RAIDERS
The Raiders almost pulled off a big upset last week when they led all bar the last ten minutes in their game against the Eels in Darwin.

Heading into the match having won only one of their last eight and with a bunch of changes to the squad from their abysmal Warriors hiding the week before, not many gave the Raiders a chance however, they made the most of some poor Eels play and at half-time, led 10 – 6.

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Winning has come easily or regularly for the Raiders this year though and the lack of experience told late in the game with some crucial errors helping the Eels to a 18 – 10 win.

Compared to their previous weeks, at least their was some commitment from the Raiders in last week’s clash and they made the Eels earn the victory.

Not surprisingly, Coach Ricky Stuart has stuck with the same seventeen this week which includes fullback Jordan Rapana, who was impressive in making his debut last week.

There’s not many chances left now for the Raiders to give their fans some joy in an otherwise disastrous year however, this is the first of three home games over the next four weeks for the Raiders, all of which are against teams currently outside the eight so, after last week’s effort, there may be a win in their somewhere for the fans.

DRAGONS

The Dragons momentum has been slowed with three losses from the past four matches including last week’s defeat at home against the Panthers (16 – 4).

They had their opportunities but in the end, they could only crack a committed Panthers defence once. Surprising given that in their previous six games, the Dragons had averaged 22 points per game.

The loss was a hard one as it means the Dragons remain on 22 competition points, two wins outside of the eight and their season all but over.

The only change they’ve made to this week’s squad is the inclusion of Peter Mata’utia to the centres, which sees Gerard Beale drop back to fullback.

The Dragons would have been disappointed in last week’s effort, they started favourites, had their slim final hopes still alive and faced a undermanned Panthers outfit.
They’ll need to find some of the form that saw them defeat Melbourne and the Cowboys in rounds 16 and 17 respectively but that’s something that has never come easy for the Dragons when looking for it against the Raiders.

HEAD TO HEAD

It is one of the best known head to head records in the NRL.

Canberra has dominated the Dragons for the past decade – yes decade, winning all bar one of the sixteen games played between the two sides since 2003.

The Dragons haven’t walked away from Canberra with a victory since 2001 – when it was known as Bruce Stadium.

It’s impossible to ignore a stat like that and given that combined, the two sides have only won one of their last eight games, who is not to say the Raiders can’t extend the run. There was enough shown last week for them to build on and make this a competitive match.

On the plus side for the Dragons is that a number of their key players, Widdop, Marshall, Beale etc, haven’t been involved in the ‘Raiders hoodoo’ previously and will be out to break it.

Teams:

Raiders: Jordan Rapana, Bill Tupou, Jarrod Croker, Jack Wighton, Edrick Lee, Anthony Milford, Josh McCrone, Shannon Boyd, Glen Buttriss, Brett White, Josh Papalii, Jarrad Kennedy, Matt McIlwrick. Interchange: Mitch Cornish, Joel Edwards, Dane Tilse, Paul Vaughan

Ins: None

Outs: None

Dragons: Gerard Beale, Brett Morris, Josh Dugan, Peter Mata’utia, Jason Nightingale, Gareth Widdop, Benji Marshall, Ben Creagh (c), Mitch Rein, Jack de Belin, Leeson Ah Mau, Joel Thompson, Trent Merrin. Interchange: Mike Cooper, Tyson Frizell, Will Matthews, Jack Stockwell, Kyle Stanley, Bronson Harrison

Ins: Peter Mata’utia, Tyson Frizell, Will Matthews, Kyle Stanley

Outs: Adam Quinlan (dropped), Dan Hunt (back, indefinite)