Match day guide and preview for the Canberra Raiders 2022 round 5 game against the Melbourne Storm.
Match details
Who: Canberra Raiders vs Melbourne Storm
When: Saturday 9 April 3pm
Where: McDonalds Park, Wagga Wagga NSW
Head-to-head record: Played 49. Raiders 14 wins. Storm 35 wins.
Raiders and Storm team lists
| Canberra Raiders | Melbourne Storm | |
| Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad | 1 | Ryan Papenhuyzen |
| Nick Cotric | 2 | Nick Meaney |
| Matt Timoko | 3 | Reimis Smith |
| Semi Valemei | 4 | Justin Olam |
| Jordan Rapana | 5 | Xavier Coates |
| Jack Wighton | 6 | Cameron Munster |
| Brad Schneider | 7 | Jahrome Hughes |
| Josh Papalii | 8 | Jesse Bromwich |
| Tom Starling | 9 | Harry Grant |
| Joe Tapine | 10 | Nelson Asofa-Solomona |
| Hudson Young | 11 | Felise Kaufusi |
| Corey Harawira-Naera | 12 | Kenneath Bromwich |
| Elliott Whitehead | 13 | Josh King |
| BENCH | ||
| Matt Frawley | 14 | Brandon Smith |
| Emre Guler | 15 | Alec MacDonald |
| Adam Elliott | 16 | Trent Loiero |
| Corey Horsburgh | 17 | Tepai Moeroa |
| RESERVES | ||
| Xavier Savage | 18 | Tyran Wishart |
| Ryan Sutton | 19 | Chris Lewis |
| James Schiller | 20 | Marion Seve |
| Harry Rushton | 21 | Jayden Nikorima |
| Jarrod Croker | 22 | Jordan Grant |
| Trey Mooney | 23 | Will Warbrick |
| Peter Hola | 24 | Sualauvi Faalogo |
Both sides have named the same 17 as last week.
Season so far
Canberra Raiders 12th | 60 points for | 92 points against | 2 wins & 2 losses | LWLW
Canberra’s inconsistent start to the season continued last week with a solid first half against Manly followed up by an error-riddled second half that led to a disappointing 25-6 loss.
Errors have been a problem for the Raiders so far, they sit second in the NRL for handling errors made and are 15th for set completion percentage at just 69 per cent.
Canberra are first in the NRL for offloads with 66, but the desire to promote the ball as much as possible might be doing more harm than good at the moment.
In another worrying trend, the Raiders also sit last in the NRL for all metres run and post contact metres.
There are certainly plenty of areas the Raiders need to improve on but limiting errors must be priority number one.
Melbourne Storm 2nd | 109 points for | 58 points against | 3 wins & 1 loss | WLWW
Nothing really new to say for the Storm as once again they look one of the leading premiership contenders.
After two golden point games in a row (a win over the Rabbitohs and a loss to the Eels), the Storm were back to their brilliant best in their 44-0 win over the Bulldogs.
Fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen was superb with four tries, 3 line breaks, one try assist and 188 run metres.
Their spine is up there with the best in competition with Papenhuyzen, Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes and Harry Grant all capable of terrorising opposition defences on their day.
Last 5 meetings
- 2021 round 22: Storm 26 – 16 Raiders at Sunshine Coast Stadium
- 2021 round 11: Raiders 10 – Storm 34 at GIO Stadium
- 2020 Preliminary Final: Storm 30 – 10 Raiders at Suncorp Stadium
- 2020 round 9: Raiders 14 – 20 Storm at GIO Stadium
- 2020 round 3: Storm 6 – 22 Raiders at AAMI Park
Canberra had won three in a row over Melbourne, but the Storm have hit back with four straight wins over the Raiders.
Melbourne smashed Canberra in their first meeting last year before a close game late in the season where the Raiders certainly had their chances to cause an upset.
Key matchup
Tom Starling vs Harry Grant
Both hookers have made tremendous progress in the NRL over the past three years, with Grant in particular becoming a star of the competition.
The 24-year-old Queenslander has quickly become an important cog in the Storm team and recently re-signed with the club for reportedly just under $1 million per season.
He has a terrific ability to pick the right moments to run from dummy half and has already recorded four try assists in just two appearances this year.
While he hasn’t had the meteoric rise of Grant, Starling has done a terrific job at dummy half for Canberra over the past couple of seasons.
He’s been instrumental in both of the Raiders wins this season, with his speed out of dummy half a real threat, but unfortunately his forward pack isn’t giving him enough momentum to play off.
If the Raiders can win middle battle, then that should bring Starling into the game more, allowing him to create scoring opportunities.
Pre match predictions
Wingers dine out in Wagga: Nick Cotric and Jordan Rapana to both score a try for Canberra.
Cheer Cheese: Brandon Smith to score a try for the Storm.
Storm by 10 points
Other match details
This is the third time the Raiders have played a home match in Wagga Wagga. They previously beat the Panthers there in 2019 before losing the to Knights last year.
Gates open at 10.45am with two matches on before the NRL game. Jersey Flegg – Canberra Raiders vs Victoria Thunderbolts @11am. NSW Cup – Canberra Raiders vs Mounties @12.40pm.
The NRL match will be broadcast live on Fox League channel 502 at 3pm 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).
