BY VIV

The Raiders find themselves up against some quality opposition this week in the Cronulla Sharks. The Sharks made it to the grand final last year and were one of the pre-season favourites in 2025. A shock loss to the Eels last week has bought the Sharks back down to earth, and they’ll be looking to get things back on track. The Raiders will be trying to find something that could be a foundation for success this season.

The only change the Raiders have made is Sereana Naitokatoka returning to the number 6 jersey, with Georgia Thomas moving to the reserves. Naitokatoka missed game one due to suspension and was always going to return to this position after filling in at times last season. Kerehina Matua is sidelined with an ankle injury, return to be confirmed, but this is as close to full strength as we are going to get.

The Sharks lose Filomina Hanisi after doing her ACL in round one. They are already missing Jada Taylor, Tyla King, and Caitlan Johnston-Green. However, the Sharks centre pairing of Tiana Penitani-Gray and Annessa Biddle will have identified the gaps in our edge defence and will be backing themselves to score early and often. The Raiders will need to be stronger in this area than last week. 

The Chey Robins-Reti fullback experiment continues in week two. She will need to do better than 5 missed tackles this week. The other area of improvement for the Raiders will be putting in a full 70-minute performance. The Raiders were only 4 points behind the Dragons before they let in three tries in the last ten minutes. This week, the Raiders need to be relentless for the whole game.

The battle in the halves will be one to watch – the Raiders have the experienced Temara pairing with Naitokatoka, who will be looking to step up and show she is more than a bench utility.  The Sharks have Georgia Hannaway (24) and Chantay Kiria-Ratu (20). Hannaway is in her second season of NRLW but started her football in sevens and played State of Origin this year. Kiria-Ratu was part of the 2023 Titans side that made the grand final. The combination may be new and the players young, but the big-game experience is there.

Opportunities for the Raiders will lie in targeting Cassie Staples’ wing in contesting the high ball. Chloe Saunders and Naitokatoka will be looking for big games against their old club. Isabella Waterman impressed in her debut, was unlucky not to score a try, and I think she can only improve. Plus, she literally murdered someone in defence, it was awesome, go watch it again

The extended season and top 6 finals mean if the Raiders are 0-2 at the end of the weekend, all is not lost, but a win would be better.

Raiders by a Naitokatoka field goal!

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