The Armchair Expert - Round 9

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Performance of the Round

10 tries and a 10 star performance from the Green Machine in what was the best game the club has played for years. Once again it was Blake Austin who stole the show for the Raiders, scoring two tries and just being a general menace for the Titans defensive line all afternoon. He has been a heads and shoulders the best player in the completion so far this season. He plays with so much energy in both attack and defence, racing around the field at 100km an hour. He also had a scintillating finish to the season last year for the Tigers, who would be kicking themselves they let him go.

Ricky Stuart should also take a lot of the credit for the Raiders 56-16 win and their great start to the season. Sticky wasn't afraid to get rid of the dead wood down in the nations capital and has brought in players who he knew could do a job. Sia Soliola, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Sisa Waqa and English hooker Josh Hodgson have all been some of Canberra's best performers. Throw in some class in the backline in Jarrod Croker and Jack Wighton, the Raiders might just continue on their run throughout the Origin period considering they will barely be affected.

And who would have thought at the start of the year that the Dragons v Raiders in round 10 would be 3rd vs 5th. Bring on this weekend.


Paul Carige Award for the Worst Performance of the Round

The Titans. I have given Neil Henry and his chargers a big wrap the last couple of weeks, but they fell back to earth with a thud on the weekend. Need to dust themselves off quickly because they still have the talent to make the eight, they just need to get their positive attitude back. For the last twenty minutes against the Raiders they had thrown in the white towel, which isn't a healthy environment for young halfback Kane Elgey to be brought up in.


Surprise Packet

It's been coming, but the Roosters finally kicked into gear once more on Friday night. Mitchell Pearce tightened his grip on a NSW halves position further, producing a controlled kicking game along with giving his side some long awaited direction in attack. His efforts were rewarded with two try assists and a meat pie of his own. Partner in crime James Maloney also put in a solid shift that should do no harm to his Origin credentials. Daniel Tupou was able to grab himself a hat trick in a well-rounded display.

The Roosters started the season with an absolute bang, before staggering into the rep weekend with four losses in a row. The Tri-Colours must now somehow keep this effort up if they want to keep in touch with the top four throughout the Origin period, which will be a difficult task considering Pearce, Jennings, Tupou and Guerra will all definitely be involved in Origin and possibly even the likes of Maloney, Cordner and Napa.


Russell Packer Medal for WTF Moment of the Week

The finish to the Sharks v Warriors game was out of this world. In the final seven minutes the lead changed three times with what was thought to be three incredible match winners. First Shaun Johnson rolled the dice and ran the ball on the last tackle, and gained 30 metres, before producing a masterful grubber kick for hulking centre Solomone Kata to touch down in the 73rd minute. Three minutes later Sharks prop Andrew Fifita palmed, stepped, danced and barged over about six Warriors defenders to score an unbelievable try in what surely would be the game…. Negative. Ryan Hoffman charged down a Jeff Robson kick and ran 50 metres up field to give his side one last crack. Enter Johnson once more. With only a little over a minute left, the golden boot received the ball on the far side of the field before gliding sideways and stepping five Sharks would be tacklers. He then propped of his left twice to leave a sliding defence bamboozled to score one of the greatest solo match winning tries in history. The whole last seven minutes was rugby league theatre at its best


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This week a couple of former teammates get friendly, A Raider in full flight during an 80 metre intercept try and it doesn't get any better than Sunday afternoon footy at a Suburban ground.

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