Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 16 clash between the Wests Tigers and the Canberra Raiders.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Wests Tigers Vs Canberra Raiders
Venue: Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney
Date: Sunday June 23, 4:05pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Tigers: 1. Jahream Bula, 2. Solomona Faataape, 3. Brent Naden, 4. Justin Olam, 5. Charlie Staines, 6. Lachlan Galvin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Stefano Utoikamanu, 9. Apisai Koroisau, 10. Fonua Pole, 11. Reuben Porter, 12. Samuela Fainu, 13. Justin Matamua, 14. Tallyn Da Silva, 15. Sione Fainu, 16. Alex Seyfarth, 17. Kit Laulilii, 18. Heath Mason, 19. Luke Laulilii, 20. Adam Doueihi, 21. Tony Sukkar, 22. Jordan Miller
Raiders: 1. Jordan Rapana, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matthew Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Ethan Strange, 7. Kaeo Weekes, 8. Josh Papali’i, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Joseph Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Morgan Smithies, 14. Zac Woolford, 15. Ata Mariota, 16. Trey Mooney, 17. Emre Guler, 18. Albert Hopoate, 19. Adrian Trevilyan, 20. Hohepa Puru, 21. Simi Sasagi, 22. Adam Cook
Referee: Todd Smith
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
For the final game of the round we head to Campbelltown where the Wests Tigers host the Canberra Raiders: both teams will see this as a genuine chance of finding an important win. For the Tigers a win will see them go two in a row (the first time since rounds 3 and 4) after beating the Titans 18-10 at Leichardt last week. The Raiders looked awful against the Cowboys in their 34-16 loss and will be anxious to right the wrongs of that performance in what will be a long nine-day gap to have that on their minds.
The Tigers welcome Lachlan Galvin back into the side, who will slot into his usual five-eighth role, with Aidan Sezer shifting back to halfback and Api Koroisau to hooker. The forward pack has also had a reshuffle with Reuben Porter – who started at prop last week – moving to the second row and Fonua Pole moving to starting prop. Also worth mentioning is the man named in the reserves Adam Doueihi, who has been injured for an extremely long time, teasing us with a potential return soon.
For the visitors in green they have the luxury of picking Hudson Young during Origin week as he was omitted from Michael Maguire’s NSW squad for game two, so Ricky Stuart makes no changes to his starting 13. As for the bench there’s one change with Tom Starling dropping off (concussion) and Zac Woolford coming in for his first top grade game of 2024. His future is uncertain at the moment, so with his Canberra career on the line he will want to put in his best performance.
The most exciting individual head-to-head battle will be between two promising future superstars Galvin and Ethan Strange. Strange has been whispered to be on the NSW radar already at the age of 19, while Gavin at just 18 looks a natural fit in the NRL and has been a threat week in and week out. I can see this being a future rivalry for years to come.
Last time these two teams met in Campbelltown was last year in a thrilling game where Canberra rushed to an 18-0 lead after 50 minutes, then the Tigers put on 19 points in seven minutes to lead by one, before Jamal Fogarty ruined the comeback party with a 77th minute penalty goal for Canberra to win 20-19. They also met in round 2 this year in Canberra with the Raiders winning 32-12. The Tigers are a much-improved team since then and Canberra have shown a lot of vulnerabilities as well.
Finally, it is also worth mentioning the Tigers’ record against top eight sides this year is shaky, winning only once in six attempts. The Raiders have also won 12 of their last 13 matches against the Tigers dating back to 2015. The Raiders will be confident based on history, but every game starts fresh at 0-0.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Number Crunch Stats.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions here.
Raiders by 6 points.
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