Canberra Raiders vs Canterbury Bulldogs: NRL live scores, blog

Round 25 of the NRL premiership concludes this afternoon when the Canberra Raiders take on the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs at GIO Stadium in Canberra. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 4:05pm (AEST).

With a tricky run home, if the Raiders are going to make the semi’s, they need to win this afternoon. The Bulldogs will try and run interference but they will need to improve on last week’s effort.

Talking of ordinary efforts, the Raiders were thrashed 48-2 by the Storm last week in a game which could have got them into the top 4. Ricky Stuart was in no mood for the press conference afterwards.

The Raiders strength is in their forward pack. If they gain ascendancy in the middle, they have enough class out wide to get wins. However, the Raiders have trouble putting teams away, explaining their poor points differential.

In team changes, Jarrod Croker returns from injury in the centres. James Schiller and Tom Starling join the bench, with Adrian Trevilyan and Pasami Saulo dropping out of the 17.

At close to full strength, the Bulldogs were given a chance against the Knights last Sunday. Unfortunately, for Canterbury, what followed was a 42-6 mauling.

Canterbury have endured a tough run with injuries this season however, with players back, questions are now being asked. Bulldogs fans were hoping their team would be on the edge of the 8 this year but sometimes the desire is missing. It’s going to be an interesting off season at Belmore.

With Jacob Preston suspended, Corey Waddell gets a start. Ryan Sutton returns from a neck injury at lock and Luke Thompson moves back to the bench. Raymond Faitala-Mariner comes onto the interchange in place of Harrison Edwards.

Prediction

You would expect the Bulldogs to play with plenty of pride today but the Raiders are playing for their season. Both sides are coming off big losses and will be keen to atone.

It will be tight but I think the Raiders will get home. Raiders by 2

Game information

Venue: GIO Stadium
Kick-off: 4:05pm (AEST)
TV: Fox League, Nine
Streaming: Kayo Sports, Foxtel, 9Now
Odds: Raiders $1.34, Bulldogs $3.30 – odds via PlayUp

Raiders: 1. Jordan Rapana 2. Albert Hopoate 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Matthew Timoko 5. Nick Cotric 6. Jack Wighton 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papali’i 9. Zac Woolford 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Corey Horsburgh 14. Tom Starling 15. Emre Guler 16. James Schiller 17. Ata Mariota 18. Trey Mooney 19. Matt Frawley 20. Ethan Strange 21. Brad Morkos 22. Adrian Trevilyan

Bulldogs: 1. Jake Averillo 2. Blake Wilson 3. Jacob Kiraz 4. Braidon Burns 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Matt Burton 7. Toby Sexton 8. Max King 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Liam Knight 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Corey Waddell 13. Ryan Sutton 14. Kyle Flanagan 15. Luke Thompson 16. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 17. Tevita Pangai jnr 19. Harrison Edwards 20. Kurtis Morrin 21. Jayden Okunbor 22. Hayze Perham 23. Reece Hoffman