Sunday  first NRL Round 21 match is between Canberra Raiders and Melbourne Storm with the opening kick to commence at 2.00pm local time. The game is to be played at Canberra Stadium with the away team Melbourne Storm hold favouritism in the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Canberra Raiders and Melbourne Storm.

Canberra Stadium

Sunday 2.00pm

Canberra Raiders $2.35 vs Melbourne Storm $1.60 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match

Canberra Raiders $2.32 vs Melbourne Storm $1.63 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison by NRL Odds:

Canberra Raiders	2.35	2.25	2.32	2.25	2.35	2.35
Melbourne Storm	1.60	1.65	1.63	1.65	1.60	1.63

Preview:

Canberra enforced their dominance of St. George last week, recording their tenth straight victory over the Dragons and in the process, recorded only their second away win of the season (the other being over Melbourne).

That win took the Raiders to 24 competition points, equal with Bulldogs and Sharks and in seventh spot on the ladder, one win ahead of Knights (v Sydney this weekend) and the Warriors (v Cronulla this weekend).

They return to Canberra Stadium to defend their unbeaten home-record this season against Melbourne, whom they’ve beaten three of their past five matches including the two most recent bouts.

One saving grace for the Melbourne Storm is that the game will be played during the day, not at night – a time that has seen many a visiting sides caught in horrible and foreign weather conditions.

Melbourne have only won one of their past five matches and whilst the Origin series did have an effect on some of these results, Melbourne were at near full strength against the Warriors last week but finished on the wrong side of the ledger 30 – 22.

That was the first game back for their Origin players who, after a full schedule during the preceding two months, all did make some uncharacteristic mistakes during the game that aided the Warriors cause.

They face a similar challenge this week against the Raiders who, like the Warriors, are a team who can score quick points – especially at home.

Melbourne can ill-afford a slow start and will have to eliminate some of last week’s mistakes to ensure victory here.

Given the Raider’s home record and that over the Storm, combined with the Storm’s star trio of Cronk, Slater and Smith all showing signs of a long season already, the Raiders at home might represent the value here.

Teams:

Canberra Raiders:
Anthony Milford, Reece Robinson, Jarrod Croker, Joel Thompson, Sandor Earl, Terry Campese, Josh McCrone, David Shillington, Glen Buttriss, Dane Tilse, Josh Papalii, Joel Edwards, Shaun Fensom. Interchange: Shaun Berrigan, Jarrad Kennedy, Brett White, Paul Vaughan.

Melbourne Storm:
Billy Slater, Sisa Waqa, Will Chambers, Maurice Blair, Justin O’Neill, Brett Finch, Cooper Cronk, Jesse Bromwich, Cameron Smith (capt), Bryan Norrie, Kevin Proctor, Ryan Hoffman, Ryan Hinchcliffe. Interchange: Jason Ryles, Tohu Harris, Siosaia Vave, Slade Griffin.

Storm travel tough road to title defence

Coach Craig Bellamy has labelled Melbourne’s NRL draw one of the toughest they’ve ever had.

After four losses in their past five games, the defending champions face another huge challenge against the resurgent Raiders in Canberra on Sunday afternoon.

In recent years the Storm had two byes in the State of Origin period, which eased the pain of losing their “spine” in stars Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith, as well as backrower Ryan Hoffman to state duty.

But this year they only had one bye, before the opening Origin on June 5.

A run of four away games from five, including Sunday’s Canberra match, hasn’t helped with the physical and mental toll on the players.

“I think this one of the toughest draws we’ve ever had, especially with the travel,” said Bellamy.

“The draw hasn’t been too kind to us, playing away is pretty taxing when you’ve got guys coming through Origin and then we’re travelling nearly every week so that’s been hard.”

Melbourne have targeted two areas in their preparation for the Raiders – their start and tightening up their defence after conceding 69 points in their last two matches.

Despite a 30-22 loss to the Warriors in their last outing in Auckland, Bellamy said it wasn’t all bad news.

“We created a lot of opportunities but couldn’t finish some of them off,” he said.

“It was a really good effort to get back into the game being 18-4 down against the Warriors and we probably could have got in front if we’d taken a couple of chances.

“We’re just a bit patchy with our form and there are some things we need to tighten up.”

He conceded the team, now in fourth position, wasn’t where they’d like to be.

Last season the Storm endured a similar lean run, losing five straight games before breaking through for a win in round 22 that set up an unbeaten surge through to the grand final.

But Bellamy wasn’t banking on a repeat performance.

“We’ve got to start picking up our form now.

“We’re not going to wait a month, we’ve got to start playing well now.”