Matt’s Match-ups Rd 19: Raiders V Sharks
The Raiders vs Sharks rivalry continues…
Sharks V Raiders
Valentine Holmes 1. Brad Abbey
Sione Katoa
2. Nick Cotric
Jesse Ramien 3. Michael Oldfield
Ricky Leutele
4. Joseph Leilua
Edrick Lee 5. Jordan Rapana
Matt Moylan 6. Sam Williams
Chad Townsend 7. Aidan Sezer
Andrew Fifita 8. Dunamis Lui
Jayden Brailey
9. Josh Hodgson ©
Matt Prior 10. Junior Paulo
Scott Sorensen
11. Sia Soliola
Wade Graham
12. Elliott Whitehead
Paul Gallen ©
13. Josh Papalii
Interchange
# James Segeyaro
15. vs 14. Blake Austin
# Aaron Woods 16. vs 15. Luke Bateman
# Joseph Paulo
14. vs 16. Siliva Havili
Jayson Bukuya 17. Liam Knight
Extended Bench
Ava Seumanufagai
18. Craig Garvey
Sosaia Feki
19. Jack Murchie
Kurt Dillion
20. Royce Hunt
Kyle Flanagan
21. Emre Guler
# - I’ve manipulated the bench to compare like positions (both are a mess this week).
(Bolded players are the winners of the skin. The extended bench is excluded.)
Match-ups:
Fullbacks:
Brad Abbey returns at fullback after suffering concussion against the Broncos a fortnight ago. Abbey has only played two games in 2018, and missed last week, so this gives Valentine Holmes an easy ‘injury/ suspension’ skin. To be fair, Holmes’ form is so good that he would have easily won anyway.
Wingers:
There were big wraps on Sione Katoa coming out of the junior grades, but from what I’ve seen so far, he looks a little over awed. He is certainly a strong ball carrier, and can finish. However, defensively, and under the high ball he is a little suspect. He should be a target for the Raiders this week. Nick Cotric on the other had has scored tries in eight of his last nine game. I’m sure he is a little dirty on team mate Michael Oldfield ‘stealing’ his tries last week, as it cost him the try scoring streak record of nine weeks.
Jordan Rapana showedon his early return from injury last week why he is rated one of, if not the best, winger in the NRL. An acrobatic putdown to score his first try, and bagged a double after an ‘air swing’ by Antonio Winterstein cleaning up a kick. He also did a little bit of attacking from fullback on set pieces too. He faces former team mate Edrick Lee this week. Lee has earned his place on the wing for the Sharks this season. He hasn’t been flashy, with no long range tries, which was his trademark in the capital, but he has cut the errors which plagued him. He does have nine tries in 13 games though. Rapana’s long layoff costs him the skin this week.
Centres:
Jesse Ramien has been one of the better finds in 2018. He played one game in 2017, but in 2018 he has cemented himself as the Sharks’ first choice centre. He has been in great try scoring form too and, like Lee, has nine tries in 13 games. He also has three try assists, averages 110m a game and over three tackle busts a game. Michael Oldfield is the man to step into Jarrod Croker’s centre role this week. What a week to do it too, as he had his best game in green on the weekend, grabbing a hat trick. I was also quite surprised at how fast he was, clocking over 36km/hr when scoring his third try.
Ricky Leutele is a poor man’s Joseph Leilua. He doesn’t have the same natural ability, nor as high a ceiling, but he does run the ball hard, look for work, and can set up his outside man. Leutele averages 124m a game from 14 carries, has two tries and five assists in his 17 games this season. Leilua is only averaging 99m from 10 carries, but he has nine tries and two assists in 2018. I can’t split the pair this week.
Halves:
Both Aidan Sezer and Sam Williams had the ball on a string last week against the Cowboys. Both produced great kicking games, and delivered the game management we have been longing for. Sezer had to step up with the goal kicking role too, with Jarrod Croker suffering a season ending knee injury. Unfortunately for Sezer, he suffered a hamstring injury at training on Tuesday as the team was being announced. Chad Townsend has been in good form for the Sharks, but he gets an easy skin with Sezer ruled out.
Matt Moylan has really built into the five-eighth role in 2018. He has developed more touch and precision in his kicking game, and has 14 try assists in 15 games. However, he did get about half of those in one game.
Prop:
Like him or hate him, Andrew Fifita is one of the best props in the game. His form hasn’t been as good as it was the last time the two sides met, but only because he now has most of his ‘partners in crime’ back. When we faced them in Round 10, Fifita had to be a one man forward pack. Dunamis Lui is playing reasonably well, and is taking to the starting role, but he isn’t in Fifita’s league.
Matt Prior debuted for NSW in Origin in Game II. He is the under rated, and unnoticed member of the Sharks’ pack. He averages a tick over 100m and 32 tackles a game. Junior Paulo also averages a tick over 100m a game, but only makes 18 tackles a game. Paulo hasn’t been the wrecking ball we have seen in previous seasons.
Aaron Woods made the mid-season switch to the Sharks, due to cap issues at the Bulldogs. He has only played a couple of games for his new club, but last week he really turned back the clock, pumping out 168m and 23 tackles against a depleted Panthers. Woods averages 138m and 27 tackles a game. Luke Bateman is an honest toiler, who steadies up our middle third during the middle period of the game. He averages 72m a game and 31 tackles a game. The difference is the output Woods can make with ball in hand.
Jason Bukuya is the Sia Soliola of the Sharks. He mostly plays middle third these days, but when injuries occur, he is usually the first man shifted to the edge to cover them. However, with the emergence of Scott Sorenson, in his second stint on the Shire, he has been returned to the bench role. Liam Knight is learning a lot this year and is starting to look like a more than handy prop option in the NRL. I’d like to see what he can do as a starting option, but not sure we will see this in 2018.
Hooker/utility:
Josh Hodgson is making every post a winner in 2018. His form is irresistible, and a big reason why the Raiders’ form has also changed. Bar a shanked kick last week, he dictated terms to the Cowboys. Jayden Brailey is a very capable young hooker, however, he is limited in what he offers. He is a pass/run hooker, who plays structure.
James Segeyaro hasn’t been the same since returning to the NRL after a short stint in the ESL. He isn’t as electric out of dummy half, which was his strength. He has also been a little injury prone in recent seasons. He has been managing to play a few more minutes in recent weeks, taking the lion’s share off Brailey. Despite what is otherwise a pretty poor season, Blake Austin has played two great games in recent weeks. He managed to lift the Raiders out of the grave against the Bulldogs a fortnight ago, and filled in beautifully for Croker against the Cowboys. He was able to keep his game simple, run hard, and tackle everything that moves; it helped that the Cowboys didn’t really run much traffic at him either.
Backrow:
Josh Papalii has received plenty of plaudits for his efforts backing up from Origin last week. He yet again ‘out pointed’ his opposite number. Jowever, this past week wasn’t against just any quality lock forward, he was the best in the business in Jason Taumalolo. I think that alone means he is worth the skin against Paul Gallen this week.
Wade Graham returned from injury last week against the Panthers and made it through unscathed. However, he has had a disrupted season with injury, and as such, Elliott Whitehead gets an easy skin.
Scott Sorensen will lineup against his former club for the first time this week. He has only played five games this year, having broken his hand earlier this year. Sia Soliola again fills in for Joseph Tapine on the edge. His lack of lateral movement was exploited by the Cowboys on the weekend, resulting in the Coote try. However, outside of that, he did a good job, especially defensively.
Result
The tally is Sharks nine and Raiders seven and a draw. Given the Sharks are entrenched in the top eight and are making a push for the top four, this skin spread isn’t really a surprise. These teams have been trading away victories in recent seasons, with the Sharks getting a win at Canberra Stadium this season. With everything to play for, I can’t see the Sharks losing this week.
Result: Sharks in a statement game (by 14-18).
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