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Thursday, June 27, 2024

Raiders fans ‘right to be upset’ over home humiliations

Canberra’s worrying home form has left them determined to make up for it in their away journey to the resurgent Wests Tigers.

The Raiders have won three from three on the road but they have not experienced victory in front of their home fans in 10 weeks, with an embarrassing 34-16 loss to North Queensland on Friday the latest.

Down 22-0 after an abysmal first half, Canberra were booed off by their typically devoted supporters.

“They have every right to be upset,” said hooker Danny Levi on Wednesday. 

“We can’t keep coming home and turning out performances like that. They come out and support us and for us to perform like that, it’s not on. 

“It’s not like we’re going out there and doing that on purpose. We’re trying our arses off. But we do have to dig deep and give one back to them.”

After being left out of the NSW State of Origin squad for game two, Hudson Young will be eager to make a statement.

The second-rower played just 22 minutes in the game-one defeat and failed to make an impact in his last audition against the Cowboys.

But Young’s loss is the Raiders’ gain and Levi is excited to have the hard-tackling 26-year-old back alongside for Friday’s game.

“It’s unlucky for him but he’s not one to hang his head or anything,” he said.

“He comes straight back in, does his job here and leads the boys around and I’m sure he’ll be ready for a big one.”

English-born lock Morgan Smithies is feeling right at home in Canberra’s frigid winter, revelling in training in negative temperatures on Wednesday morning.

He called for a big reaction from his team against Wests Tigers, who are on a high after their first win in 10 outings, against Gold Coast.

“To dish up what we dished up in front of our home fans wasn’t good enough,” Smithies said. 

“Those players know that and we’ve got a big job this weekend with the Tigers away on Sunday.”

Smithies said the players need to “take ownership” and fix their discipline after they helped the Cowboys run out to an early lead with six first-half penalties. 

“My performance wasn’t good enough, too many penalties, and I think a few of the other lads will feel the same,” he said. 

“So it’s just about getting back to what we’re good at this weekend and I’m sure we’ll go and do it.”

By Jacob Shteyman in Canberra

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