The Canberra Raiders have made several changes for their clash with the Melbourne Storm at GIO Stadium on Saturday night, 22 May.
With the suspensions handed down to star trio Josh Papalii, Josh Hodgson and Jack Wighton, Ricky Stuart has called upon a couple of veterans and a debutant to fill their void.
Sam Williams replaces Wighton at five-eighth with Dunamis Lui to start at prop in place of Papalii. Ryan Sutton has been named on the bench as he returns from an elbow injury.
Brad Schneider will debut and become Raider #376 after being named to replace Hodgson as the bench utility. Schneider has played seven matches for the Raiders NSW Cup side this year, scoring tree tries along with six try assists.
The Raiders broke a five-match losing streak with a 20-18 victory over the Bulldogs last round but will need to improve on that performance to be a chance against the reigning premiers.
The Storm have been hit with some injury woes of their own with Ryan Papenhuyzen, Ryley Jacks and Tyson Smoothy all joining Cameron Munster and Harry Grant on the sidelines.
Nicho Hynes will start at fullback after picking up five try assists in the position last week while Brandon Smith returns at hooker.
Chris Lewis has been named at five-eighth with Aaron Pene coming onto the bench.
Raiders and Storm team lists
| Raiders | Storm | ||
| 1 | Caleb Aekins | 1 | Nicho Hynes |
| 2 | Bailey Simonsson | 2 | George Jennings |
| 3 | Seb Kris | 3 | Reimis Smith |
| 4 | Curtis Scott | 4 | Justin Olam |
| 5 | Semi Valemei | 5 | Josh Addo-Carr |
| 6 | Sam Williams | 6 | Chris Lewis |
| 7 | George Williams | 7 | Jahrome Hughes |
| 8 | Dunamis Lui | 8 | Jesse Bromwich |
| 9 | Tom Starling | 9 | Brandon Smith |
| 10 | Emre Guler | 10 | Christian Welch |
| 11 | Corey Harawira-Naera | 11 | Felise Kaufusi |
| 12 | Elliott Whitehead | 12 | Kenneath Bromwich |
| 13 | Hudson Young | 13 | Dale Finucane |
| Bench | Bench | ||
| 14 | Brad Schneider | 14 | Aaron Pene |
| 15 | Ryan Sutton | 15 | Tui Kamikamica |
| 16 | Corey Horsburgh | 16 | Tom Eisenhuth |
| 17 | Ryan James | 17 | Nelson Asofa-Solomona |
| Reserves | Reserves | ||
| 18 | Matthew Timoko | 18 | Aaron Booth |
| 19 | Sia Soliola | 19 | Cooper Johns |
| 20 | Siliva Havili | 20 | Trent Loiero |
| 21 | Harry Rushton | 21 | Dean Ieremia |
| Coach | Coach | ||
| Ricky Stuart | Craig Bellamy |
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