Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 24 clash between the North Queensland Cowboys and the Canberra Raiders.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
North Queensland Cowboys Vs Canberra Raiders
Venue: Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville
Date: Saturday 17 August, 5:30pm AEST
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Cowboys: 1. Scott Drinkwater, 2. Kyle Feldt, 3. Valentine Holmes, 4. Viliami Vailea, 5. Murray Taulagi, 6. Tom Dearden, 7. Jake Clifford, 8. Jordan McLean, 9. Reece Robson, 10. Sam McIntyre, 11. Heilum Luki, 12. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, 13. Reuben Cotter, 14. Harrison Edwards, 15. Thomas Mikaele, 16. Jaxon Purdue, 17. Griffin Neame, 18. Tomas Chester, 19. Chad Townsend, 20. Jamal Shibasaki, 21. Semi Valemei, 22. Marly Bitungane
Raiders: 1. Kaeo Weekes, 2. Sebastian Kris, 3. Matthew Timoko, 4. Ethan Strange, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Adam Cook, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Josh Papali’i, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Joseph Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Morgan Smithies, 14. Danny Levi, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Ata Mariota, 17. Simi Sasagi, 18. Albert Hopoate, 19. Zac Woolford, 20. Trey Mooney, 21. Hohepa Puru, 22. Corey Horsburgh
Referee: Todd Smith
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
The second game of Super Saturday kicks off at 5:30pm in Townsville, when the Cowboys host the Raiders. Both sides are coming off heavy defeats last week and will be looking to bounce back with their seasons still hanging in the balance.
For the Cowboys, a big change in the halves sees Chad Townsend dropped to the reserves, with Jake Clifford replacing him at halfback. Jeremiah Nanai is out after suffering a concussion last week, with Kulikefu Finefeuiaki replacing him in the back row, and Thomas Mikaele joining the bench.
After taking an 18-12 lead into halftime against the Broncos last week, the Cowboys went on to lose 42-18, conceding 30 unanswered points in the second half. Todd Payten has reacted immediately by dropping Townsend and bringing in Clifford. It’s a big move at this point of the season, although it’s possible with the bye next week he’s giving his veteran halfback a longer break to refresh. While he hasn’t played a lot this year, Clifford has had an impact. He’s shown glimpses of a much-improved kicking game, adding some nasty towering bombs to his arsenal that will make life difficult for the Raiders back three. It’ll be interesting to see how the Cowboys choose to attack with no Jeremiah Nanai either, as he’s one of their go-to targets for attacking kicks.
For the Raiders, Jordan Rapana is out with a concussion. This has resulted in a backline shuffle, with Sebastian Kris moving to the wing and Ethan Strange moving from five-eighth to centre. Adam Cook replaces Strange in the halves, with Emre Guler and Danny Levi named on the bench, and Trey Mooney dropped from the 17.
Similar to the Cowboys, the Raiders were guilty of conceding a big score at home last week, going down 46-24 to Manly. They’re now in a position where they need to win all their remaining games to give themselves a chance of playing finals footy. Ricky Stuart has made an interesting change by naming Strange at centre, a position he doesn’t have much experience in at NRL level. That being said, Strange does have the strong running game and defence to hold his own out wide. The addition of Cook gives the Raiders a unique left and right foot kicking combination with him and Jamal Fogarty in the halves. However, in order to get an upset in Townsville and keep their season alive, they’ll have to overcome their poor recent head-to head-record, in which the Cowboys have won the past five games between the two sides.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Number Crunch Stats.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions here.
Cowboys by 12 points.
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