They may have lost the game to the Manly Sea Eagles, but the Canberra Raiders have not given up hope of making the NRL finals, despite a 36-22 loss to the Eagles at home.
It was a turbulent week for the Raiders who sacked the first coach in their club’s history last week when they showed David Furner the door, as the coaching career of Andrew Dunemann started with a loss.
The Manly win means they have just about shored their position in the top 4, as the Raiders, who currently lie in 12th are still a mathematical chance of making the finals but their for and against does not work in their favour.
Although it is unlikely that his side can make the finals, Dunemann believes in mathematical chances.
“What we did today was take the destiny out of our hands by losing,” he said.
“We’ve got two games left and if we win both of them we’re going to put ourselves in the mix.”
It was Manly who burst out of the gates early on as they scored four tries against some non-existent Raiders defence, before the ship was steadied at some Online Casino points by the Raiders.
With Jack Wighton, Terry Campese and Blake Ferguson out, it was the Raiders fourth straight loss, though the one shining light for them, yet again, was the form of Anthony Milford.
Manly coach Geoff Toovey said the key for his side was to get off to a good start, given the events that had transpired in Canberra during the week.
“We started quickly, which was good, because we knew we had to do that with all the drama that’s been down here,” Manly coach Geoff Toovey said.
“It’s been well publicised in the past, teams bouncing back after adversity, so we were prepared.”
What hurt the Raiders was their lack of possession in the opening half in particular and Raiders co-captain Brett White knows it.
“We burnt a lot of energy in that first 20 minutes and it was great to see the boys stick in, they never gave in,” White said.
It was a clinical win for Manly who had several solid performers, though even with the win, there will be areas that Manly look to improve on moving forward.
3. Anthony Watmough
2. Anthony Milford
1. Daly Cherry-Evans