Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 26 clash between the Sydney Roosters and Canberra Raiders.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Sydney Roosters Vs Canberra Raiders
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Date: Sunday September 1, 4:05pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Roosters: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Michael Jennings, 4. Joseph Manu, 5. Dominic Young, 6. Luke Keary, 7. Sam Walker, 8. Spencer Leniu, 9. Brandon Smith, 10. Lindsay Collins, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Victor Radley, 13. Nat Butcher, 14. Connor Watson, 15. Naufahu Whyte, 16. Sitili Tupouniua, 17. Terrell May, 18. Sandon Smith, 19. Siua Wong, 20. Robert Toia, 21. Zach Dockar-Clay, 22. Mark Nawaqanitawase
Players cut from final squad:
Raiders: 1. Jordan Rapana, 2. Albert Hopoate, 3. Matthew Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Xavier Savage, 6. Kaeo Weekes, 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. Corey Horsburgh, 16. Ata Mariota, 17. Simi Sasagi, 18. Jed Stuart, 19. Zac Woolford, 20. Emre Guler, 21. Adam Cook, 22. Trey Mooney
Referee: Todd Smith
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
There may be ten ladder spots between these two sides, but the difference in intent and desperation will be much smaller come Sunday evening.
The Roosters capitalised on Canberra’s impressive win against the Panthers last week to take a top two position on the ladder with only two rounds to go. But, with the Sharks and Panthers sitting on equal points with them, they’ll know that any slip up over the next couple of weeks will more than likely see them lose a home final.
The Chooks have continued their impressive attacking form throughout the season, but a question mark still remains over their defensive credentials coming into this finals series. Heading into this game against the side who just broke down the notorious Penrith defensive system, Trent Robinson will put a challenge out to his players to limit this Raiders side to two tries or less.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will be unavailable until week two of the finals after accepting a three-match ban for a high tackle, and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii will also miss this game through a re-aggrevation of a previous neck injury. In their places, Naufahu Whyte comes onto the bench, with Michael Jennings coming into the centres.
From a Raiders standpoint, they’re the lowest-ranked of the teams still with a mathematical chance of playing finals, but they’ll need a number of other results to go their way, and their -131 points differential will only make things harder. Nonetheless, Ricky Stuart’s men will just be looking to control what they can control, and that’s going to Allianz Stadium and beating the Roosters for the second year in a row.
I’ve lived in Canberra for three years now. But that match last week against the Panthers was by far and away my favourite Raiders game I have ever been to. GIO Stadium was packed and vibrant from the very start – remarkable considering the thrashing they’d suffered against the Cowboys the week before and the quality of opposition they were coming up against.
The Raiders really got up for that game – and now the test for this young side will be whether they can get up and do it again. They need a win to keep their faint finals hopes alive – and ideally need that win to be a decent margin to aid their points differential. That would seem extremely unlikely. But then again so did their win last week.
This game marks the inaugural Emergency Services Match, which will become an annual fixture run by the Roosters and the NSW Government. The day will feature a triple-header, commencing with the NSW Police playing against the Australian Firefighters, followed by the Roosters playing the Raiders in both the NRLW and the NRL. Enjoy your footy.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Number Crunch Stats.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions here.
Roosters by 14 points.
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