Cronulla Sharks’ great Paul Gallen has raised serious concern over the Raiders franchise after a once promising season that ended in a shocking 40-16 defeat to the Roosters tonight.
Despite the troubles that haunted them both on and off the pitch throughout the year, the Green Machine had one last chance at redemption in a must-see fight against a severely impoverished group of Roosters in Mackay.
But what emerged was a complete and utter capitulation as the Raiders saw their final ticket to the finals go up in flames in what Eighth Immortal Andrew Johns believed was the worst he had seen them play.
“The Raiders have been so bad tonight. It’s the worst I’ve seen them play,” Johns told Hisense Footy on Thursday night of Nine.
“The pillars of your attack are completing your sets, increasing the pressure, exhausting your opponents, winning the battle for position on the field. They did nothing.
“It was like watching a team under 14 groping their way through. It was horrible, considering what was at stake, the players who were out for the Roosters – they were coming out of a pounding that was being beaten. last week and there was no Joseph Manu this week and they are pulled out by the 40th Yuck. “
Gallen, a former student of coach Ricky Stuart, was equally speechless at the Raiders’ apparent lack of desire to take control of their fate.
He believed the franchise had some serious questions to ask after such a troubling fall from grace, one that not long ago saw them contesting the 2019 NRL premiership.
“The Raiders were awful. You can’t sweeten it and say they were bad, they were awful,” he said.
“When you get to this stage of the season in the position they are in, you don’t want to have to rely on other achievements. You just want to be able to control your fate. The Raiders had it tonight. They won tonight against an impoverished team. of the Roosters who were guaranteed a spot in the top eight and had 40 points over them.
“It was a horrible effort on the part of the Raiders. Their fans must be sorely disappointed. I don’t know what’s going on down there.
“They had a roster at the start of the season that I thought would make it into the top four, they haven’t been anywhere near all season and it was really disappointing to be a fan of the Raiders.”
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