Roar Guru
The Canberra Raiders are coming off a season defining win against Melbourne and must build on that performance today when they host the Newcastle Knights. Join us for live scores and commentary from 2.00pm AEST.
Canberra once again did the impossible when they defeated the Storm for the third consecutive time at AAMI Park last week.
It was a well-deserved victory against the reigning premiers and one coach David Furner would have been immensely proud of.
Now, the Raiders must back up last week’s effort with a strong showing at home against Newcastle today.
Canberra has won all its home matches thus far and should be favoured to fire against a Knights team coming off a golden point loss to the Sharks at home.
Consistency has often been the Raiders enemy over the past several seasons and it will be interesting to see if they can play at the same level they did against Melbourne.
Prediction
On their day, the Raiders rank as one of the most dangerous teams in the NRL as evidenced by their terrific showing against the Storm.
Attacking stars Blake Ferguson, Reece Robinson and Josh McCrone all played vital roles in tearing Melbourne’s defence apart, particularly down the edges.
Jack Wighton is another player the Knights will need to keep an eye on today, given the great strength he showed to muscle past Will Chambers en route to scoring last week.
Terry Campese is also slowly getting back to his best and will look to use his strong kicking game to pin the Knights deep in their own half.
Despite Canberra’s win last week, the Knights are certainly a chance of winning today.
The Raiders are often plagued by an inability to string wins together and may just get a rude shock if they fall behind early.
Darius Boyd, Kurt Gidley, Akuila Uate and Dane Gagai will make life difficult for Canberra if the hosts simply turn up expecting victory.
The absence of Jarred Mullen however may just rob Newcastle of the attacking organisation needed in the halves to hurt the Raiders today.
Just like they did against Melbourne last week, the Raiders will have to muscle up early and battle hard for field position against a strong Newcastle pack.
If the Raiders can do that, and play at the same level they did against Melbourne, their fifth win of the season should be secured.
Raiders by six.