Homecoming after 4 weeks on the road. Vegas Revenge on the menu. Blacked Out and Packed out. Special Dear Warrior Jerseys. Young boys re-signed and amped up ready for a big one to celebrate. Equal top spot on offer. All the signs are there for a reverse ambush and a Wahs 1-12 pt win that puts the comp on notice.
Expected cloudy weather with showers should suit our defensive gameplan and hinder the Raiders open style. Raiders might think they can own us in the middle due to
JFH and
Barney being out. But the sharks thought the same thing about the Chooks missing virtually their entire starting forward pack last night. They thought they could own the middle by just turning up. But instead they got out enthused and outmuscled by a younger, more hungrier pack of forwards looking to prove themselves against more fancied opposition.
Similarly, Raiders might come here feeling a bit complacent and think they just have to turn up to win the middle battle. Even most people on here are simply assuming they are going to own us up front. I reckon our young boys will rise to the occasion and shock a few people here. Just like we did last game at Mt Smart where a much more depleted pack out worked and outmuscled the monster Broncos pack who just thought they could turn up and win.
We don't need to own the middle, just hold our own as the depleted dogs pack did against them a few weeks ago. Hold the middle and control enough possession to exploit their defensive deficiencies on the edges. Raiders have the 5th worst defense in the comp for a reason. If the Tits can score 24 pts against them at their home, so can we. I back our defense to keep their attack to under 20 pts. They may have the 2nd best attack but we have the 2nd best defense.
This year has shown that the only way to beat us is to blow us out of the water in the first half. If the game is in the balance going into the final quarter, we always find a way to win. So I'm going to go with another tight one- Wahs 20 Raiders 18. It's just one of those years where all the tight ones are going our way. Up the Wahs1
