{"id":347109,"date":"2023-11-16T18:15:35","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T19:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=347109"},"modified":"2023-11-16T22:04:32","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T22:04:32","slug":"red-flag-that-should-have-rickys-raiders-on-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=347109","title":{"rendered":"'Red flag' that should have Ricky's Raiders on edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Raiders<\/a> have lost more than 600 games of top grade experience for 2024\u2026 and replaced it with very little.<\/p>\n

And that shapes as something of a red flag for the club as it attempts to replicate last season's feat of making the finals.<\/p>\n

Granted, Jarrod Croker (307 games – retired) probably hung up his boots at the right time and Matt Frawley (75 – Leeds Rhinos) wasn't a regular top grader, but the big loss is marquee player Jack Wighton<\/a> (242 – Rabbitohs).<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Aussies send Proteas packing in World Cup thriller\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Morons' told to 'shut up' as World Cup pitch saga gets ugly<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Tennis great slams Djokovic 'attitude' in loss<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Raiders haven't come up with a signing capable of replacing Wighton, whose class and ability to shine in the big games allowed the Raiders to sneak into eighth spot last season with a late burst of wins.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Manly recruit Kaeo Weekes is a promising kid but not ready for a starting spot in a long NRL season.<\/p>\n

Replacing Wighton as five-eighth and playmaker shapes as Ricky Stuart<\/a>'s biggest headache coming into the new season – and if he can't find the right man, the Raiders will struggle to play finals football in 2024.<\/p>\n

On the plus side, the Raiders have a formidable pack with the likes of Hudson Young, Josh Papalii, Joe Tapine, Corey Horsburgh, Corey Harawira-Naera and Elliott Whitehead giving them plenty of fire power up front.<\/p>\n

\"NRL's<\/p>\n

Young centre Matt Timoko was one of the big improvers of 2023 and shone in the Pacific Cup final rout of the Aussies in a performance that will boost his confidence.<\/p>\n

Jamal Fogarty is a cool head at half but not the kind of player who grabs a game by the throat and without Wighton by his side, he'll be under massive pressure to create chances for his outside men.<\/p>\n

2024 gains:<\/strong> Simi Sasagi (Knights), Kaeo Weekes (Sea Eagles), Morgan Smithies (Wigan)<\/p>\n

2024 losses:<\/strong> Jack Wighton (Rabbitohs), Matt Frawley (Leeds Rhinos), Jarrod Croker (retired).<\/p>\n

Predicted finish:<\/strong> 9th to 12th<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Raiders have lost more than 600 games of top grade experience for 2024\u2026 and replaced it with very little. And that shapes as something […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":347111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=347109"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347113,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347109\/revisions\/347113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/347111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=347109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=347109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=347109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}