Published on April 11th, 2010 | by Daniel Boyle

Raiders vs Eels- Monday night football preview

Last year some incorrect ref calls cost the Green Machine heavily at Parramatta Stadium, which has not been a happy travel ground in recent years. With only 2 away wins last year, there aren’t a lot to choose from.

A few years back the Raiders team was full of players that were playing in the reserves for Parra, but gained some success with the Green Machine. Schifcoske, Mogg, Ian Hindmarsh, Brad Drew just to name a few. Mogg was subpar in his return from the ESL, maybe his former club will spark him up a bit more. Bring back the form that has him averaging 1.5 tries per match for Queensland.

Both teams have got off to a sluggish start to the year. Although the Eels made the grand final last year, about 10 weeks out they were actually the worst team in the entire competition.

Josh McCrone would be under immense pressure this week. He, as well as the other main option at halfback Marc Herbert get tackled with the ball far too much. Last week against the Tigers, McCrone did not actually put in a kick. An impressive feat for a halfback.

The Raiders really need to turn up in the second half, whilst the sixteen other players apart from Hayne need to put up their hand for the Eels. The fullback battle between Josh Dugan and Hayne will be interesting to watch. Hayne has been caught out defensively quite a lot of times, look for some strong ball running from Terry Campese.

I hope to see another massive game from David Shillington this week. He had a huge match, even though the team lost. His best game in green. If he continues with that form he will be a rep player for a reason.

I think the Raiders have this one in a high scoring encounter. 34-22. JT two try hero. Fensom 50 tackles.

I will be watching the match at Belco labour club.