BY ROB

11 rounds ago the Raiders and Wahs ran out in front of cheering fans on the other side of the world, the curtain raiser of the NRL’s much hyped Vegas round. It was a sparkling start to the year for the Green Machine as they romped it in 30-8 over a Warriors outfit who looked as tho they’d spent all week rolling snake eyes.

Since then both clubs have found much to cheer about. Both have 8 wins to their name, the Warriors in 2nd place courtesy of a bye, both coming into this match fresh off wins; the Raiders half-thumping the Titans 40-24 while the Wahs managed to stave off the ‘Phins 16-12.

And while they’re both winning these two sides are worlds apart in footy terms. The Raiders are often racking up points, even if they’re conceding them, to the point where they’re the second highest scoring team in the league, trailing the Storm by just 20 points.

The Warriors meanwhile have a staggering differential of +5, something almost unheard of for a team placed 2nd. Their only true blow-out victory was their 36-16 win over Manly all the way back in round 2, their last three games all won within a four point margin.

But as much as they’re not scoring they’re also not bleeding points willy-nilly, having conceded just 200 points over their nine games to date (only the Dogs are better on 158). The Warriors are winning tight, contested matches.

Both clubs will be without rep players due to Origin and suspension. The Raiders will have to make do without gun 2nd rower Young, while the Wahs have lost Barnett to Blues duties and Fisher-Harris to suspension.

Young’s absence means the flying mullet of rising phenom Noah Martin will make its NRL debut, on account of being attached to his head. Martin has been excelling in Cup and looks ready to make the leap to the big stage.

This contest puts two very good spines against each other, and it will be intriguing to see which quartet wins out. Raiders fans will be hoping that Fog’s boot has a sharper aim this week after he missed a few medium difficulty conversions against the Titans.

A forward to watch is Horse. He’ll be internally seething about missing out on Origin and you can bet your favourite Raiders cap Sticky will have spoken to him about how to redirect that energy into something useful for both him and the team. Expect him to be up in the Warriors collective grill early on.

If there’s one thing I want to see more of this week it’s the set play the Raiders deployed for their second try last round – a beautiful Z formation moving short passes from Fog at 1st receiver to Hosking on his right, who then turned it left and back to Weekes who in turn fired it into the hands of charging Timoko. With so many points coming from off-cuff play it’s great to see the Green Machine being able to solve the short-range attack problem, something they will have to do against a stout Wahs defence.

A win this round would cement Canberra in the top four and keep them in touch with the Dogs (who crashed out in the wet against the ‘Phins 44-8). A narrow loss to Wahs would be acceptable, although another lead collapse may have many asking questions again.

In Conclusion

The Raiders have to knuckle down for this. Look to Big Red and Martin to supply the energy. Hot blood and courage!

Raiders by a close-fought 4!

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