Sun 21 Mar: CC1: West Wales Raiders v Widnes Vikings KO 12:45 (BBC Sport)

[JonM]

3 hours ago, JonM said:

Cal O'Neill been taken to hospital, but conscious and able to talk.

And was able to travel home with the squad on the Widnes bus.

[OriginalMrC]

I didn't see much today from Raiders to suggest they'll get 5 or 6 wins in league one. Rangi chase is clearly top class but he can't do it all on his own. They will be much improved this year without a doubt but so will lots of other teams in the league. 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

3 hours ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Widnes professional and got the job done without ever really having to get out of first gear. West Wales were okay. Defensively horrible in terms of structure and shape but some of that will be done to fatigue from defending so much but they were alright on the ball with Chase leading them around. I think he’ll be key for them. If he leaves, they’ll be well off the levels they need to be but with him, they’ll be alright. I think they’ll get 2-3 wins this year. 

Defence nose dived after the red card and got worse. Chase still has it when he's not fatigued at least

[Josef K]

3 hours ago, Man of Kent said:

I don’t rate Newsum at all but Danika Priim can certainly talk eloquently.

She’s not a bad Co-Commentator (or whatever the right hand woman/man is called during a game). 

[arcticchris]

Good to have British RL back at the lower tiers.

 

Some good signs for WWR with Chase pulling the strings and still looking a handful for defences at any level below Super League and a few out there showing some raw promise.

[fighting irish]

15 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

I didn't see much today from Raiders to suggest they'll get 5 or 6 wins in league one. Rangi chase is clearly top class but he can't do it all on his own. They will be much improved this year without a doubt but so will lots of other teams in the league. 

I was quite impressed with the Raiders, given the quality of the opposition and the fact that they played with 12 men the whole time.

There are a couple of players there though, who despite their physical size presented themselves are outright beginners.

The winger who scored the first try, let the ball bounce right in front of him once near his goal line and over all looked lazy (and a little bit clueless). I reckon he'd benefit from some one on one coaching (as long as he can shed his laziness).

Gavin Henson, looked lost too. When he missed a long range touch kick I could have cried.

He didn't put himself about much (like Rangi Chase) trying instead to play it like a RaRa kicking out-half. I think he's got the potential to learn a lot, unlike the winger mentioned earlier but it will boil down to the intensity of his desire to be in the team whether his potential will ever be realised.

He didn't seem to relish the biff, but it was his first game.  

[newbe]

Rangi has still got it  think after a few games, and if  they get some heavy defeats he'll get an offer from a higher division.

 

[Lowdesert]

WWR were well in the game for the 1st 15mins but then it all went astray after the injury and Widnes regaining composure.

If WWR can work on improving those 15mins to 16, 17 etc they will do ok.  They need some younger blood on at half back though. Rangi and Henson will be ok for this year but neither are the future.

[flyingking]

19 hours ago, Man of Kent said:

I don’t rate Newsum at all but Danika Priim can certainly talk eloquently.

She had an impressive debut as a co-commentator

[OriginalMrC]

2 hours ago, fighting irish said:

I was quite impressed with the Raiders, given the quality of the opposition and the fact that they played with 12 men the whole time.

There are a couple of players there though, who despite their physical size presented themselves are outright beginners.

The winger who scored the first try, let the ball bounce right in front of him once near his goal line and over all looked lazy (and a little bit clueless). I reckon he'd benefit from some one on one coaching (as long as he can shed his laziness).

Gavin Henson, looked lost too. When he missed a long range touch kick I could have cried.

He didn't put himself about much (like Rangi Chase) trying instead to play it like a RaRa kicking out-half. I think he's got the potential to learn a lot, unlike the winger mentioned earlier but it will boil down to the intensity of his desire to be in the team whether his potential will ever be realised.

He didn't seem to relish the biff, but it was his first game.  

Don't get me wrong I thought they played very well in parts and they will be a much tougher proposition for teams this year, particularly when they are at home. 

Someone else in the thread said they'll get 5/6 wins this year. I still don't they will mainly down to the points you mention above. It's very tough playing against teams who are packed with experienced players as any weak link will be exploited (Widnes killed them on the edges yesterday!). I think 3 wins and overall more competitiveness would be a sensible target this year for Raiders. That would be a sign of progress. I could be completely wrong though, who knows.