BY ROB

A bye feels like a lifetime in the modern NRL. To illustrate this point, dear readers, since we last connected via the Rumble the following things have occurred: The Raiders toppled Manly in a gutsy, win-for-the-ages victory at Brookvale. David Fifita bounced around on the free market tramampoline, coming to rest briefly in the Roosters corner before executing a stunning triple backflip with a twist to end up staying with the Titans (the Roosters got absolutely Raidered). And in the last 24 hours we got the news of both Ricky Stuart signing on until the end of 2029 and Trey Mooney extending his time in green.

As delightful as all this off-field drama is we must now turn our minds to actual footy. The Raiders and Dogs, who’ve met previously at Magic round, have this year been given the honour of being the 6 o’clock curtain raisers, in a game which is also marking the 30 year anniversary of their 1994 grand final clash. Both clubs are a long way from where they were mid 90s, but in a somewhat fitting manner both have found their efforts exceeding expectations in 2024.

The Raiders found some much needed resilience in their win over Manly, a trait they’ll need to tap into in order to get past the Dogs. Canterbury have improved significantly since round 1, where they copped a 26-6 loss to the Eels. Their defence has tightened up, and they’ve found rhythm in attack, particularly when sending the towering Kikau down edges corridors to terrorise defenders.

Canberra have an opportunity to strengthen their grip on a top 8 rung, but they can’t start the way they did against Manly. The Doggies may not be super sharp in attack just yet but conceding three tries to them would be ill advised. If Weekes can kick for corners and turn the Dogs early (and often) it should garner the Raiders some strong field position.

Changes

The Raiders welcome back their evergreen firebrand Jordan Rapana, who has completed his rehab after a bit of minor knee surgery. Rapa slots in at fullback, with both his understudies Stewart and Hopoate returning to Cup duties. The remainder of the 17 remains unchanged, with the exception of Papa and Guler, the latter having switched back to a bench spot.

The Opposition

The good folk over at the Rugby League Eye Test have already written about the Bulldogs improvement this year, but if you need a quicker run down you can check the draw. Even when they’re currently losing it’s in close fought affairs against the likes of the Storm and the Panthers. If they can stifle Canberra early they could be in with a chance.

Match-ups

Ethan Strange vs Matt Burton.

Strange continues with his strong rookie season, and one gets the feeling that we’re maybe just a few weeks away from seeing him have a truly breakthrough game. There are certainly flashes of brilliance in both defence and attack, so it’s now just about a dominant effort from him for a full match. While Burton is his opposite number it’s actually the Raiders back three who need to brace themselves, as the Dogs 5/8th has one of the most notorious torpedo kicks in the game. Eyes up!

Elliott Whitehead vs Viliame Kikau

Smelly was nothing short of talismanic for the Raiders two weeks ago, setting up their first try and then scoring their next two. It was an outstanding effort for a player clearly in their career twilight, but he’ll have to reach into the effort bag and grab another handful of stardust to fend off the hulking Kikau. The Dogs big man is currently 5th overall for offloads and 1st for charge-downs.

Rookie Radar

Just Strange and X on the rookie watch this week, and one feels that both these players may actually age out of this section before year’s end, at least in capability if not chronologically. Savage does need to stay alert for those early 40/20s, but he shouldn’t have any trouble paying attention with Rapa on his case.

In Conclusion

If the Raiders can knuckle down and produce a quality 80 minutes they should come away victorious, but they need to be wary of a Doggies outfit that’s on the rise. Completion rates are key as always. If they can get it done Friday evening they’ll have earned themselves a nice 8 day turnaround before the Roosters come to town Saturday week.

Raiders by 8!

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