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The Melbourne Storm will be out to avoid back-to-back home losses as they take on a Canberra Raiders shooting for their fourth straight win in Victoria. Join The Roar for live blog coverage from 5.30pm AEST.
The Storm and Raiders are coming off vastly different results. The Storm suffered a narrow loss at home against the Dogs, while the Raiders snapped a losing streak to down the Titans on the Gold Coast.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy has kept faith with the same 17-man squad that went down to the Dogs, but has made two changes to his starting side.
Ryan Hoffman and Ryan Hinchcliffe will both start in place of Tohu Harris and Jordan McLean, who drop to the bench.
Canberra’s preparations have not been as smooth, with injury and form again forcing Ricky Stuart’s hand. Jarrad Kennedy shifts into the centres to cover the loss of Brenko Lee who was injured in the victory over the Titans. Joel Edwards will start at second-row, while veteran Brett White returns, forcing Paul Vaughan to the bench.
Matt Allwood will travel south with the squad as 18th man, while the most relieved man wearing lime green this week will be Sami Sauiluma. The winger had a torrid time against the Titans, and knows a repeat performance would earn the wrath of Stuart who has dropped his outside backs for poor form a number of times this season.
The Raiders are one of the few clubs in the modern era who boast a positive record in Melbourne. Climatic conditions in the Victorian capital are similar to those in the nation’s capital.
The Storm have only lost 14 matches in total at their AAMI Park fortress, and three of those have been to the Raiders. Whatever the reason, the Raiders are one of the sides that have consistently challenged the Storm in their own backyard.
The Raiders are renowned for late season charges to the finals, and if they’re going to make any impression on this year’s competition, they have to win almost every week.
Boom youngster Anthony Milford will again be the key man for the Raiders, and he highlighted his importance to the team with his man of the match efforts against the Titans.
For the Storm, this match looms large in the context of their season. In recent seasons Bellamy’s men have gone through a flat patch after the representative season as fatigue takes its toll.
This year with such a logjam on the ladder they don’t have the luxury of dropping too many matches – a win here against the Raiders keeps them in touch with the other title contenders.
Despite the close loss last start, the Storm has more depth in their squad and should get the job done. But it will certainly be an interesting battle, driven by two of the most intense coaches in the game.
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