Match day guide and preview for the Canberra Raiders Round 17 game against the Manly Sea Eagles.
Who, when and where?
Manly Sea Eagles vs Canberra Raiders
Thursday 9 July, 7.50pm
4 Pines Park, Sydney
Ticket sales are cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney.
Head-to-head record: Played 60. Raiders 21 wins. Manly 36 wins. 3 draws.
Ladder position and recent form
Canberra Raiders 13th | 283 points for | 387 points against | 5 wins & 10 losses | LLWLL
The Raiders already poor season may have just hit rock bottom last week with a humiliating 44-6 loss at home to the Titans.
They missed a staggering 65 tackles with the obvious lack of effort alarming for Ricky Stuart.
Canberra are devoid of any confidence and it would take something extraordinary to turn their season around from here.
Manly Sea Eagles 5th | 437 points for | 306 points against | 9 wins & 6 losses | WWWLW
Manly are building nicely into the season and now seem like the biggest threat to either Penrith or Melbourne for the premiership.
They have scored an incredible 172 points over the last three weeks, including a 66-0 drubbing over the Bulldogs last week.
They will be without Tom Trbojevic who is a big loss, but they have enough confidence and talent to win without their star fullback.
Raiders and Sea Eagles team lists
| Raiders | Manly | |
| Xavier Savage | 1 | Reuben Garrick |
| Semi Valemei | 2 | Jason Saab |
| Jarrod Croker | 3 | Brad Parker |
| Seb Kris | 4 | Morgan Harper |
| Jordan Rapana | 5 | Moses Suli |
| Matt Frawley | 6 | Kieran Foran |
| Sam Williams | 7 | Dylan Walker |
| Emre Guler | 8 | Taniela Paseka |
| Josh Hodgson | 9 | Lachlan Croker |
| Dunamis Lui | 10 | Martin Taupau |
| Corey Harawira-Naera | 11 | Haumole Olakau’atu |
| Hudson Young | 12 | Karl Lawton |
| Ryan Sutton | 13 | Sean Keppie |
| Bench | Bench | |
| Tom Starling | 14 | Cade Cust |
| Ryan James | 15 | Ben Trbojevic |
| Sia Soliola | 16 | Kurt De Luis |
| Joe Tapine | 17 | Toafofoa Sipley |
| Reserves | Reserves | |
| Matthew Timoko | 18 | Jack Gosiewski |
| Hudson Young | 19 | Tevita Funa |
| Matt Frawley | 20 | Jorge Taufua |
| Ryan James | 21 | Tolutau Koula |
| Coach | Coach | |
| Ricky Stuart | Des Hasler |
Canberra Raiders
Stuart promised changes after their dismal effort last week, but the Raiders have made just four forced changes to their side.
Josh Papalii and Jack Wighton are out due to State of Origin duties while Bailey Simonsson and Elliott Whitehead are both injured.
Xavier Savage will make his official NRL debut at fullback while Hudson Young returns for his first game since round 11.
Local product Matt Frawley replaces Wighton at five-eighth with Ryan James coming onto the bench.
Manly Sea Eagles
Manly are without star fullback Tom Trbojevic and captain Daly Cherry-Evans for the clash due to Origin duties.
Reuben Garrick shifts to fullback with Dylan Walker to partner Kieran Foran in the halves.
Last 5 meetings
- 2020 Round 6: Raiders 6 – 14 Sea Eagles at Campbelltown Stadium
- 2019 Round 23: Raiders 16 – 18 Sea Eagles at GIO Stadium
- 2019 Round 7: Sea Eagles 24 – 20Raiders at Lottoland
- 2018 Round 12: Raiders 21 – 20Sea Eagles at GIO Stadium
- 2018 Round 4: Sea Eagles 32 – 16Raiders at Lottoland
Manly have a terrific recent record over the Raiders having won four of the past five matches, including the last three straight.
Despite the lopsided 4-1 count to Manly, the last four matches have all been decided by under ten points.
Manly overcame injury troubles to beat the Raiders 14-6 in a dour contest last year.
The players to watch
Raiders – Hudson Young
Young had large expectations placed on him at the start of the season with Michael Ennis even declaring he could be a NSW Blues smokey.
Taking the back row spot vacated by John Bateman, Young started the year in good form, scoring a try in the Raiders opening two matches.
However, a small knee injury and a decline in form saw him lose his spot to Harawira-Naera. He spent a few weeks coming off the bench before eventually being dropped altogether after round 11.
There’s no doubt Young’s best footy has him in the Raiders starting 13 and this is a big opportunity for him to earn back a regular first grade spot.
Sea Eagles – Kieran Foran
With Trbojevic and Cherry-Evans both out, the bulk of the playmaking duties will fall on Foran.
The 30-year-old is having a solid season for Manly but hasn’t really set the world on fire with just two tries and five try assists in 12 matches.
Manly look to have an advantage in the forwards so if they can lay a good platform, it should make life much easier for Foran and co to run up a score on the lowly Raiders.
Pre match predictions
The Shoeman: Matt ‘The Shoeman’ Frawley to keep his 100% try scoring record alive for the Raiders with his second meat pie in as many matches for the Green Machine. Shoutout to Blake and the Pork podcast for the nickname.
Marty McFly: Marty Taupau to fly downfield for over 200 running metres with over 60 post contact. – Denholm Samaras
Other match details
Due to the current lockdown in Sydney, patrons are not permitted to attend the match.
The match is live on Channel Nine and Fox League and can be streamed through Kayo.
You can listen to the game on MIX (106.3), Radio 2CC Canberra (1206AM) and 666 ABC Canberra.
