THEY’VE been referred to in opposition camps as the “Wodonga Faders” but Raiders coach Daryn Cresswell is confident his side’s third-quarter woes are behind them.
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The Raiders have lost their past six “premiership quarters” by an average of almost four goals and, remarkably, have won just five third terms from 19 matches this season.
The fadeouts cost them in the second half of the season in losses to Wodonga and Myrtleford and they almost surrendered a match-winning lead in last Sunday’s elimination final victory against the Saints.
But Cresswell said the Raiders had addressed the issue this week and had faith his charges could withstand a Yarrawonga charge in Sunday’s first semi-final at John Foord Oval.
“Our third quarters haven’t been great, but gee, our last quarters, we’ve shown a lot of fight,” he said.
“It comes back to our leaders and we’ve spoken about that.
“We’ve gone through some scenarios if the tide’s turning, what we’re going to do and how we’re going to approach it.
“Full credit to the players, they understand it and they’ve taken full control of the triggers that can help us understand what’s happening in the game and help us fix it on the ground rather than wait for us coaches.”
The Raiders got an unexpected boost at selection with Will Donaghey dropping out of the Murray Bushrangers’ side to face the Pigeons while Todd Bryant (work) and Matt McDonald (ribs) are also set to return.
The Pigeons have been left reeling by injuries to key players, including Craig Ednie, Nick Lawless and Tim Cooper, but Cresswell said he was expecting them to bounce back hard after being belted by Lavington in the qualifying final.
A Brendan Fevola-inspired Yarrawonga sunk the Raiders in the corresponding fixture last season.
“Yarra are a tough, hard side and they will throw everything at us,” he said.
“They’ve got a couple out but our players won’t be taking any notice of that, at the end of the day it’s 21 versus 21.”
RAIDERS’ 3RD TERMS
- R1: Wang 4.5, Raid 2.3 (-14)
- R2: Yar 1.3, Raid 1.2 (-1)
- R3: Lav 7.3, Raid 3.2 (-25)
- R4: CR 7.4, Raid 4.0 (-22)
- R5: Raid 3.2, Wod 1.2 (+12)
- R6: Alb 4.2, Raid 3.1 (-7)
- R7: Rov 2.3, Raid 2.3 (tie)
- R8: Myrt 3.2, Raid 2.1 (-7)
- R9: Raid 3.6, NA 1.3 (+15)
- R10: Wang 1.1, Raid 1.0 (-1)
- R11: Raid 4.0, Yar 2.4 (+8)
- R12: Raid 1.3, Lav 1.1 (+2)
- R13: Raid 6.4, CR 0.2 (+38)
- R14: Wod 5.2, Raid 2.0 (-20)
- R15: Alb 3.4, Raid 0.0 (-22)
- R16: Rov 5.2, Raid 2.2 (-18)
- R17: Myrt 7.2, Raid 1.1 (-37)
- R18: NA 4.3, Raid 1.3 (-18)
- EF: Myrt 4.2, Raid 1.2 (-18)