Match day guide and preview for the Canberra Raiders 2022 round 1 game against the Cronulla Sharks.
Who, when and where?
Canberra Raiders vs Cronulla Sharks
Friday 11 March, 6pm
GIO Stadium Canberra, ACT
Head-to-head record: Played 77. Raiders 38 wins. Sharks 39 wins.
Raiders and Sharks team lists
| Raiders | Sharks | |
| Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad | 1 | William Kennedy |
| Nick Cotric | 2 | Sione Katoa |
| James Schiller | 3 | Jesse Ramien |
| Matt Timoko | 4 | Ronaldo Mulitalo |
| Semi Valemei | 5 | Matt Ikuvalu |
| Jack Wighton | 6 | Matt Moylan |
| Brad Schneider | 7 | Nicholas Hynes |
| Josh Papalii | 8 | Toby Rudolf |
| Josh Hodgson | 9 | Blayke Brailey |
| Joe Tapine | 10 | Braden Hamlin-Uele |
| Hudson Young | 11 | Briton Nikora |
| Corey Harawira-Naera | 12 | Teig Wilton |
| Elliott Whitehead | 13 | Dale Finucane |
| BENCH | ||
| Tom Starling | 14 | Aiden Tolman |
| Emre Guler | 15 | Siosifa Talakai |
| Adam Elliott | 16 | Royce Hunt |
| Corey Horsburgh | 17 | Andrew Fifita |
| RESERVES | ||
| Matt Frawley | 19|18 | Luke Metcalf |
| Xavier Savage | 23|19 | Jesse Colquhoun |
Canberra Raiders
Ricky Stuart made one surprise selection with debutant James Schiller named at centre and co-captain Jarrod Croker to play NSW Cup.
Schiller played well on the wing against the Roosters in a trial earlier this year and Stuart said he’s confident he will make the step up.
Another youngster looking to impress is Brad Schneider, who will take on the important halfback role in just his second NRL game.
Elliott is making his Raiders debut off the bench alongside Starling, Horsburgh and Guler. Englishman Ryan Sutton missed out on a spot, much to the disappointment of his partner.
Elliott Whitehead will be an interesting watch playing at lock after spending the previous six seasons on an edge.
Cronulla Sharks
The Sharks have been one of the most hyped teams this pre-season with the inclusions of former Melbourne players Nicho Hynes and Dale Finucane.
Finucane will captain the side in the absence of Wade Graham and leads an impressive pack featuring Rudolf, Hamlin-Uele and Nikora.
Unfortunately, their head coach Craig Fitzgibbon will miss what would have been his first NRL game in charge after testing positive to COVID.
2021 season recap
Canberra Raiders 10th | 481 points for | 578 points against | 10 wins & 14 losses
The Raiders came into 2021 as one of the competition favourites but things quickly unravelled as their premiership hopes were all but gone by the middle of the year.
Canberra’s defence had been their strength over the previous two seasons as they made deep runs into the finals. However, it was the opposite last year as they conceded 30 points or more nine times, losing all of those matches.
It was a bitterly disappointing season for the Green Machine, but there is enough quality left in the squad to get back to finals footy in 2022.
Cronulla Sharks 9th | 520 points for | 556 points against | 10 wins & 14 losses
The Sharks also struggled for consistency in 2021 and ended up with the same win-loss record as Canberra.
Their defence was problematic as well, leaking over 40 points on three separate occasions and they could never find the right mix in the halves.
They ended up sacking coach John Morris early in the season and signing Fitzgibbon who is expected to add a defensive resolve to this Cronulla side this season.
Last 5 meetings
- 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
- 2019 Round 24: Sharks 14 – 15 Raiders at PointsBet Stadium
The Raiders have a terrific recent record against the Sharks, winning the last six straight including both matchups last year.
Both matches were hotly contested with Canberra just gripping on for a two-point win in round two, while the score line in the round 18 match blew out with two late Raiders’ tries.
The Raiders have won the last two clashes played in Canberra, however Cronulla had won the previous six before that.
Key players
Raiders – Jack Wighton
Wighton plays his 200th NRL match tonight and is always one of Canberra’s most important players.
He said earlier this week that he’s looking to get more touches of the ball, so expect plenty of the Raiders’ attack to be focused on his favoured left side of the field.
Wighton had a bit of a mixed bag in the Raiders final trial against Manly, with two mistakes leading to Manly tries before he started to dominate and led Canberra to a comeback win.
He’s become a barometer for the side over the past three seasons, so if he plays to his best, it will go a long way to Canberra getting their season off to a winning start.
Sharks – Nicho Hynes
One of the biggest recruits of this season, Hynes had a breakout season for the Storm last year and showed he could play anywhere in the backline.
He mainly played at fullback and spent time in the halves but was playing at a side with a host of other stars that made his job easier.
Hynes ran the show well in the Sharks recent trial, but it was against a really poor Bulldogs side who gifted them plenty of field position.
He will have some extra pressure on him now as the Sharks main playmaker, but if last season is anything to go by, he’s certainly capable the ability.
Pre match predictions
Welcome back, Cotric: Nick Cotric to score a try and record 100+ running metres in his Canberra homecoming.
Schiller, thriller tonight: James Schiller to score a try on debut.
Other match details
The match will be broadcast live on Fox League channel 502 at 6pm. It 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 gates open at 4.30pm with the Score Raiders to play the Score Dragons at 4.40pm.
The Raiders will be raising money for the Tonga Tsunami Relief to support the most impacted areas in Tonga. There will be a player-driven online auction through allbids.com.au to raise money.
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