Raiders
14
Match Complete
Sea Eagles
18
| J. Croker |  | 71 | ||
| 69 |  | R. Garrick | ||
| 67 | | J. Trbojevic | ||
| 52 |  | R. Garrick | ||
| 51 | | R. Garrick | ||
| 50 | | R. Garrick | ||
| J. Croker | | 44 | ||
| 39 | | R. Garrick | ||
| 38 | | R. Garrick | ||
| J. Croker | | 34 | ||
| J. Croker | | 20 | ||
| J. Croker | | 19 |
| 2 | Tries | 2 | ||
| 1 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 2 | Penalty Goals | 3 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
Match result
FULL TIME: Raiders 14 – 18 Sea Eagles
It was a game riddled with penalties and controversial calls, but the Manly Sea Eagles managed to come back from behind to beat the Canberra Raiders for the second time this season. They weren’t a lot of tries, but it was intense. The Raiders set up a grand stand finish but in the end fell short.
Manly have got themselves into the top four and their fate in that respect is their own hands. The same can be said for the Raiders, who weren’t able to get the job done despite significant early pressure.
Jarrod Croker was the only player on the scoresheet for the Raiders, while Rueben Garrick and Jake Trbojevic scored for the Sea Eagles. Garrick was perfect from the tee, even converting one from 45 metres out at the end of the first half.
It was an ugly game from start to finish. Manly got the points but lost Joel Thompson to a suspected broken arm and that’s going to hurt the Sea Eagles ahead of finals.
Next week the Sea Eagles host the Melbourne Storm so this result will give them confidence ahead of the clash against the favourites to win the title. If the Raiders beat the Sharks in Cronulla next week, they’ll secure a spot in the top four.
Match preview
The Canberra Raiders are looking to solidify their place in the top four when they host the Manly Sea Eagles at GIO Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 4:05pm (AEST).
The Raiders proved they were serious about their premiership challenge when they came back from behind to beat top-of-the-table Melbourne Storm last week.
Melbourne led by 18 points after half an hour but Canberra rallied until the end.
Two tries from Jarrod Croker followed by tries from Jordan Rapana and Josh Papalii saw them edge past the Storm 22-18 in Melbourne.
Jack Wighton and Joseph Tapine saw themselves sinbinned so the Raiders will need to stay disciplined if they want a full-strength squad for finals.
Tapine won’t play against Manly due to a rib injury so Ryan Sutton will start at lock.
Manly are within touching distance of a top-four spot and a win against the Raiders would see them leapfrog the South Sydney Rabbitohs into fourth.
The Sea Eagles dominated the Wests Tigers in their last game, scoring three tries in each half to come out 32-12 winners.
Unlike the Raiders, there won’t be any changes to the side that performed so well last week. However, Brad Parker is still out with a knee injury.
The last time these two sides faced off it was the Raiders that were on the wrong end of a comeback.
Manly were down 12-0 but turned the match around to come out 24-20 winners at Lottoland.
Prediction
The Raiders are on fire, and even when they do lose it’s never straightforward. However, the remarkable performance against the Melbourne Storm must have drained them, physically and emotionally. Still, at home Canberra have a good record.
Manly will need to overwhelm the Canberra defence early if they want to win this one, but that’s well within their skillset.
Raiders by 4
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting at 4:05pm (AEST).
Kick-off: 4:05pm (AEST)
Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra
TV: Live, Foxtel, Channel 9
Online: Live, Kayo Sports, Foxtel App, Foxtel Now, NRL Digital Pass
Betting: Raiders $1.50, Sea Eagles $2.25
Overall record: Played 30; Raiders 13, Sea Eagles 17, No draws
Last meeting: Sea Eagles 24 – 20 Raiders (28/04/2019)
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
"The Storm are the Spawn of Satan. They’re not a football team – they should be representing us at the Olympics in Wrestling. Low, dishonourable, protected species" Classic stuff, HY! :thumbup: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Welcome to "The Storm Chasers!"
tim flakelar
Roar Rookie
Love your colorful commitment, bring back the hard man, ( no penaltys pls)
Wayne Turner
Guest
He's a master of brain snaps. Raiders are never going to win the comp with him in the team.They were alot better when he was out.
The Spectator
Roar Guru
was laughing at Steve mate, raiders are tough as, good team mate and tough game.
WarHorse
Roar Rookie
No worse than Mick Ennis, and he is now part of the Raiders family. Lol.
WarHorse
Roar Rookie
If I was Des I'd be fuming too. Scandalous I tell you.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Manly seem to be able to drag us down into a scrap that we don't handle well - Croker admits this at the end of the game - Ricky needs to address this - he was outcoached by Hasler - again! Wighton was excellent but again Sezer went missing - seems to be a recurring theme. We didn't bet a lot of ball in the second half which makes it hard to build pressure. Manly also pushed the offside all day but the refs took it easy on them. Manly had every reason to lose that with two missing for a lot of the match. When we finally got a bit of ball in the last 12 minutes we looked threatening. Some of BJ's bonehead efforts were inexcusable - he should have been dragged and replaced by Simonsson for the last 15 minutes. The Storm, Roosters, Raiders and Sea Eagles are quality teams and the Rabbitohs could join them. Will be an interesting end of the season.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Almost a penalty every 3 minutes - ridiculous - killed the game as a spectacle
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
To be fair a couple of those so called hits by BJ looked pretty innocuous - but why put your team at risk of losing possession or giving away a penalty when the game was on the line? BJ brings a lot but gives away a lot which sort of cancels each other out. You don't see the other raiders players coming up with those sorts of plays.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Please explain
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Fair points Harry. The defensive intensity is certainly still there. I actually think we might be better off playing away in the first week of the finals. I'm not sure what it is but our home record against the top 5 teams isn't flash but our away record is very good.
WarHorse
Roar Rookie
Those refs were diabolical. Should be touch judging under 8s next week. 26 penalties shows you can not control an NRL game.
Hard Yards
Roar Rookie
Sea Eagles beat Canberra earlier in the year 24-20 at Brookie. Round 7 at the end of April. That was a win for the True Believers. Today was a cunning Street Fight by both sides. I think the Raiders were surprised by Manly getting down into the mud with them. Neither side covered themselves in glory, but the Raiders copped a blackout punch on the jaw. It could have been otherwise. Next week Raiders have the Sharks at Shark Park, and Manly have Melbourne at Brookie. The Storm are the Spawn of Satan. They’re not a football team - they should be representing us at the Olympics in Wrestling. Low, dishonourable, protected species which will be sprayed with Roundup and uprooted from their unholy soil. The Pride of The Northern Beaches will take to the field accompanied by thunderous applause from the locals and show the rest of the 8 just how to deal with these dishonest, disturbed, disgraceful denizens of Bleak City.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Spot on - the Roosters used the same tactic against the Raiders a couple of weeks ago - slows all the momentum for the attacking team. The Raiders had made good territory with a few tackles up their sleeve and the Manly player shuffles off at about 5 kms per hour. Refs need to police this tactic so the attacking side isn't disadvantaged
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
That's not The Insider masquerading as The Spectator is it?
The Spectator
Roar Guru
Doin the eagle rock!
Doc79
Roar Rookie
The concerning thing that happened in this game was the trainer of the defending team stopping play to take a player, the one who committed a high shot penalty, from the field unassisted. That the player returned in less than 10 mins while a HIA would see a player out of the game for a minimum of 15 mins and only return on a doctor’s clearance. This is extremely problematic and open to beneficial use in the context of a game. I believe this is what it was over any concern for player safety. Going forward, would a leg cramp now be suffice for this action to stop play by a trainer.
DNZ
Guest
No love from me mate. I’ve said it here a number of times, for every single good thing he does, there’s something poor. Defensively he’s such a liability that I wouldn’t have him in the team, despite the fact he’s a brilliant attacker. Anyway, I think it was a good game today from both sides and I would not be looking to blame the referees. We killed our chances.
The Spectator
Roar Guru
Bahahahahja
Harry
Guest
I’m not too worried about this result as a Raiders fan. Manly are a bit of a bogey team for Canberra and in the end the difference came down to an intercept. For the Raiders to have all that possession against them in the second half and only let in one (non-intercept) try shows genuine intensity in defence which is exactly what they’ll need in the finals. Realistically with the way the Roosters are playing the Raiders never had a chance of finishing higher than third, and given that their for-and-against is way better than any of the teams below them as long as they win one of their next two games against the Sharks and the Warriors they’ll have a top four place locked up - and honestly it’s a toss-up at the moment whether you’d rather play the Roosters or the Storm in week one of the finals. What was most important for me from this game was seeing that the Raiders’ intensity didn’t drop off from the last couple of weeks - and in fact if anything it looks like the players are relishing the chance to play such high-intensity football against top teams, which I think is a great sign.