NRL Match Preview: Raiders v Sea Eagles
The Raiders will be out to turn their fortunes around after a last-start loss when they welcome the Manly Sea Eagles to GIO Stadium on Friday night.
The Raiders face a short turnaround after a 25-18 defeat to the table topping Dragons at Mudgee on Sunday.
Manly travel down south off the back of a heated 24-4 victory over the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne and will be looking for their third consecutive victory.
Canberra will be without Joe Tapine who will miss two weeks after taking an early guilty plea for a shoulder charge.
It sees a reshuffle with Sia Soliola reverting to lock with Dunamis Lui joining the starting side in the front row and Liam Knight earning a bench spot.
The Sea Eagles will be without hooker Apisai Koroisau after he took the early guilty plea for striking and will be replaced by Lewis Brown at dummy half.
Five-eighth Dylan Walker is out for six weeks after suffering a fractured eye socket and is replaced in the side by Trent Hodkinson.
Last Time: The Raiders faced the Sea Eagles in round 4 earlier this year with Manly running out 32-16 winners. The Raiders scored first before being hit with 26 unanswered points to see Manly lead by 20 at the break and the deficit being too much to overturn.
Key Matchups
Jack Wighton vs Tom Trbojevic
Jack Wighton has been solid this season with the fullback grabbing six try assists and two tries over his ten appearances.
Tom Trbojevic also has six try assists to start the season and is firmly in the sights of the NSW origin selectors which will have him wanting to add one more strong performance before the team is announced.
Explosive speed and a strong play-making game are a feature for both of these number 1's so expect one of them to feature heavily in this clash.
Elliott Whitehead vs Shaun Lane
Whitehead has been a presence in attack and is the equal top try scorer for the Raiders with Jarrod Croker on six tries.
Shaun Lane has been thrust into a starting role after constant injuries to edge back rowers for Manly and has made the left edge his own.
Tall and powerful back rowers who can run a good line will test each other and the better defender will come out on top in this one.
Sia Soliola vs Jake Trbojevic
Soliola has played every game so far this season in the front row position with and has been a consistent performer in the middle of the park for the Raiders.
Jake Trbojevic like his brother Tom will be looking for another strong showing this weekend to book a starting sport in the forward pack for the NSW origin team.
With Soliola's switch to the lock forward role, expect these two to come together regularly and test out the ruck speed of those in the middle.
"Coming back from an ACL injury, I wasn't really sure how he (Dunamis Lui) would bounce back and he's been a silent achiever for us this year off the bench and I know he's excited to start this week" – Jarrod Croker
Head to Head: There have been 54 meetings between the two sides with the Raiders grabbing victories in 20 of those fixtures. Manly hold the advantage with 33 wins and the teams have shared the spoils on one occasion.
