Raiders v Broncos preview

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Canberra Raiders v Brisbane Broncos Saturday 7:35pm at GIO Stadium Canberra, Bruce / Ngunnawal

The Raiders play their first game of the season on home soil at Canberra, with the Broncos travelling south to the capital for their second away game of the season. 

Starting their 2025 campaign on a high in Las Vegas and convincingly defeating the Warriors 30-8, the Raiders will be looking to continue their strong start to the season. 

Joe Tapine and Xavier Savage respectively accepted two and one match bans, sees them miss this clash, with a few players shuffling around to make up for it. Josh Papalii moves to prop, whilst Morgan Smithies starts at lock, and Matty Nicholson joining the bench. Albert Hopoate fills the hole left by try scoring machine, Xavier Savage. 

The Broncos started their season with a bang, beating the Roosters with a hefty 50-14 scoreline, with a total of seven tryscorers across the team, including Ben Hunt's first try with the Brisbane side since 2017. 

Michael Maguire names an unchanged starting 17 for this Round 2 clash, with the only change being the inclusion of Jock Madden in the reserves after suffering a hamstring injury during the pre-season trials. 

In recent times the Raiders haven't had much luck against the Broncos, only winning one of the last four, however they have a good record at home, winning their last three of four matches at GIO Stadium. 

Last meeting: Round 7 2024 - Broncos 34 Raiders 10

Who to watch: Versatile and speedy, Kaeo Weekes seems to have found in his home in the fullback role in 2025, after playing across the spine in 2024, his debut year for the Green Machine. During 2024, Weekes played 17 games, scoring eight tries, and making five try assists. 

Opposite Weekes is the Broncos' Reece Walsh, who had a rough 2024 season after an impressive season in 2023. 2024 saw Walsh play a total of 14 games, scoring 14 tries, along with making 8 try assists and 13 linebreaks. 

Favourite: The Broncos are favoured to add another win to the 2025 tally.  

My tip: Both sides started the season strong, but the Raiders must deal with the losses of Savage and Tapine due to suspension. The Broncos have a strong forward pack and spine lineup and will be hard to stop. Brisbane by 20.

1. Kaeo Weekes 2. Savelio Tamale 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Albert Hopoate 6. Ethan Strange 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papali'i 9. Tom Starling 10. Corey Horsburgh 11. Hudson Young 12. Zac Hosking 13. Morgan Smithies 14. Owen Pattie 15. Simi Sasagi 16. Matt Nicholson 17. Ata Mariota 18. Danny Levi 19. Trey Mooney 20. Chevy Stewart 21. Michael Asomua 22. Ethan Sanders

1. Reece Walsh 2. Selwyn Cobbo 3. Deine Mariner 4. Gehamat Shibasaki 5. Jesse Arthars 6. Ben Hunt 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Patrick Carrigan 9. Cory Paix 10. Payne Haas 11. Jack Gosiewski 12. Jordan Riki 13. Kobe Hetherington 14. Billy Walters 15. Corey Jensen 16. Xavier Willison 17. Brendan Piakura 18. Tyson Smoothy 19. Delouise Hoeter 20. Martin Taupau 21. Jaiyden Hunt 22. Jock Madden

Referees: Wyatt Raymond; Sideline Officials: David Munro, Daniel Schwass; Video Referees: Matt Noyen;