Match day guide and preview for the Canberra Raiders 2022 NRL round 6 game against the North Queensland Cowboys.
Match details
Who: Canberra Raiders vs North Queensland Cowboys
When: Thursday 14 April 7.50pm
Where: GIO Stadium Canberra
Head-to-head record: Played 46. Raiders 25 wins. Cowboys 21 wins.
Raiders and Cowboys team lists
| Canberra Raiders | North Queensland Cowboys | |
| Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad | 1 | Scott Drinkwater |
| Nick Cotric | 2 | Kyle Feldt |
| Matt Timoko | 3 | Valentine Holmes |
| Semi Valemei | 4 | Peta Hiku |
| Jordan Rapana | 5 | Murray Taulagi |
| Jack Wighton | 6 | Tom Dearden |
| Brad Schneider | 7 | Chad Townsend |
| Josh Papalii | 8 | Jordan McLean |
| Tom Starling | 9 | Reece Robson |
| Joe Tapine | 10 | Coen Hess |
| Corey Harawira-Naera | 11 | Tom Gilbert |
| Elliott Whitehead | 12 | Jeremiah Nanai |
| Ryan Sutton | 13 | Jason Taumalolo |
| BENCH | BENCH | |
| Xavier Savage | 14 | Jake Granville |
| Emre Guler | 15 | Heilum Luki |
| Adam Elliott | 16 | Reuben Cotter |
| Corey Horsburgh | 17 | Connelly Lemuelu |
| RESERVES | RESERVES | |
| Seb Kris | 18 | Emry Pere |
| Hudson Young | 19 | Brendan Elliot |
| Matt Frawley | 20 | Riley Price |
| Albert Hopoate | 21 | Daejarn Asi |
| Jarrod Croker | 22 | Ben Condon |
| Trey Mooney | 23 | Ben Hampton |
| Peter Hola | 24 | Tomas Chester |
The Raiders have named teenager Xavier Savage on the bench for his first NRL game this year. Captain Elliott Whitehead will wear his familiar number 12 in his 150th match for the club with Ryan Sutton to play lock.
Coen Hess returns to the front row for the Cowboys, with Reuben Cotter shifting back to the bench. Griffin Neame and Jamayne-Taunoa Brown have been left out of the squad with Connelly Lemuelu slotting onto the pine.
Season so far
Raiders 13th | 76 points for | 122 points against | 2 wins & 3 losses | LLWLW
The Raiders have made an indifferent start to 2022 with three losses by 14 points or more mixed in with two thrilling wins at home.
Their troubles holding onto the ball continued against the Storm last week as they made another 13 errors in the 30-16 loss.
The effort was there all game against Melbourne, but it was the class of the Storm’s spine that proved too good for the Raiders.
Canberra were dreadful in their round 2 loss to the Cowboys up in Townsville, so they’ll be looking for a much improved effort to keep their perfect record at GIO Stadium intact.
Cowboys 8th | 96 points for | 77 points against | 2 wins & 3 losses | LLWWL
The Cowboys are another hard team to get a grasp on with a couple of good wins and some disappointing losses.
They started the year with a loss to the Dogs before big wins over Canberra and Brisbane that would’ve had some Cowboys’ fans thinking about finals.
They were then brought back to earth with a 28-4 loss to the Roosters at home before falling to the Warriors in golden point.
North Queensland have certainly improved on last season, but whether they can play finals may hinge on matches like these.
Last 5 meetings and GIO Stadium history
- 2022 round 2: Cowboys 26 – 6 Raiders at Queensland Country Bank Stadium
- 2021 round 7: Cowboys 26 – 24 Raiders at Queensland Country Bank Stadium
- 2020 round 12: Cowboys 12 – 14 Raiders at Queensland Country Bank Stadium
- 2019 round 11: Raiders 16 – 22 Cowboys at GIO Stadium Canberra
- 2019 round 4: Cowboys 12 – 30 Raiders at 1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville
There have been a few close games between the sides, with the Cowboys holding a 3-2 advantage over the last five matches.
Bizarrely, this is the second meeting between these sides in under a month, so they should be familiar enough with each other.
The Cowboys dominated the round 2 contest, with the Raiders constantly making errors, finishing at just 56 per cent completion.
These two have met at GIO Stadium ten times since 2010 with the ledger all square at five wins each.
Key matchup
The back five
The Cowboys were well on top of the Raiders in all areas when they met in round two, but it was their outside backs that continually got them rolling.
Their back five (Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Feldt, Holmes, Hiku and Tualagi) all ran for over 100 metres with a total of 668 metres. Compare that to the Raiders back five (Nicoll-Klokstad, Timoko, Valemei, Schiller and Seb Kris) who combined for just 328 metres and only Kris clocked over 100 metres run.
Not only did the Cowboys back five make plenty of metres, they also scored three tries, had two line breaks and had a try assist between them, while Canberra’s only had one line break.
The outside backs getting sets off to a good start has become a crucial part of the game, so hopefully the additions of Jordan Rapana and Nick Cotric will give the Raiders a bit more punch coming out of their own end.
Pre match predictions
Space Cowboys: The Raiders to put a space on the Cowboys and win by 20 plus. Raiders by 22.
Ain’t that a kick in the head: Raiders to flip the script on the round 2 Townsville clash by scoring three tries off kicks. Raiders by 6. – Denholm Samaras
Other match details
Gates open at 6.15pm with the Score Raiders taking on the Yass Magpies at 6.30pm.
The NRL match will be broadcast live on Channel Nine and Fox League channel 502 at 7.50pm 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).
