Match day guide and preview for the Canberra Raiders 2022 Magic Round game against the Cronulla Sharks.

Match details

Who: Cronulla Sharks vs Canberra Raiders

When: Sunday 15 May 1.50pm

Where: Suncorp Stadium QLD

Weather: min 20 max 27, chance of rain 50% 0 to 2mm

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Head-to-head record: Played 76. Raiders 38 wins. Sharks 38 wins.

Team lists

Adam Elliott is a late withdrawal for Canberra with Tom Starling to start at hooker and Zach Woolford to make his NRL debut off the bench. The Raiders received a special exemption to bring Woolford in from out of the initial squad and he will now become Raider #383. They have also lost captain Jarrod Croker to a shoulder injury for the next 2-3 weeks, with Seb Kris to start and centre and Xavier Savage coming onto the bench.

Suspensions to William Kennedy and Jesse Ramien have forced the Sharks into a backline reshuffle, with Nicho Hynes shifting from halfback to fullback. Braydon Trindall will move into the 7 jersey, with Connor Tracey to start at centre and Ronaldo Mulitalo returning on the wing. Royce Hunt comes onto the bench with Andrew Fifita dropping out of the 17.

Season so far

Raiders 12^th | 128 points for | 201 points against | 3 wins & 6 losses | WLLLL

While it certainly wasn’t pretty, the Raiders got their season somewhat back on track with a much-needed 14-4 victory over the Bulldogs last weekend.

Matt Frawley came into the side and was one of Canberra’s best, scoring a brilliant try and leading the side around the park well.

A late shoulder injury to Jarrod Croker soured the victory, with the veteran looking solid in the centres for the first 75 minutes.

It was an important win for the club and hopefully provides some confidence as they come up against a top four side in the Sharks.

Sharks 4^th | 209 points for | 138 points against | 6 wins & 3 losses | WLWLW

The Sharks have been one of the big improvers this season and have put themselves right in the mix to challenge the Storm and Panthers for the premiership.

Their off-season recruits from Melbourne, Nicho Hynes and Dale Finucane, have made a huge difference at the club, while Siosifa Talakai’s shift to the centres has worked wonders.

They came away with an incredibly gutsy win over the Warriors last week after Kennedy was sent off and Ramien spent ten minutes in the bin, which proved this Sharks side has both plenty of heart and talent.

Last 5 meetings

• 2022 round 1: Raiders 24 – 19 Sharks at GIO Stadium
• 2021 round 18: Raiders 34 – 18 Sharks at Cbus Super Stadium
• 2021 round 2: Sharks 10 – 12 Raiders at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
• 2020 Elimination Final: Raiders 32 – 20 Sharks at GIO Stadium
• 2020 round 20: Sharks 28– 38 Raiders at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium

A thrilling win at home in round one this season extended the Raiders’ winning streak over Cronulla to seven straight matches.

It was a see-sawing game with Canberra dominating the opening half before the Sharks hit back after the break. A late try to Hudson Young gave Canberra the lead and they staved off a late Shark attack to seal the win.

This will be the first meeting between the sides at Suncorp Stadium and second clash in Queensland after they met on the Gold Coast last year.

Stat attack

The numbers don’t lie when it comes to these sides in attack, with the Sharks dominating Canberra in almost every category.

Points scored

Raiders (13th in the NRL): 128 – Schneider (36)

Sharks (5th): 209 – Hynes (64)

Tries scored

Raiders (13th): 21 – Wighton, Valemei and Timoko (3)

Sharks (4th): 38 – Mulitalo (6)

Try assists:

Raiders (13th): Wighton, Harawira-Naera and Schneider (3)

Sharks (3rd): 35 – Talakai (7)

Linebreaks

Raiders (15th): 25 – Valemei (3)

Sharks (2nd): 55 – Mulitalo (12)

Linebreak assists

Raiders (13th): 20 – Wighton (6)

Sharks (1st): 47 – Hynes (11)

All run metres

Raiders (14th): 12,892 – Tapine (1,235)

Sharks (6th): 15,019 – Talakai (1,533)

Offloads

Raiders (1st): 115 – Harawira-Naera and Papalii (14)

Sharks (2nd): 112 – Ramien (22), Hynes (21)

Cronulla have five players that have scored over four tries this year, Mulitalo (6), Katoa (5), Talakai (5), Kennedy (4) and Wilton (4), while the Raiders best is three.

Sharks winger Mulitalo has the most linebreaks of anyone in the NRL with 12 and their other winger Katoa is equal fourth with 8, while Valemei has the most linebreaks for Canberra with just three.

Hynes has the most linebreak assists of anyone in the NRL with 11, while fellow Shark Talakai is second on 10. Wighton is equal ninth in the NRL for linebreak assists with 6, with Harawira-Naera the next best Raider on 4.

These are the top two sides at offloading the ball in the NRL so expect plenty of second phase footy.

Pre match predictions

Magic Matts’: Matt Timoko and Matt Frawley to combine for two tries in Magic Round.

Defence against the Shark arts: Raiders to keep the high-powered Sharks to 20 points or less. – Denholm Samaras

Other match details

The NRL match will be broadcast live on Fox League channel 502 at 1.50pm and is also available to stream on Kayo. Overseas fans can watch via Watch NRL.

You can listen to the match on Raiders on Mix (Mix106.3 FM), Radio 2CC (1206 AM) and ABC Grandstand (666 ABC AM).

The Raiders will be the first of three matches at Suncorp Stadium on the Sunday, with the Roosters vs Eels to follow and the Tigers vs Cowboys to wrap up Magic Round.

Have any pre match predictions of your own? Let us know in the comments below