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Canberra coach Ricky Stuart says the Raiders need to quickly improve their leaky defence if they want to go deep into the NRL finals this season.
Ricky Stuart is demanding more in defence from his Raiders despite winning five out of their past six NRL games, saying it needs to improve if they want to go deep into the finals this season.
Fifth-placed Canberra have only lost to runaway ladder-leaders Penrith since mid-July but Stuart rates their recent defensive efforts as "disappointing".
Canberra posted a 36-16 win over Gold Coast last round and next host lowly Canterbury on Sunday night, where they will look to improve on their ranking of seventh in the NRL for missed tackles.
"I was happy with how we executed our attack last Saturday on the Gold Coast but defensively I was really disappointed - having eight line-breaks on us is just not good enough," Stuart said on Tuesday.
"That's one area that has disappointed us and we need to fix as you can't win big games if you're letting line-breaks through.
"We've got to fix it quickly as we're moving into an important part of the season where defence is the key indicator towards performance."
The coach said the gaps in defence came from simple fundamental errors from individuals and felt there needed to be a shift in attitude to that shown by giant prop Josh Papalii.
He again praised Papalii for his desperate 60-metre effort to ankle tap Jamal Fogarty and deny the Titans, and said he wanted to make Papalii a Raider for life.
"At the end of his career we want him to be a one-club player," Stuart said.
"I talked very glowingly about him after the game and I don't take that back - he's one of our favourites here and I see him as a big part of this club for a number of years and always being that Raider.
"I'm very fortunate to be able to coach a player such as Josh."