Raiderfan67

I'd add Ryan Johnson to that list too

Do you ( as often seems to be the case) know something we don't Pablo ???

As Feargal Sharkey once famously sang...."A good half these days is hard to find"

Absolutely agree.

Luke Cresswell outstanding too for me. Safe as houses at the back and made some telling breaks too. We are blessed to have two players as good and as versatile as him and Broady

Fantastic result

Will long be remembered as a wonderful servant to our great club. Never gave less than 100% and often lifted the tempo of our attack whenever he came on the field. Enjoy your retirement Nathan you've more than earned it

If that's the case, despite all the fantastic fund raising initiatives this board have worked tirelessly to put in place, it makes me wonder whether Championship rugby will pretty much always be beyond us financially in the long term from I'm really not sure what else the board can do. They put together a fantastic team last year and we had a brilliant season yet here we are once again starting down the barrel of relegation. I always love it when the team is full of locals as team spirit is usually through the roof and there is a real feel good factor throughout the whole extended Raiders family. I think, however, recent history proves that without at least a minimum of four or five real good quality additions (who rarely come cheap) that maintaining championship status long term is not achievable sadly. Hooe I'm wrong

Well done to all concerned. Just what was needed

It's been an inspired move by Cresta, imo, moving Shane to centre and partnering him with Broady. With Rio and Shawey on the other side and Cressy at the back weve finally got a bit of pace into the backs again. However, unless someone is injured, I would personally like to see a winning performance rewarded with the players retaining their places until such time as they dont perform or are injured. Obviously Cresta has forgotten more about coaching than I'll ever know and I'm not privvy to what goes on behind the scenes but I just wonder what, if any, effect it may have on morale if one of the team has to make way for a loanee after such a fantastic win? On the plus side Keanen is a good centre and hopefully the boys will be buzzing with renewed confidence after Sunday's brilliant win and can now string together a run of successful performances

Have to agree with pretty much all of this unfortunatly With the exception of Wells and Broadbent the rest of our new signings have so far proved to be very poor. I make an exception for Rio as hes still very young and Archer who it seems isn't going to get a start unless there are no halves left. Hard to judge Bullman as he never receives a decent pass. Last year our pack was magnificent despite being low in numbers and mostly playing through injuries. This year they seem to be a shadow of their former selves so far. I think the loss of Fozzy has been massive as he was a natural leader and appeared to set the standards for the rest to follow. Sammut has been a shadow of his former self so far but it's hard to create behind a pack which is for the most part coming off second best. Last year we had the triple running threat of Sammut, Hakim & Tee which terrorised defences but this year I imagine most teams will think that if they can stop Sammut running then they can pretty much shut down our attack. Let's just get to the much needed break after the widness game and hope we can regroup, reset and start turning this season around before it's too late. Please please please boys prove me wrong. P.S. Special mention for Ryan Johnson who to be fair to him has played out of his skin

I hope you're right Pablo... what an unbeleivable team we are assembling for next season, you have got to admire the way this board operates. I know where there's a certain French half back who cant get a game at his own club but who made a massive impression in his one game for us Or is that just too much to wish for ???

Fantastic news

Incredible performance. We have to do whatever we possibly can to keep this team together

I agree. I would also try and keep all of the local lads as they are the heart and soul of our team and have pretty much all shown that they are more than good enough for this very tough league. I would keep Brooks too as I think hes got better and better as the season went on and has a great pair of hands too. This season has been phenomenal, one of the best I've seen in 40 years of watching, but if we want to improve on it again next season and finances allow, my wish list would be at least one more big powerful prop, another specialist centre ( Costello please) and another experienced playmaking half back who can lead the team round the park while allowing Jarrod Sammut to create his magic. Dont want much then I know.... but you've got to dream big