‘Stressful week’ for Reynolds after win
A RARE victory has taken its toll on Raiders.
Asked how long he was able to enjoy the thrilling last-gasp 22-21 win over Barnes last week, coach Jordan Reynolds just replies with a quick chuckle followed by a much longer sigh.
Then he starts rattling through a list of definite and possible absentees – not even including those sidelined for the long-term – for tomorrow’s trip to Clifton and you could understand why he might have a sense of humour failure.
‘If we can pick up some confidence from last week, that would be fantastic,’ he said, trying to remain positive.
‘We performed really well against Barnes, but unfortunately the injury list from last weekend is monumental and a lot of guys are having fitness tests [last night] – at a guess, only maybe 50% might get through.
‘It’s been a stressful week, to be fair – it’s a bit of a bummer.’
Matt Thomas has been ruled out after re-injuring his shoulder as well as picking up a problem with his ribs in a brutal collision during the second half of last week’s game.
He attempted to play on but was eventually forced from the field.
It is hoped Nick Merrien will get through his fitness test to return to the second row.
There are also plenty of question marks in the backline, with more than half of those provisionally named in tomorrow’s side due to undergo fitness tests before travelling.
Reynolds is grateful for the support Raiders have received from the Guernsey public and described the reaction to the victory over Barnes as ‘mad’, which makes the injury crisis that much more frustrating.
‘Social media blew up after the win, people saying “this is the one that changes the season” and you want to be as excited as everyone else, but reality takes over,’ he said.
‘The boys literally punished their bodies to get that win and their bodies have not recovered.
‘To be fair, you talk to some of those players and they are convinced they will play against Clifton, but we will go on what the medical team say.
‘It is one step forward and three steps back for us. It’s just impossible to get any kind of momentum.
‘Every time we get a little bit of consistency or a really good win we get hit like this. It’s like when we beat Barnes and Clifton back-to-back earlier in the season, in the next four weeks we had to make a load of changes each week and a lot of the guys that played in the win over Clifton did not play again for about five weeks.’
On the bright side, Reynolds reported that it was a nice fillip for the squad to see Cameron Craine named National Two South player of the week for the prop’s outstanding display against Barnes.
‘The boys were absolutely buzzing that Crainey won it. It was much deserved for his efforts in the game – I thought he had an absolute stormer.
‘I also think, though, that the whole team felt they had contributed something to it.’
Provisional Raiders team
Steventon, Baron, L. Batiste, Hillier, Merrien, Shannon, Rice, Horrocks, Alexandre, O. Thomas, Ahne, Campbell, Jones, Aremu, Armstrong. Replacements: Anderson, Ceillam, Creber, Teasdale, Morisio.
