\u2018Doesn\u2019t get much credit\u2019: Fitzy calls for Hynes respect as marquee Sharks enforcer stands up<\/a><\/p>\nBilly Burns scores for the Sharks against the Raiders, triggering Canberra\u2019s elimination final defeat.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
LOSING CONFIDENCE, THEN STRANGE<\/p>\n
Star five-eighth Ethan Strange was ruled out for Canberra on game day due to a severe bout of influenza A. With doubts already about how the Raiders would rebound from their golden point loss to Brisbane the previous weekend, it can\u2019t have helped their mindset.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast week, that\u2019s got to have taken (a toll), physically, emotionally, mentally. Then you lose Ethan Strange, who\u2019s been close to their best player all year, the day of the game,\u201d Bulldogs premiership playmaker Braith Anasta said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s got to have some input into that loss.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cronk believed the die was already cast from week one, adding: \u201cI think it had a big input, I think it was a major reason why they weren\u2019t able to progress to a prelim final.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our careers, you get to a final and you feel confident, you feel like you can do something \u2026 but then just something happens in a game that knocks your confidence around. Unless you\u2019ve got experienced players to overcome that, it\u2019s really hard for young guys to forget about it and move on and play their best football.<\/p>\n
\u201cI absolutely put down the loss tonight to what happened in week one. They, for me, to win the comp needed to win week one, get the weekend off, have that confidence, momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fletcher said that the impact of last weekend was apparent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were fatigued. The extra 15 minutes last week obviously emotionally and physically took its toll, because the Raiders, no other team had a better record in the second half coming home. And they were out on their feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ricky Lost for Words after finals exit | 01:47<\/p>\n
SPINE STARS STRIKE OUT<\/p>\n
Fogarty had a tough night in his final game for the Raiders before moving to Manly, in a sad end to a terrific season for the veteran No.7.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has pressure on him coming into the game for key moments, big moments under pressure. But tonight, it wasn\u2019t so much those moments, it was his execution in attack that let him down but also his reads in defence,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n
Foran added: \u201cHe looked nervous. He kicked OK throughout the contest, I thought he nailed a few spiralling kicks, but ultimately what we spoke about at the start of the game was around his defence and his organisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout Strange there, he was gonna need to be the dominant playmaker and get them into positions on the field to get their attack on. I don\u2019t think he did that well enough, and then ultimately I think on the flipside defensively, he missed the mark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cronk said that hooker Tom Starling and fullback Kaeo Weekes had also delivered ordinary games at an inopportune time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it came to attack, 12 points \u2026 they had 48 play-the-balls in the red zone (20m),\u201d Cronk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Tom Starling didn\u2019t help out too much, he was playing too many short passes. Yes, Corey Horsburgh scored that one try close to the ruck, but he just didn\u2019t pick the right play at the right time.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think Kaeo Weekes, in the biggest game, who has been brilliant this year, just needed to get off that right-hand side, move around the field, support on the inside of Jamal Fogarty and maybe something happens.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe highlighted in them two in pre-game and ultimately, they weren\u2019t able to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty and Sharks centre KL Iro compete for a high ball.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
EXPECTATIONS DEFIED, BUT GLORY DENIED<\/p>\n
Numerous pundits tipped Canberra for the wooden spoon before the season began and few had them in the top eight. They instead won the minor premiership and saw players like Strange and Weekes become genuine stars of the competition, while Joe Tapine led from the front and veteran prop Josh Papalii was so good that he will now play on next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have been the most consistent team, they deserve the minor premiership,\u201d Cronk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom when they won in Vegas (in Round 1) to when they beat Melbourne in Magic Round, they got out of the woods against the Sharks at home at GIO (Round 5), they beat Penrith at Mudgee in arguably the game of the decade (Round 25) \u2026 and just at the last moment, in front of their home fans, they couldn\u2019t get through.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the best sign of a coach is that the majority of their players had career-best years, and you could mount a case that every one of the Raiders this year had career-best seasons; but they just weren\u2019t able to capitalise on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Ricky will get Coach of the Year (at the Dally M Awards), Ethan Strange, Tom Starling, there\u2019ll be individual players for the Raiders who\u2019ll get positional Players of the Year \u2026 but they just didn\u2019t turn it into the grand final.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fitzy on Raiders: “Best team all year” | 08:25<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canberra\u2019s straight-sets NRL finals exit exposed the fact that they were only the sixth-best defensive side this season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,2652,19549,31673,4618,9498,31683,8054,31694,31686,5627,31689,31661,31691,31664,31690,31685,31677,13887,31659,8050,31688,31679,2647,31667,9499,31681,9494,20170,31669,31662,19539,31671,31678,19542,31672,111,139,69,2659,31666,31695,31665,31663,31670,31684,31692,31682,31660,23489,31668,31674,31693,31680,213,31687,31675,31676],"class_list":{"0":"post-33626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","10":"tag-australian-capital-territory","11":"tag-bryan-fletcher","12":"tag-canberra","13":"tag-canberra-raiders","14":"tag-career-best-seasons","15":"tag-cooper-cronk","16":"tag-corey-horsburgh","17":"tag-craig-fitzgibbon","18":"tag-cronulla-sharks","19":"tag-defensive-flaws","20":"tag-defensive-frailties","21":"tag-defensive-problems","22":"tag-defensive-side","23":"tag-defensive-teams","24":"tag-delivered-ordinary-games","25":"tag-dominant-playmaker","26":"tag-elimination-final","27":"tag-elimination-semi-final","28":"tag-final-game","29":"tag-finals-exit","30":"tag-finals-pressure","31":"tag-fox-league","32":"tag-game-day","33":"tag-getty-images-inc","34":"tag-golden-point-loss","35":"tag-grand-final","36":"tag-home-fans","37":"tag-jam-defence","38":"tag-jamal-fogarty","39":"tag-josh-papalii","40":"tag-kaeo-weekes","41":"tag-kieran-foran","42":"tag-mark-nolan","43":"tag-minor-premiership","44":"tag-new-zealand","45":"tag-newzealand","46":"tag-nz","47":"tag-oceania","48":"tag-prelim-final","49":"tag-premiership-credentials","50":"tag-premiership-five-eighth","51":"tag-premiership-playmaker","52":"tag-premiership-second-rower","53":"tag-raiders-coach","54":"tag-raiders-halfback","55":"tag-real-reason","56":"tag-regular-season","57":"tag-ricky-stuart","58":"tag-right-side-defence","59":"tag-semi-final-loss","60":"tag-sixth-best-defensive-side","61":"tag-spine-stars","62":"tag-sports","63":"tag-straight-sets-finals-exit","64":"tag-tim-elbra","65":"tag-veteran-prop"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}