga tries)
SG Ball (Under 18s)
Canberra Raiders 62 defeated St George Dragons 12 at Raiders Belconnen
The Canberra Raiders absolutely smashed the St George Dragons by 50 points at Raiders Belconnen in Round 6 to force their way back into the top eight of the SG Ball Cup.
Canberra was sitting in 10th position on the ladder prior to this encounter however the demolition of the Dragons has now propelled them into 7th place on the ladder.
The Raiders registered 11 tries to the Dragons two in what was a completely one-sided victory for the Green Machine.
Three players – Lachlan Croker, Jiordan Fidow-Kele and Kalani Going – registered doubles whilst Croker has skyrocketed up the top point scorers list following his 26 point haul.
The Raiders need to maintain this sort of form to consolidate a spot in the top eight with semi-finals just around the corner.
Canberra 62 (Lachlan Croker 2, Jiordan Fidow-Kele 2, Kalani Going 2, Ryan Griffin, Ben Maguire, Cleveland McGhie, Jack Williams, Tre Williams tries; Lachlan Croker 9 goals) def. St George 12 (Nathan McIlveen, Mahmoud Srour treis; Mahmoud Srour, Noa Tuitavuki goals)
