Raiders respond to coach’s spray with bonding session to save NRLW season
Amid claims of declining standards after their fourth-straight loss to start the year, players and staff at the Raiders have come together for an honesty session in a bid to address their issues and save their NRLW season.
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Canberra skipper Zahara Temara hopes a bonding session can put their NRLW season back on track in Magic Round amid claims of declining standards that emerged after their fourth-straight loss to start the year.
The Raiders have been the centre of headlines this week after it was revealed a group of players were late to a recovery session last Sunday following a heavy loss to Parramatta in round 3.
It was then addressed the following day and seemingly put to bed before it reignited when coach Darrin Borthwick took aim at members of the team for not stepping up after their 26-0 loss to North Queensland in round 4.
Temara, who missed the Cowboys game with a hamstring injury, said the team made an effort to reconnect this week with players and staff speaking honestly to address their season start at a bonding session on Wednesday night.
“We had a really good session on Tuesday and a bit of a bonding session last night which is quite nice, really high spirits and real positive moving forward and a lot of work has been done already and a lot to continue with,” she said on Thursday.
When asked if Borthwick’s spray has motivated the team she said they shouldn’t need it.
The Raiders have now lost four straight games to start the season and sit bottom of the ladder having leaked 164 points so far.
“It’s quite sad to see our leaders are frustrated and our performance is affecting him,” she said.
“We noted that and we want to make him proud and we want to do good by him this week. It was the kick up the bum some of the girls might have needed and the team needed, we’re looking forward to making it right this weekend.
“We’re not doing well and a bunch of stories came out, I’m not big on social media so it doesn’t really bother me, but it’s disappointing some stories get made up about us but we don’t buy into it.
“With the recovery, that got nipped in the bud straight away, it wasn’t a huge thing. That’s been dealt with and we’ve moved on.
“We’ve got high standards and that’s not acceptable but that’s why it was nipped in the bud and it won’t happen again.”
Queensland State of Origin forward Sophie Holyman admitted there was a slip in standards that have been pulled up with the group.
“There were a couple of girls who were late to recovery but it was dealt with straight away. It’s not a standard that we let slide, and it wasn’t,” she said.
“Coming from the Origin space it is very competitive, and I’d like to think it’s a quality of mine that I like to help the girls who haven’t been in this environment before to live up to those standards as a Raider and that’s what I continue to do.”
They face Newcastle in at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.
“It is coming into round five, we still have games to go so we’re definitely not dropping our heads. We are going to turn our season around,” she said.
“Bortho is a very passionate coach, we weren’t good enough and we’re looking to change that.”
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Originally published as Raiders respond to coach’s spray with bonding session to save NRLW season
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