Canberra have flown under the radar into the NRL’s top four but halfback Jamal Fogarty says they’ll have to hit far higher performance levels to cling to their double chance.
Without winning a single game by more than 10 points and possessing a poor points differential of minus 55, the Raiders are somehow a single win behind ladder-leading Penrith entering the regular season’s last seven games.
Their most recent victory against St George Illawarra encapsulated their scrappy season perfectly as they shot to a 20-point lead before threatening to throw it away, only to steady and claim a 36-26 result.
“We’re just not being resilient enough once we get out to a nice lead,” Fogarty said.
“It’s 24-6 at halftime; coming out they scored (on the) first set. That’s something we need to address moving forward because it’s been happening regularly for us.
“We’ve got out to a nice lead and we’re inviting teams back in the game but then doing enough to hang on.
“It’s just not an individual, that’s a whole squad thing.”
The second-half performance puzzled coach Ricky Stuart, but their three recent wins sandwiched between two byes has carried them to fourth.
A favourable draw has them facing Newcastle (10th), Wests Tigers (17th) and Canterbury (15th) in the next five weeks, with Friday night’s clash with the Warriors (fifth) perhaps their toughest test left.
“We just wanted to go all out. We got three from three and had the weekend off, but in saying that, there’s seven games to go,” Fogarty said.
“It’s good to be at the top end of the ladder but that means nothing if we don’t go over to New Zealand and win this week.
“That’s going to be our mindset for the rest of the season – you’re not guaranteed to play finals until it’s finals.
“There’s a lot of teams that are … below us playing really well and with a positive for-and-against.”
New Zealand defeated the Raiders when they played earlier this season, putting together an impressive second half to claim a 36-14 victory in Canberra to spoil Jarrod Croker’s 300 game celebration.
The Raiders receive a timely boost for their battle with a stacked Warriors forward pack, with star prop Josh Papali’i fit to play after a hamstring injury and fellow front-rower Pasami Saulo back from a concussion.
Canberra are, however, unlikely to have reserve hooker Danny Levi for the rest of the regular season after he fractured his jaw playing NSW Cup, while emerging back Xavier Savage is out for up to two months with a hamstring injury.
By Alex Mitchell in Canberra
