Match day guide and preview for the Canberra Raiders NRL round 19 game against the Parramatta Eels.
Who, when and where?
Parramatta Eels vs Canberra Raiders
Thursday 22 July, 7.50pm
Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast QLD
Head-to-head record: Played 62. Raiders 31 wins. Eels 30 wins. 1 draw.
Ladder position and recent form
Canberra Raiders 9th | 347 points for | 421 points against | 7 wins & 10 losses | WWLLW
The Raiders have won back-to-back mates for the first time since round 2 after a strong 34-18 victory over Cronulla last week.
Canberra’s second half woes this season have been well documented, so the most pleasing aspect of that win was their dominance late in the match.
After trailing 18-16 with 20 minutes to go, the Raiders scored the final three tries to run away with the match.
Despite the strong showing, the Eels are a big step up from Cronulla, so Canberra will need to improve to make it three on the trot.
Parramatta Eels 4th | 474 points for | 255 points against | 13 wins & 4 losses | WLWWW
The Eels are well entrenched in the top four and despite missing Mitchell Moses and Junior Paulo, they were far too good for the Titans last week.
They dominated Gold Coast in almost every aspect and built a 26-0 lead after 50 minutes and coasted to victory.
Parramatta have are once again putting together a solid season and are third in the NRL for defence.
They may still be a premiership chance if everything goes right, but they seem a fair way off the top two teams in Melbourne and Penrith.
Raiders and Eels team lists
| Raiders | Eels | |
| Jordan Rapana | 1 | Clint Gutherson |
| Harley Smith-Shields | 2 | Maika Sivo |
| Jarrod Croker | 3 | Will Penisini |
| Seb Kris | 4 | Waqa Blake |
| Semi Valemei | 5 | Blake Ferguson |
| Matt Frawley | 6 | Dylan Brown |
| Sam Williams | 7 | Jake Arthur |
| Josh Papalii | 8 | Reagan Campbell-Gillard |
| Josh Hodgson | 9 | Reed Mahoney |
| Emre Guler | 10 | Junior Paulo |
| Corey Harawira-Naera | 11 | Isaiah Papali’i |
| Hudson Young | 12 | Ryan Matterson |
| Ryan Sutton | 13 | Nathan Brown |
| Bench | Bench | |
| Tom Starling | 14 | Marata Niukore |
| Matt Timoko | 15 | Shaun Lane |
| Sia Soliola | 16 | Oregon Kaufusi |
| Joe Tapine | 17 | Will Smith |
| Reserves | Reserves | |
| Caleb Aekins | 18 | Haze Dunster |
| Ryan James | 19 | Bryce Cartwright |
| Siliva Havili | 20 | Makahesi Makatoa |
| Trey Mooney | 21 | Joey Lussick |
Canberra Raiders
The Raiders have lost young gun Xavier Savage to a cruel season ending shoulder injury while star five-eighth Jack Wighton is out with a rib injury.
Matt Frawley replaces Wighton at five-eighth for his second game in three rounds after a strong showing against Manly a fortnight ago.
Jordan Rapana shifts to fullback with Harley Smith-Shields named on the wing for his first NRL game in 2021.
Matt Timoko comes onto the bench with Ryan James out of the 17. Co-captain Elliott Whitehead remains on the sidelines with a shoulder injury,
Parramatta Eels
The Eels welcome back Junior Paulo to the front row while Blake Ferguson returns on the wing.
Mitchell Moses is out indefinitely with a broken back with Jake Arthur to play halfback.
Last 5 meetings
- 2021 Round 6: Raiders 10 – 35 Eels at GIO Stadium
- 2020 Round 7: Eels 25 – 24 Raiders at Bankwest Stadium
- 2019 Round 15: Eels 22 – 16 Raiders at TIO Stadium
- 2019 Round 5: Raiders 19 – 0 Eels at GIO Stadium
- 2018 Round 6: Raiders 18 – 2 Eels at GIO Stadium
Parramatta a building a nice little streak over the Raiders, winning the last three straight including a 35-10 thumping earlier this year in Canberra.
It was an even contest in the first half before the Eels piled on 23 unanswered points in the second 40.
The Raiders last win against the Eels was early in 2019 where they kept them scoreless at home.
The players to watch
Raiders – Tom Starling
Canberra have chopped and changed their use of Starling and Hodgson in the number nine role this season, but Ricky Stuart seems to have got the mix right over the last two weeks.
Starling was used sparingly off the bench for a few games but that changed against Manly a fortnight ago when he came on after 25 minutes and had an immediate impact scoring the Raiders first try.
They did the same thing against the Sharks and once again Canberra looked far more dynamic in attack with both Starling and Hodgson on the field.
Starling’s defence is also very good, evidenced by a brilliant shot on Ronaldo Mulitalo that led to an important try in the second half.
The Raiders will surely use the same tactic against Parramatta so watch for Starling to make an impact with his energy both in attack and defence.
Eels – Dylan Brown
With Moses out for a while, plenty of responsibility now falls on the shoulders of young Dylan Brown.
Brown defied a shocking haircut last week to play well, running for 111 metres and scoring a cracking try.
He’s a tremendous ball runner, using his pace to trouble the defensive lines but now partnered with young Jake Arthur, Brown will have far more playmaking and organising responsibilities.
The positive for the Eels is they have Reed Mahoney at hooker and Clint Gutherson at fullback who can also step up to help Brown while Moses out.
Pre match predictions
Krismas in July: Seb Kris to celebrate Xmas in July with a double.
The length of the Shield: Harley Smiths-Shields to run over the length of the field, 100m, with the footy to go with three tackle busts in a solid return game from injury.
Other match details
The Raiders match is the first of a double header at Cbus Super Stadium with the Storm vs Knights to play straight after.
The match will be broadcast live on Channel Nine and Fox League channel 502 at 7.30pm. It is also available to stream on Kayo.
You can listen to the match on Raiders on Mix – Mix106.3 FM, Radio 2CC – 1206 AM and ABC Grandstand – 666 ABC AM.
Gates open 6.50pm
