It’s all or nothing this Friday afternoon when the Canberra Raiders under 20s side travel to Allianz Stadium to take on the Wests Tigers in a sudden death semi final. The young Raiders were desperately unlucky last weekend, falling to Canterbury-Bankstown 37-36 in Golden Point extra time. The Green Machine trailed early but rallied during the second half to take a 36-32 lead with 10 minutes to spare. However, a highly controversial try to Bulldogs’ fullback Patrick Templeman forced the game into extra time, during which the Dogs were able to score their decisive field goal. While extremely disappointed with the result, Raiders coach Mick Mantelli said he was very proud of how his charges played, especially considering their opponents had crushed them 62-12 just three weeks earlier. “I thought we stood up really well,” Mantelli said. “The energy was there, obviously I wish the execution could have been a bit better at certain parts, we had a few good opportunities to put them away.” This weekend’s clash is vitally important because if the Raiders lose, their season is over. Mantelli said his team is obviously hurting from the loss but are confident of putting it behind them with a good win against the defending premiers. “We’re definitely confident,” Mantelli said. “Obviously losing a game by a point in extra time is going to shatter any side but we’ve been able to get over it quickly. “We know where we went wrong last week and we are improving on that. All things being equal we’ll be ready on Friday.” The Tigers finished the regular season in fifth spot and come into this final after beating eighth placed Brisbane 26-22 on Sunday, courtesy of a Golden Point try to winger, Salesi Funaki. “They’re a good team,” Mantelli said. “They won the comp from the same position last year... they’ve got good forwards, good backs and a halfback that’s touted as the next Andrew Johns. “It’s going to be a good test for us.” There was a great degree of controversy last time these two teams met back in round 15 at Campbelltown Sports Stadium. That evening a brawl in the last five minutes of play saw a player from each side sin set off and two others sin binned. With that in mind, remaining disciplined will be especially important on Friday. Watch out for Tigers’ halfback, Luke Brooks. The Holden Cup’s 2013 halfback of the year made an impressive NRL debut against the Dragons and has continued his good form since returning to the NYC. The halves battle between Brooks and Raiders’ captain Mitch Cornish (the incumbent under 20s NSW halfback) is definitely one to look forward to. Friday’s game kicks off at 3:00pm and WILL be televised.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 03:05:46 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015