Canberra Raiders V Newcastle Knights
Sunday 18 March 6:30pm
Canberra Stadium
Tickets: Click here
TV coverage: Fox League live Channel 502
Radio: ABC, 2CC, Mix 106.3
Weather: Very windy. Mostly sunny. Areas of raised dust. Mostly sunny. Winds west to northwesterly 45 to 60 km/h easing to 20 to 30 km/h in the evening. Chance of any rain: 0 per cent. Min 12 Max 34
Round 1 2018. Gold Coast Titans 30, Canberra Raiders 28. Goundhog Day. It was only the first match of the year, but it felt like we'd seen this all before. A heart breaking, two point loss to the Gold Coast Titans. A match winning try to the opposition in the final three minutes. It equalled the Titans' biggest ever comeback win. Canberra led by 18-0 after a blistering opening 10 minutes or so... and had an opportunity to go to a 24-0 on the quarter hour mark. At one stage in the first half, Canberra led by 24-6. But lack of completions and ill discipline saw the Raiders throw away the match.
More on Round 1: As I saw it
The Raiders play their first home match of the season in Round 2, against the new and improved Newcastle Knights. Canberra Raiders second rower Joseph Tapine is out with a broken thumb, with Elliott Whitehead moving to the second row and Luke Bateman starting at lock. After last weekend's late changes, Sam Williams and Blake Austin have retained their starting spots in the halves, with Aidan Sezer named on the bench. In addition, Sia Soliola will start at prop, with Junior Paulo on the bench. Charlie Gubb comes into the top 17, while Jack Murchie has been added to the reserves list.
The Newcastle Knights have named an unchanged line up.
Late changes: Craig Garvey, Royce Hunt and Jack Murchie playing for Mounties this afternoon. Michael Oldfield is the 18th man for the Raiders. For the Knights, Ken Sio and Danny Levi played NSW Premiership today. Jamie Buher (foot) has also been omitted.
Matt's Match-ups: Which players and team win the skins?
History: Canberra has a good overall record against Newcastle, winning 27 of 48 games, with two draws. The recent record is fairly strong as well, winning six and drawing one match in the last 10 clashes. In 2017, the Raiders suffered an embarrassing 34-20 loss in Round 10 at Hunter Stadium - to a team that would win just five matches all season. Canberra turned it around at home, winning 46-28 in Round 25. But by then, the season was pretty much over for the Green Machine. The Raiders have won 18 of 24 matches at Canberra Stadium, and drawn one. Canberra has won four of the last five games played at the venue.
Form: The Raiders lost their opening match of 2018, while the Knights were first up winners in golden point, defeating the Manly Sea Eagles 19-18, courtesy of a Mitchell Pearce field goal in the 88th minute. The Raiders are on a WLWLL form line in their past five, while the Knights have a WLLLW record. However, the Knights of 2018 are a different team.
Betting: The Raiders are favoured to win, paying $1.72, while the a Knights win is paying $2.19. The Knights have 2.5 points start in the line betting.
Our tip: I would not have been surprised to see the Knights installed as favourites to win, given the Round 1 results. The arrival of Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga has added some much needed spark in Newcastle's play making roles. And new five eighth Connor Watson and new hooker Slade Griffin are no slouches either. The Knights have recruited well and they'll be tough propositions for any team to beat.
The Raiders meanwhile, will be dealing with the emotional let down of the loss to the Titans... and the loss of second rower Joe Tapine (thumb). Not to mention the continued challenge of covering for the loss of hooker Josh Hodgson to an ACL injury. Siliva Havili impressed at hooker in a short stint on the Gold Coast, but his fitness levels are still building. He cannot handle much more than 40 minutes at this stage, and a lot is being asked of half Aidan Sezer to fill in at hooker from the bench. If the Raiders perform like they did in the first 20 minutes against the Titans... even for 60-70 minutes, they should win. They looked like a top four team for those 20 minutes. In addition, the Raiders have a clear home ground advantage here. The trouble is, matches last 80 minutes. Canberra will need to put in a much more consistent performance - and not concede silly turnovers and repeat sets - if they're to take the two competition points.
Anything could happen in this one... but if I'm tipping on form, the head says the Knights by four. The heart is hoping for a very different result.
What they're saying:
Sia Soliola on this week's opposition: "They were really impressive last week so it's going to be tough. I think it will go down to the wire because they looked impressive with all of the little things they were doing. You could see the excitement, the energy they have not just on the football field and the support off the field, so it's going to be a tough ask for us, but we are all really looking forward to the challenge."
Siliva Havili: "It's up to Stick the way he plays me, he's the coach of course. But for myself I want to play more minutes and get used to the pace of the NRL. The more games I do play I do think I'll get used to it and get that match fitness. That's the goal, just to keep playing as many minutes as I can."
Canberra Raiders
1. Jack Wighton
2. Nick Cotric
3. Jarrod Croker (C)
4. Joey Leilua
5. Jordan Rapana
6. Blake Austin
7. Sam Williams
8. Sia Soliola
9. Siliva Havili
10. Shannon Boyd
11. Josh Papalii
12. Elliott Whitehead
13. Luke Bateman
14. Aidan Sezer
15. Junior Paulo
16. Dunamis Lui
17. Charlie Gubb
18. Craig Garvey
19. Michael Oldfield
20. Royce Hunt
21. Jack Murchie
Newcastle Knights
1. Kalyn Ponga
2. Shaun Kenny-Dowall
3. Sione Mata’utia
4. Tautau Moga
5. Nathan Ross
6. Connor Watson
7. Mitchell Pearce (C)
8. Herman Ese’ese
9. Slade Griffin
10. Jacob Lillyman
11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon
12. Aidan Guerra
13. Mitch Barnett
14. Brock Lamb
15. Chris Heighington
16. Jamie Buhrer (C)
17. Daniel Saifiti
18. Ken Sio
19. Jacob Saifiti
20. Danny Levi
21. Luke Yates
Officials:
Referees: Ashley Klein, Matt Noyen
Sideline Officials: Ricky MacFarlane, Belinda Sleeman
Video Referees: Steve Chiddy, Bryan Norrie
Match Hashtags: #NRL #WeareRaiders #BleedGreen #NRLRaidersKnights
The Greenhouse Hashtags: #WearGreen2018 #FromAllAngles
Mounties teams: Click here
Plus follow us on Twitter: @TheGHRaiders and Instagram: @TheGHRaiders
That makes a lot of sense.
