Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 23 clash between the Canberra Raiders and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Canberra Raiders Vs Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Date: Saturday August 10, 3:00pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Raiders: 1. Kaeo Weekes, 2. Jordan Rapana, 3. Matthew Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Ethan Strange, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Josh Papali’i, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Joseph Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Morgan Smithies, 14. Adam Cook, 15. Trey Mooney, 16. Ata Mariota, 17. Simi Sasagi, 18. Albert Hopoate, 19. Danny Levi, 20. Corey Horsburgh, 21. Zac Woolford, 22. Emre Guler
Sea Eagles: 1. Tom Trbojevic, 2. Jason Saab, 3. Tommy Talau, 4. Reuben Garrick, 5. Lehi Hopoate, 6. Luke Brooks, 7. Daly Cherry-Evans, 8. Taniela Paseka, 9. Lachlan Croker, 10. Nathan Brown, 11. Haumole Olakau’atu, 12. Karl Lawton, 13. Jake Trbojevic, 14. Gordon Chan Kum Tong, 15. Ben Trbojevic, 16. Ethan Bullemor, 17. Toafofoa Sipley, 18. Corey Waddell, 19. Clayton Faulalo, 20. Jamie Humphreys, 21. Jake Simpkin, 22. Dean Matterson
Referee: Grant Atkins
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
In what will be celebrated as Josh Papali’i’s unofficial 300th NRL match, the Canberra Raiders take on the Manly Sea Eagles in Canberra.
Papali’i celebrated game 300 for the Raiders in last week’s 22-18 loss to the Bulldogs at Belmore, but this will be his first game on home soil and will be “properly” celebrated on Saturday afternoon. It will also be the first time the Raiders host 4 games in 1 day with their Jersey Flegg, NRL-W, NSW Cup and NRL side all featuring on the same ground on the same day.
In team news for the home side, second rower Zac Hosking will finally have surgery on his troublesome shoulder, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. Hosking tried to rehabilitate his shoulder without surgery, but sadly after a few games the medical staff have decided to finally take the surgery route. Youngster Simi Sasagi will take his spot on the bench alongside Cook, Mooney, and Mariota.
For the Manly Sea Eagles, they have a milestone of their own to celebrate with Karl Lawton playing in his 100th NRL game, a brilliant achievement for anyone especially a forward.
Manly will be well rested after having a bye last weekend and will be confident after their last trip to Canberra saw them come away with a massive 42-14 victory where Tom Trbojevic had some fun scoring a double. Canberra did find some revenge earlier this season coming from 20-0 down after 28 minutes to win 26-24 in a thrilling match in terrible conditions at 4 Pines Park. It is clear this game has the potential to be high scoring and thoroughly entertaining.
The matchup for me to watch this Saturday will be Kaeo Weekes versuss Tom Trbojevic. Weekes was let go by Manly to join Canberra and the 22-year-old fullback hasn’t looked back scoring six tries and assisting five others in his 12 games in green.
Then there is Tom Trbojevic, arguably the best fullback in the NRL when he is healthy, he has 10 tries and 14 try assists in 14 games this season showing how elite and dangerous he is. Canberra will have to nullify his impact if they are going to find a repeat of their Four Pines heroics.
Canberra are still in with a mathematical chance to play finals football, but even the most passionate Raiders fan knows this is going to be a tough ask for them. Manly are three points ahead of Canberra in seventh position so a win for them this Saturday pulls them five points away from a team trying to take their spot and almost secures a finals berth for them.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Number Crunch Stats.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions here.
Sea Eagles by 8 points.
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