Round 11: Canberra v Melbourne preview
Saturday night Rugby League heads to the National capital as an undermanned Raiders side is set to take on the Melbourne Storm on Saturday night.
Last weekend at Magic Round, the Canberra Raiders were able to end a five-game losing streak when they were able to take an against the odds 20-18 victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs after spending a period down to eleven men at one stage.
The Raiders started the game last week strongly opening the scoring after just twelve minutes when Corey Harawira-Naera scored for the Green Machine. Their second half woes looked to continue as the Bulldogs began to dominate the second half and take the lead as Canberra couldn't match them. Things went from bad to worse for the Raiders as Jack Wighton was sent to the sin bin for a cannonball tackle before minutes later Josh Papalii was sent off for a high tackle. The reduction in players seemed to spark something in the Raiders as they scored two tries in three minutes to lead by eight. The Green machine held off a late fightback from the Bulldogs to win 20-18.
The Raiders this week have lost three key players through suspension with Jack Wighton, Josh Papalii and Josh Hodgson spending the weekend on the sideline. Ricky Stuart has recalled Sam Williams into the five-eighth role. The Raiders are also boosted with the return of Ryan Sutton whilst Brad Schneider is set for his NRL debut being named on the bench.
The Melbourne Storm have been at their clinical best over the past few weeks and last week it was the St George Illawarra Dragons that copped it after the 44-18 victory by the Melburnians on Sunday.
The Storm were dominant last week despite missing key players Cameron Munster, Brandon Smith and Harry Grant and losing Ryan Papenhuyzen early on in the contest. The Storm ran in three first half tries but could only manage a four-point goal with goal kicking struggles with just one conversion for the first half. The Storm turned on the quality in the second half as they ran in four tries in the space of 10 minutes in the early stages of the half. The Storm had a couple of defensive laps as Mikaele Ravalawa was able to cross for a hattrick though Craig Bellamy was smiling as Josh Addo-Carr also completed his hattrick to seal the 44-18 victory for the Storm.
It's been a mixed bag for Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy on the team front with Ryan Papenhuyzen ruled out after his severe concussion last weekend. Nicho Hynes has been named at fullback replacing Papenhuyzen whilst Melbourne have been boosted with the return of Brandon Smith in the number 9 jersey.
Last meeting: Finals Week 3 2020 - Storm 30 Raiders 10
Who to watch: Entrusted by Ricky Stuart to take on the starting hooker role last weekend after Josh Hodgson was dropped, Tom Starling will need to be a key performer for an under-performing Raiders outfit. The service from dummy half will be very important for the Canberra halves to get their attack going.
One of the competitions in-form players, Nicho Hynes has starred for the Storm playing across a number of positions having spent the season coming off the bench, playing at fullback and in the five-eighth role for the Storm this season. Hynes ability to turn something into nothing is something that the Raiders will need to be wary of this weekend.
The favourite: The Storm are the heavy favourites due to a combination of the Raiders missing key players and the strong form of Melbourne over recent weeks including scoring 94 points in two games.
My tip: It's hard to go past Melbourne in the contest on Saturday night, the form of the Storm who have been under strength in the past few weeks but have still been super impressive. The loss of three key players for the Raiders is just too much of a hit to the under-performing side and it's hard to see them defeating the Storm this weekend. Melbourne by 20.
