NRL Match Preview: Raiders v Roosters

The Canberra Raiders will take on the high flying Sydney Roosters for Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium this Sunday.

With all teams playing in Brisbane for the NRL’s first Magic Round, the third placed Raiders meet the top of the table Roosters as both sides look to continue their impressive recent form.

The Green Machine will be looking for back-to-back wins after defeating the Penrith Panthers 30-12 at McDonalds Park in Wagga Wagga last Saturday.

Sydney will be looking to continue their winning ways after a dominant 42-12 win over the Wests Tigers.

Last Time:

The Raiders defeated the Roosters 14-12 at GIO Stadium last season. On that day, the Raiders had a 12-0 at half time before holding on to claim a win against the eventual premiers.

Key Matchups:

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad vs James Tedesco

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad will look to continue his dominant performance when he meets one of the premier fullbacks in the league, James Tedesco.

Nicoll-Klokstad has been a revelation during his first season in lime green scoring four tries in eight games whilst racking up 1,313 total running metres.

The Raiders fullback also scored a try last Saturday during the Raiders impressive win against the Panthers, while also posting seven tackle breaks.

James Tedesco will also be looking to maintain his impressive form, with the NSW representative running 249 total metres in the win against the West Tigers.

Both full-backs will look to hit the ground running when they meet at Suncorp.

Michael Oldfield vs Latrell Mitchell

Named once again to replace the injured Joey Leilua, Michael Oldfield will line up against on the competition’s in-form player, Roosters centre, Latrell Mitchell.

After scoring a try in his return to the field last week against the Panthers, Oldfield will be hoping to continue his impressive try scoring record having scored eight tries in 10 appearances for the Raiders.  

Latrell Mitchell will look to continue on from last weeks’ performance, with the Australian and New South Wales representative scoring a hat-trick against the Wests Tigers.

Josh Papalii vs Jared Waerea-Hargreaves

Two experienced forwards will meet at Suncorp this Sunday as Raiders prop Josh Papalii will face up against New Zealand international Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

Papalii has helped the Raiders’ defence this season, already having 224 tackles made with only 11 missed tackles leading to a 92.4% tackle efficiency. Papalii will be continuing to make his presence felt on defence against the top scoring team in the NRL.

The Roosters’ Waerea-Hargreaves will look to bounce back from last weeks’ performance, with only 95 total run metres and 21 tackles, the experienced prop will be hoping for a strong showing on Sunday.

Head to Head: 

The Raiders and Roosters have met on 63 occasions, with Canberra winning 28 times compared to Sydney’s 33, with the other two matches ending in draws.