It's Like 1989 Again As Green Machine Gets Rolling And The Wheels Aren't Coming Off
Sun Herald
Sunday April 27, 2003
RAIDERS 26
BULLDOGS 22
AFTER his side's third successive loss last night, to Canberra, stand-in Bulldogs captain Braith Anasta admitted that the unbeaten competition leaders were ``the real deal".
While their six wins from six games this season should speak volumes, Raiders coach Matthew Elliott said there had still been people before the gritty 26-22 win against the Bulldogs suggesting his side had yet to beat credible opposition.
``They'll come up with something as to why we won the game, and it won't be our good form," captain Simon Woolford added.
As if on cue, Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes launched an unprompted critique of the match officials after Mark O'Meley and Adam Perry were penalised on the advice of video referee Bill Harrigan and a controversial try was awarded to Canberra centre Phil Graham.
``Isn't anyone going to ask about the video refereeing decisions?" Folkes asked the post-match press conference.
``I thought the adjudication by on-field touch judges and the video referee left a lot to be desired.
``It's very hard to win a game when teams are so evenly matched and you play so well . . . and I don't know what were the penalties three to one, four to one? I didn't think there was that much in it."
Specifically, Folkes was upset that a touch judge initially advised referee Paul Simpkins that Graham had grounded the ball on the dead ball line after winning the race for his own kick in-goal, but the 52nd-minute try was awarded after Simpkins asked Harrigan to adjudicate.
But he also questioned whether Woolford and Canberra halfback Brad Drew had taken dives to enable Harrigan to intervene and advise Simpkins to penalise O'Meley (forearm) and Perry (high tackle).
``It's just not in the spirit of things if you've got blokes lying down to get a penalty," Folkes said.
``I'm not saying that Matthew Elliott is coaching that, but it's a blight on the game. It's not rugby league as it should be played. In a game that's that close, every moment is crucial every penalty, every bounce of the ball and every point that is scored.
``Don't get me wrong, they played well and in the end they deserved the victory but there were a lot of things I would question tonight."
Anasta said that Simpkins ``seemed to forget" that he was captain, marching him 10 metres for questioning the 68th-minute penalty against O'Meley after the NSW Origin prop flopped on Woolford with his forearm at the end of a tackle.
But Anasta praised the Raiders and said they were genuine premiership contenders.
``I don't think that the bounce of the ball went our way but at the same time they did play awesome and I do think that they're very capable of making the semi-finals and grand final this year after that performance," he said.
``I was a little bit unsure, but it's not luck that they are at the top of the table and I think that tonight just proved that they can go all of the way."
While the scores were level at 12-12 going into the half-time break, Elliott conceded that the Bulldogs had the better of the opening 40 minutes.
Dogs winger Matt Utai scored three minutes after the interval but Graham's try helped the Raiders to peg back the lead and when man-of-the-match Clinton Schifcofske grabbed his second try in the 56th minute the home side hit the front. A knock-on by prop Luke Davico from the kick-off enabled the Bulldogs to go ahead 22-20 in the 60th minute after halfback Johnathan Thurston scored from the scrum win, but Schifcofske helped Canberra strike back in the 64th minute when he put Mark McLinden over.
``We haven't really played a game where we haven't expected to win," Elliott said. ``We've gone into every game so far knowing that we're capable of winning, so I'm not in shock. But I'm happy."
Elliot would also have been chuffed with the big crowd, 19,372 the sort of numbers the Raiders used to draw in the years after they won their first premiership in 1989.
CANBERRA RAIDERS 26 (C Schifcofske 2, S Woolford, P Graham, M McLinden tries; Schifcofske 3 goals) beat BULLDOGS 22 (B Anasta, N Vagana, M Utai, J Thurston tries; H El Masri 3 goals) at Canberra Stadium. Referee: P Simpkins. Crowd: 19,372.
GUS'S VERDICT
WE'RE bad and mean . . . The Green machine . . . I remember that song from the early '90s when the Raiders were in their prime. Well, they are back. The Raiders have a footy team. So, too, do the Bulldogs, but we knew that. What a super game. Both teams brought their most bruising defence and it was a credit to their offensive creativity that we saw so many tries. Canberra are deserved competition leaders and they're getting better. Schifcofske was fantastic.
PHIL GOULD
© 2003 Sun Herald