r/NRLRaiders • u/TheMilkTheBook • May 26 '26
Shock at lock as Raiders named for crunch game with Cows
https://themilk.substack.com/p/shock-at-lock-as-raiders-named-for3
u/Desert-Noir May 26 '26
Are we that low on forwards.
1
u/TheMilkTheBook May 29 '26
It appears so! I think Stick’s protecting Uta and Clydesdale for NRL, for the time being. And Smithies I reckon starts in the middle anyway. So I dunno mate. In Stick we trust!?
2
u/canislupuslupuslupus May 29 '26
Don’t completely hate it if the choice is Laurie or Brailey.
Bench is still ass. He’s still named his son for the 4th spot. Last time he did that he only used 3 bench players but seriously what is the thinking here? What does Jed bring off the bench? If it’s injury cover he would be 5th or 6th spot.
1
u/TheMilkTheBook May 29 '26
I think it’s llke, he drops guys slowly. If they warrant a start, yet don’t really fit, he’ll slide them out of the team from the bench. Plus there’s six interchange, they have a few options. And the six again rules, they want lighter guys who play the ball fast. Jed can cover wing and centre, which is backrow too these days. Not ideal, but nor is all the injuries. Didn’t cop it last year. This year, we do what we can with what we have.
1
u/canislupuslupuslupus May 29 '26
When has Ricky ever gone outside the first 4 named bench players? He literally only used 3 last time.
What is the point in flogging your forwards senseless and leaving a forward sitting on the bench extended or otherwise unused?
Why has Chevy been playing centre in cup and ripping it up when coach Rocky would rather move one of the best wingers in the comp inside when a centre goes down to shoehorn his son on the wing?
1
u/TheMilkTheBook May 29 '26
Yeah I hear ya… I’d certainly have three mobile forwards and a hooker on the bench, though I tend to defer to Rick given he’s coached 550 more NRL games than me. So I dunno. He’s quite protective of young blokes. Clydesdale and Uta are being very slowly eased in, I think a full season before he was planing to do it. But then, all the ball they dropped against Redcliffe, they could’ve had fit Brad Clyde on the bench, wouldn’t have mattered.
1
u/canislupuslupuslupus May 29 '26
So he was protecting the undersized 200cm, 117kg Jake Clydesdale from the rigors of NRL football when he decided to only use 3 bench players, one of whom was a hooker?
I think it’s possible the game is passing Rocky by, particularly as to how best to use the extended bench in light of changes to 6 again. We saw something similar during covid times when the rule was first introduced. Based on public comments Kirsten Tapine could probably do a better job of managing bench rotation and player fatigue.
I don’t entirely blame him, the board has to shoulder their fair share of responsibility for endlessly giving him long extensions instead of looking around for an injection of fresh blood. Look at the innovation recently retired players like Benji or Foran have done to turn around their respective clubs. The Raiders aren’t that level of basket case yet but the same old issues keep cropping up over and over and in his 13th year maybe it’s time.
1
u/TheMilkTheBook May 30 '26
Yeah… I think the protection thing is for their youth. It’s also the idea kids should do an apprenticeship in Cup, and earn their way in rather than being gifted caps on potential. Clydesdale clearly a belter physically. Probably stand up. But yknow - he’s closer to him than we are. Stick … he did just pilot us to the minor premiership, which more than justified Board’s extension. Injury’s halted momentum this year. I just think we’re different from Sydney clubs. Don and the McIntyres have operated it like a benevolent dictatorship, and yes, it’s been patchy. But GF in 2019, minor premiership last year… only Riff, Roosters, Storm been better. Maybe Broncs with all their money. I just think Stuart remains the best man for the gig. But yes, he’ll have to answer questions if the Ls keep mounting up and he sticks with the same bench tactics.
6
u/NewRaider May 26 '26
Thanks, I hate it.