Sunday has two NRL matches with the first game for Round 21 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 favourite for the match being Melbourne Storm. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Canberra Raiders and Melbourne Storm.

WHERE AND WHEN: Canberra Stadium, 2.00pm

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Opening odds comparison:

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:

The first Sunday game is between the Canberra Raiders and the Melbourne Storm, kicking off at 2.00pm at Canberra Stadium. While Melbourne will definitely be favourites to win here, the Raiders can never be ruled out when they are at home. Even without the home ground advantage, however, Canberra are in fine form at the moment with three wins in a row and looking for more. With a fourth-placed Storm outfit on a downhill run playing a seventh-placed Raiders team on the rise, this looks like an interesting match.

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 see positives in Warriors NRL defeat

Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith says it’s not all doom and gloom for the defending NRL premiers, despite losing four of their past five games.

With the Storm clinging to a top-four spot, Smith has pulled out the old siege-mentality card to inspire his troops.

Quizzed by reporters about how the Storm were coping with Sunday’s 30-22 loss to the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium, he said the players would take some positives from how they had fought back from 18-4 down at halftime.

The Storm sit on 27 points, three ahead of fifth-placed Canterbury.

“I wasn’t aware of that stat. One (win) out of the last five matches isn’t what we’re used to,” Smith said on Monday.

“But we’ve come through an Origin period,” the Queensland captain added.

“We were all aware it was going to be a difficult time for the club, to ask the young blokes to step up and play really well.

“It’s more of a lesson learnt. A lot of people were writing us off last year after we’d lost five consecutive matches.

“They thought: ‘The Storm’s chances are gone. Have a look at the way they’re playing. They’re just fading away’.

“But we found something that was missing and it came good for us at the end of the year and we got a premiership out of it.

“It’s not all doom and gloom for us.

“We’re a team that looks forward and our priority is getting ourselves ready for this week against Canberra.”

Smith says the Storm need to take a great attitude into Sunday’s battle with the Raiders.

“We’ve played these guys once before this year and they have beaten us at home so they’re going to be even tougher up there,” he said.

Smith says rival clubs still seem to treat a clash with the defending premiers as the ultimate test.

“That’s the way teams approach us. I believe they see us as the benchmark,” he said.

“You hear people talk about that all the time. So they know they have to be well prepared to play against Melbourne.

“We know we’re always going to come out against well-prepared footy sides and a team that’s going to come out and play their best football.”