As the Canberra Raiders head into the bye round, www.raiders.com.au look at the 2022 season so far and dive into the player statistics that have put the green machine in the mix for finals with eight rounds remaining.
After 16 rounds, the Raiders find themselves in 11th position on the ladder and two wins outside the top eight.
It was a disappointing result on Sunday afternoon against the Dragons, going down 12-10 in extremely difficult conditions at WIN Stadium.
As always Joe Tapine was a stand out, leading the Raiders’ forward pack in attack and making the most tackles out of any Canberra player in defence.
Tapine massive in defeat
Tapine is in the midst of arguably the greatest season of his career, making the top five of the NRL competition in four different statistical categories - runs, post contact metres, offloads and run metres.
The front-rower has run for over 2,600 metres in 2022 landing him in fourth position in the competition and the top forward.
Lending a hand in that statistic is his incredible ability to make post contact metres. Tapine is currently leading the competition with 1,109 post contact metres, over 80 metres ahead of second place.
What makes the New Zealand representative even more dangerous is his ability to offload the ball to keep the play alive for the green machine. He is fifth overall in the competition in offloads this year, with an impressive 27 so far this season.
Like any good team, it comes down to more than just one player to be successful.
Brad Schneider, who has played 10 of the Raiders’ 16 games this year, leads the team's point scoring with 50 points this season through 23 goals and one try.
When it comes to getting across the line, it has been the trio of Sebastian Kris, Matt Timoko and Hudson Young who are tied on six tries each this year.
Hudson Young finds the space and scores
Matt Timoko is having a breakout season having played all of Canberra’s games so far. In his 16 appearances, he has amassed six line breaks and 46 tackle breaks to go alongside his try scoring tally.
When it comes to creating opportunities, look no further than Jack Wighton who has impressed so far this season.
Wighton has led the green machine in both line break assists and try assists with nine and six respectively.
The five-eighth has also been the go-to fifth tackle option, with a total of 3,351 kicking metres.
On the defensive side of the game, there have been many Raiders players who have been a shining light.
Tom Starling, who has bounced between the bench and the starting line up in 2022, has made over 500 tackles this year and leads the Raiders in that statistic.
Joe Tapine and Corey Horsburgh are second and third on the list for the Raiders, with 486 and 447 respectively.
When it comes to tackle efficiency, Josh Papalii leads the side with a 97.5 percent efficiency with a total of 391 tackles made.
