Leaking points: Canberra's defence will need to improve drastically from their round-two 36-0 drubbing at the hands of the Titans when they take on St George Illawarra on Sunday. Photo: Getty Images
Raiders skipper David Shillington concedes external pressure on the club could ''spiral out of control'' unless Canberra can beat St George Illawarra on Sunday.
Just three rounds into the NRL season, Shillington said a win against the Dragons was the only acceptable result if the Raiders were to alleviate pressure on coach David Furner, escape the Josh Dugan controversy and swat away external doubts over the club's culture.
While Shillington felt the Raiders had made progress at training this week, after the distractions of Dugan's sacking and a 36-0 loss to the Gold Coast Titans, he said external pressure would continue to mount until Canberra registered their first win.
The Raiders and Dragons sit on the bottom of the NRL ladder without a win this season and Shillington admitted the losers of Sunday's contest would feel the heat.
''It's a bit of a domino effect that seems to spiral out of control the last couple of weeks,'' Shillington said.
''With the off-field incidents, the coaching pressure and [club] culture question marks and things like that, there's no better way to put a stop to that than by having a win. Whether we win ugly or smoothly, we just need to turn it around with a win, it's the only result we can have.''
The Raiders have completed just 64 per cent of their sets in possession this season.
Basic errors are colloquially termed coach killers and it may be apt going into this match.
Furner was reportedly under pressure to retain his job last year before the Raiders won nine of their last 12 matches to qualify for the finals in a late-season turnaround.
Now Dragons coach Steve Price is the NRL coach under most scrutiny, just two games into his second season in charge.
With a favourable draw to start this season, Shillington said the Raiders needed to start making their move now.
''Both coaches are under pressure so obviously we want to be winning for that,'' he said.
''I think also, we always wait until halfway through the year to turn it around, we're in dire straits … it's not a good spot to be in.
''I don't think we need to hit rock-bottom to come out of this, I'm down enough as it is. Now's the time to turn it around.''
The club culture at the Raiders has come under attack after the sacking of Dugan and the suspension of centre Blake Ferguson, players who have both had numerous alcohol-related infringements.
But Shillington said Dugan's sacking, which was endorsed by the senior players, showed the club was prepared to adhere to a strong club culture. ''I've got no doubts over our culture and which way we're heading,'' he said.
''I think it's a bit weird that [people question the Raiders' culture] after the club just sacked a player over his attitude to training … that shows what our standards are and it sends a message to the rest of the squad and to the general public.
''Hopefully with such a strict disciplining last week, we put an end to any more incidents, especially this season. Because the stuff that's already gone on, that's enough for me now.
''With no off-field distractions this week, we had some great training sessions on the field and I feel like we made some progress.''
No comments:
Post a Comment