Matt Attard previews the round nine clash between the Raiders and the Bulldogs. Here’s what we have to look forward to…
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Canberra Raiders Vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
GIO Stadium Canberra
Friday May 6, 6:00pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Related: NRL Team List Tuesday
Embed from Getty ImagesRaiders: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Nick Cotric 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Matthew Timoko 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Matt Frawley 7. Brad Schneider 8. Josh Papali’i 9. Adam Elliott 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Ryan Sutton 14. Tom Starling 15. Corey Harawira-Naera 16. Sebastian Kris 17. Corey Horsburgh 18. Harry Rushton 19. Emre Guler 20. Xavier Savage 21. Trey Mooney 22. Sam Williams 23. James Schiller 24. Peter Hola
Some big changes for Canberra, with 291-game veteran Jarrod Croker playing his first game in 2022 (with Semi Valemi dropping out with a minor knee injury). Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad returns to fullback, with Jordan Rapana back on the wing and Xavier Savage on the extended bench. Elliott Whitehead returns, while Matt Frawley replaces the suspended Jack Wighton. Adam Elliott is named at starting hooker after last week’s successful experiment, with Tom Starling on the bench again.
Embed from Getty ImagesBulldogs: 1. Matt Dufty 2. Brent Naden 3. Aaron Schoupp 4. Jake Averillo 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Matt Burton 7. Kyle Flanagan 8. Luke Thompson 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Paul Vaughan 11. Corey Waddell 12. Tevita Pangai Junior 13. Josh Jackson 14. Bailey Biondi-Odo 15. Joe Stimson 16. Max King 17. Ava Seumanufagai 19. Josh Cook 20. Jackson Topine 21. Brandon Wakeham 22. Reece Hoffman 23. Jayden Okunbor 24. Paul Alamoti 25. Chris Patolo
Skipper Josh Jackson returns from COVID-19; Max King is back to the bench and Billy Tsikrikas (suspension) is out of the 17. Brent Naden is back on the right wing, replacing Jayden Okunbor.
Referee: Ben Cummins
MATCHDAY PREVIEW
Canberra will celebrate Old Boys Day as they desperately try and climb out of a form slump. They’re heading towards wooden spoon territory, and although they’ve looked good in patches, they often fall away at the back end of matches as was the case last week. Ricky Stuart is a great coach and he has a capable side ready to click. It will be harder this week with arguably their best player in Jack Wighton suspended.
Trent Barrett and the Bulldogs will be hoping that doesn’t come on Friday night after their courageous victory against the Roosters last week.
Jarrod Croker is back in the Raiders team after a long lay off with injury and non-selection, while former Bulldog Adam Elliot will play hooker with a point to prove. Joseph Tapine continues to impress, making 30 from 30 tackles and running for 138 metres on the weekend, while Corey Horsburgh also led from the front with a game high 157 metres.
The Bulldogs will welcome back Josh Jackson; however last week they were led by Josh Addo-Carr who was impressive as captain, scoring two tries and leading the team with not only his actions but his words. Paul Vaughan was impressive, topping the metres for forwards with 141 and finishing with a 100% tackle success rate.
This could be a close game, but if form is anything to go by we could see the Bulldogs’ lacklustre attack finally click after such a good performance last weekend.
Will the new Bulldogs show up, or will they revert to the 2021 pups with no bite? Can Ricky finally get the best out of his men without Wighton? Find out on Friday night.
Embed from Getty ImagesINTERESTING FACT
Ricky Stuart has history with his opposition this weekend as does Raiders club legend Brad Clyde. Stuart and Clyde both played for the Dogs after leaving Canberra post-Super League (1999 to 2000): Stuart played 40 games for the Dogs, while Clyde played 36.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Bulldogs by 12.
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