Round 3
Canberra Raiders 48 d. Newcastle Knights 18

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Raiders savage Knights
Tue April 3, 2007
Source: www.raiders.com.au

The CFMEU Canberra Raiders have jumped into the winners circle with a rampant 48-18 victory over the Andrew Johns-led Newcastle Knights tonight.

In front of a bumper home crowd, the Raiders showed even more improvement on their round 2 effort against the Storm, converting a 4-point halftime lead into a 30-point drubbing, all but erasing memories of their heavy loss to the Knights at home last year.

The Raiders were led around the park superbly by their young halves combination of Michael Dobson and Todd Carney, with rising star William Zillman continuing his remarkable strike rate against the Knights with a hat-trick of tries.

Up front it was Dane Tilse again leading the way for the Green Machine, while Neville Costigan, Trevor Thurling and Ben Jones were all outstanding in what was a great team effort.

The result gives Alan Tongue his first NRL victory as captain of the Raiders.

CFMEU Canberra Raiders 48 (William Zillman 3, Marshall Chalk, Lincoln Withers, Scott Logan, Colin Best, Phil Graham tries; Michael Dobson 8 goals) d. Newcastle Knights 18 (Adam Macdougall, Milton Thaiday, Cory Paterson tries; Andrew Johns 3 goals) at Canberra Stadium
Referee: Ben Cummins

Report source: www.raiders.com.au


Raiders seek first win against in form Knights
Mon April 2, 2007
In the third installment of Monday Night Football in 2007, the Newcastle Knights travel down to Canberra where they meet a desperate Raiders outfit searching for their opening victory of the season. Both sides enter the clash in contrasting circumstances. The Novocastrians have been impressive in their opening two games of the year, defeating the Bulldogs at home before dispatching St George-Illawarra last week at Kogarah. What emphasises these efforts furthermore was the dual absence of Andrew Johns and Danny Buderus.

At the opposite of the spectrum, the Canberra Raiders languish at the bottom of the ladder. The Raiders suffered one of their worst off-seasons in living memory. On paper, Canberra's new recruits do little to compensate for all the departures they endured, as they lost a host of big names including Jason Smith, Clinton Schifcofske, Simon Woolford, Adam Mogg and Jason Croker. Other losses included their two promising young stars in Kris Kahler and Michael Hodgson, who sought history as part of the Gold Coast Titans.

Yet undoubtedly, their biggest loss to date is Matthew Elliott's defection to Penrith. Elliott's ability to maximise his squad's potential in defeating better-fancied rivals has been what has given the Queenslander such esteem within rugby league circles. Neil Henry was highly rated in his assistant coaching capacity to Graham Murray at the Cowboys, but has found to his detriment the possible downfalls associated with the head coaching position, especially with the dearth of stars in his squad. Unless Henry can emulate the stylings of his predecessor, Canberra could give the bookies some much yearned for reliability in the betting stakes.

The visitors will be buoyed by their early season form, especially without their two noted champions in Danny Buderus and Andrew Johns. For so long it has been their Achilles heel, for the impact of Johns would mean that the Knights would be vulnerable whenever he was missing. However, coupled with the absence of Blues skipper Buderus, Brian Smith appears to have instilled a newfound dimension into the Knights game, placing more responsibility on young tyro Jarrod Mullen. However, with Johns' imminent return tonight, Newcastle appears in good stead to make it three wins in a row.

Thu March 29, 2007
• Raiders and NRL join forces with ActewAGL
  
Tue March 27, 2007
• Thurling back for the Raiders
  
Tue March 27, 2007
• Johns back for Knights
  

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