Former New South Wales captain Paul Gallen has branded the Canberra Raiders “soft” after their humiliating 53-12 loss to the Penrith Panthers on Friday evening, where Ricky Stuart’s side conceded 40 points in a second-half capitulation.
The reigning premiers laid on a masterclass after half-time as the Raiders struggled to find any cohesion in the Australian capital, finishing the one-sided contest with a 68 per cent completion rate and 43 missed tackles.
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The hosts leaked seven tries in the second half to become the first club to concede 50 points in a match this season — no NRL team has won a premiership after conceding 50 points in a game.
Fox League analyst Michael Ennis summed up the Raiders’ second half as “sloppy” while commentator Andrew Voss described the try haul “one way traffic” with the Raiders getting “blown out of the park”.
Speaking on 2GB’s The Continuous Call Team, Gallen offered a blunt assessment of the “really, really ordinary” Raiders’ performance.
“One thing I’ve never said about a Ricky Stuart coached side was soft, and they were soft that second half,” he said.
“Off the kick-off, wingers were virtually making half breaks and forwards were getting past the 20-metre line every single play.
“They were really, really ordinary.”
Canberra Raiders Press Conference | 03:57
Stuart apologised to the club’s fans in the post-match press conference, expressing his disappointment with the outcome.
“I’m disappointed for all of our fans and it’s going to be a tough week to get through because they’ll be a lot of deserved criticism for all of us,” he told reporters.
“I apologise for that performance.”
Raiders captain Elliott Whitehead confessed the performance as “not good enough”, adding there wasn’t anything positive to take away from the loss.
“It was pretty embarrassing for us to be in the game at half-time and then get blown out the way we were,” Whitehead said.
“We didn’t want to be there for each other or defend and they (Panthers) ended up getting a good roll on.
“We let ourselves down in the second half.”
The Raiders, who are currently 16th on the NRL ladder with one win from five games, will next face the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, April 8, with kick-off scheduled for 7.35pm AEST.
Penrith Panthers Press Conference | 04:40
