Match Centre

Round 7: North Queensland v Canberra preview

Cowboys riding winning form, Raiders out for redemption

The Cowboys and the Raiders will do battle on Saturday night at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville. The game could be a defining one for both of these teams' seasons, as the Cowboys look to prove they can beat a higher echelon side and the Raiders looking to return to the winner's circle following disappointing back-to-back losses. 

The Cowboys will be looking to make it three straight wins after they were able to beat the Tigers and the Bulldogs in rounds five and six respectively. Still though, those teams are both sitting lower than the Todd Payten coached side themselves, so they are still largely unproven as any sort of force in the competition at this stage. They still will need to improve tremendously if they are to overcome a Raiders side with their backs against the wall after leaking 30 points in their match against the Tigers and 18 against the last-placed Bulldogs. 

The Raiders are in a position not many saw them being in early in the season. They currently sit just outside the top 8 following two losses in a row to the Panthers and the Eels. Whilst both of those sides are sitting high up the NRL ladder, what is more concerning is how the Raiders have lost those games. They have conceded 30 or more points in both of those games, showing that they will really need to tighten up their defence if they are to afford themselves the opportunity to play their attacking brand of footy. That should be the focus for the men from the nation's capital this weekend and if they can defend well, they should put themselves in a position to win off the back of that. 

Cowboys coach Todd Payten has named an unchanged line-up from the team that defeated the Bulldogs last weekend. The team should look to repay his faith with a good effort against Canberra. 

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has made mass changes to his side this weekend after labelling "individuals" as the problem following their loss to the Eels last round. Sebastian Kris comes onto the wing for Bailey Simonsson. Ryan James comes into the starting side at prop, with the star forward Josh Papalii dropping back to the bench following a lacklustre start to the 2021 season. Josh Hodgson is also out, with Tom Starling returning to start at hooker. Ryan Sutton moves to the starting lock role, with Emre Guler starting at the other front-row position this week. Joseph Tapine is out of the team this week but is still in the reserves. Corey Harawira-Naera makes a long-awaited return to the top grade via the bench, as does Corey Horsburgh. Iosia Soliola has moved back to the reserves.

Last meeting: Round 12 2020 - Cowboys 12 Raiders 14

Who to watch: Coen Hess has been well below his best for the past few years now. Starting at prop for the Cowboys, he has an opportunity to take it to the Raiders forward pack in what will be a huge game in the context of his team's season. If he can help his team win the battle in the middle, the Cowboys have a real shot at a fragile Canberra side. 

Look for how Josh Papali'i responds to his benching this week. This could be just the push he needed to help him rediscover the 2020 form that saw him largely touted as the game's best prop. If he responds in a big way, he could almost single-handedly tear the Cowboys apart. 

The favourite: The Raiders are favourites to win this one and rediscover some form.

My tip: The Raiders will have a lot of players who have been given an opportunity this week who want to keep their spots in first grade. There are also players like Josh Papalii who will be looking for a big response in this game. It is still a very strong side on paper despite multiple regular NRL players out for at least this round. Looking at the Cowboys side before their first win in round 5, they really didn't seem all that motivated to produce good form and it's hard to see how they match the intensity and talent of the Raiders. Canberra by 14.