Canberra Raiders
24
Match Complete
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
20
| 72 |  | B. Trindall | ||
| 71 |  | B. Nikora | ||
| 55 | | J. Ramien | ||
| J. Fogarty | | 52 | ||
| C. Horsburgh | | 51 | ||
| J. Fogarty | | 45 | ||
| M. Timoko | | 43 | ||
| 33 | | R. Mulitalo | ||
| J. Fogarty | | 31 | ||
| C. Horsburgh | | 30 | ||
| J. Fogarty | | 16 | ||
| A. Hopoate | | 15 | ||
| 8 | | B. Trindall | ||
| 6 | | W. Kennedy |
| 4 | Tries | 4 | ||
| 4 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
The NRL season finally heads to the cold weather of the Australian capital as the Canberra Raiders host the Cronulla Sharks at GIO stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 6:15pm (AEDT).
All is not well for the 15th-placed Raiders. After a tight loss to the Cowboys on a steamy afternoon in Townsville, the green machine failed to capitalise on a 12-0 lead against the Dolphins, losing 20-14 at Kayo Stadium.
Ricky Stuart has already started on his grumpy statements in press conferences, indicating the possibility of a broken dressing room early into the season. With Josh Papali’i still out with injury, Joseph Tapine, alongside halves combination Jack Wighton and Jamal Fogarty, needs to step up in front of the home fans.
After a loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs at home, the Sharks bounced back well with a tight 30-26 victory against the Eels in Parramatta last week. Nicho Hynes is still out with a calf injury, giving Braydon Trindall an extended run at halfback after two impressive performances.
While the Sharks are capable of scoring plenty of points through the backs and forwards, Craig Fitzgibbon has been vocal about defence, and will be hoping his boys can execute their defence onto the field instead of leaving it out on the training paddock.
Prediction
Neither side has played the perfect game this season as they build towards consistency. Cronulla need to work on their defence, while the Raiders have to ensure their good periods of footy last longer than 40 minutes.
The Sharks have not beaten the Raiders since Rd 19 in 2018. However, records are there to be broken, and this is the perfect time for the Sharks to end that hoodoo. They should get it done in the Australian capital.
Sharks by 4+
Game information
Kick-off: 6:15pm (AEDT)
Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra
TV: Fox League
Streaming: Kayo Sports, NRL Live Pass
Betting: Raiders $2.20, Sharks $1.68 – odds via PlayUp
Teams
Raiders
1. Sebastian Kris, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matthew Timoko, 4. Harley Smith-Shields, 5. Albert Hopoate, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Pasami Saulo, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Corey Harawira-Naera.
Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Trey Mooney, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Emre Guler.
Sharks
1. Will Kennedy, 2. Sione Katoa, 3. Jesse Ramien, 4. Siosifa Talakai, 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo, 6. Matt Moylan, 7. Braydon Trindall, 8. Toby Rudolf, 9. Blayke Brailey, 10. Braden Hamlin-Uele, 11. Briton Nikora, 12. Teig Wilton, 13. Dale Finucane (c).
Interchange: 14. Cameron McInnes, 15. Royce Hunt, 16. Oregon Kaufusi, 17. Jack Williams.
RedcliffeFan
Roar Rookie
Pathetic defence from Cronulla - as usual.
Bonza
Roar Rookie
I'm betting at some stage Nicho and Trindall will be the halves. Moylan's defence (or lack thereof) will seem him relegated.
R K
Roar Rookie
Craig Fitzgibbon is underwhelming as a first grade coach. John Morris was building a good roster and is an ex Sharks player, sacking him mid season was risky, even more so to sign a bloke who never wore a Sharks Jersey. He has no passion for the club. The price for Sharks fans will be pain for the next few seasons. Fail.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Thought Canberra won the game in the play the ball. Raiders are far more skilled in the wrestle and holding down whereas the Sharks let you hop up too quick or slowed it down amateurishly.. Ashley let a lot of it go as well, so it evened itself out.
Hard Yards
Roar Rookie
Well I’m perplexed. Sharks should have won but didn’t, Raiders should have gone down but didn’t. Full marks to Canberra. Geez Cronulla better get busy - they have work to do. But this game is what makes the Comp good - upsets.
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
Its a farce - Roy Masters has written about this entertainment ref stuff often (usually at TV rights negotiation time as part of negotiations) and it was even in the NRL refs directive in 2020...Bizarre
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Fair enough - but 4 in a row in the last 10 or 15 is tough to watch - plus a linesman call was required to give the penalty to CHN for interference in the ruck - otherwise it would have been five. Could have decided the match but the Sharks weren't good enough to take it out. Klein the clown. Not a fan.
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
I came in when raiders led 24-10 . The next 9 decisions/non-decisions went to the visitors until the touchie had to tell the ref there was an obvious Canberra penalty in play the ball - shame Ricky is up to $50k for post match comments - the little man was ref...
Renegade
Roar Guru
Deserved the win though :thumbup:
Cugel
Roar Rookie
35 deg at kickoff here in chilly Canberra, which really showed at the back end.
Cugel
Roar Rookie
We had some charmed periods as well though.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Klein would have been lucky to get off the ground if the Sharks had won. Shocking last 15 minutes. Not sure if it was deliberate or just clueless.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Klein did everything in his power to drag the Sharks across the line but it wasn’t enough. Four dodgy decision in a row from what I saw. Gutsy effort by the Raiders. Big Red, Starling, Timoko, Kris and Wighton had huge games.
Red Rob
Roar Rookie
Congrats Raiders fans. Keeping the comp interesting for sure!
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Yes, Talakai took it for that one as Trindall had his ankle strapped and opted not to take the conversion then
Renegade
Roar Guru
Unbelievably dumb…coach killer that!
Renegade
Roar Guru
The hoodoo is real - 9 straight for the raiders! I’m hoping that’s the sharks worst performance of the year :thumbdown: Wipe it from memory, Nicho back next week - back to normality hopefully.
Broken Shoulder
Roar Rookie
Congrats Raiders, deserved to win. Sharks need to fix their discipline and defence. Getting Nicho back won’t solve that.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
FULL TIME CAN 24 CRO 20 The Raiders get their first victory of the 2023 NRL season! It was a game where both sides had momentum at various stages, but it was the Raiders who triumphed in the end. The Sharks will be spewing at their ill discipline at the beginning of the second half that cost them conceding 12 points. Thank you all for joining. I’ll be back for a few games for round four. Till then, take care and goodnight
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Awful performance. Ref tried to keep us in it, God bless him, but we let him down.