NRL Match Preview: Raiders v Warriors

The Canberra Raiders will look to finish strong as they head into the finals when they take on the New Zealand Warriors at GIO Stadium this Saturday.

The Green Machine are coming off a thrilling golden point victory over the Cronulla Sharks and will look to keep the momentum as they head into the final game of the season.

Canberra will need the win this week to cement the third position on the ladder, with the Manly Sea Eagles and South Sydney Rabbitohs not far behind, the worst case scenario for the Raiders is dropping down to fifth.

New Zealand will be looking to end their season with a win this weekend after losing 31-10 last week to the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Mt Smart Stadium.

Last Time:

The Canberra Raiders put on a show at Mt Smart Stadium, beating the Warriors 46-12 in Round 20. Canberra got out to a 30-0 halftime lead as Bailey Simonsson scored a double in the victory.

Key Matchups:

Sezer vs Green

Aidan Sezer will be looking to continue his impressive form when he goes head to head against Blake Green.

Sezer was instrumental in last week’s win over the Cronulla Sharks, with the halfback showing the full force of his kicking game with three crucial field goals including the match-winner.

He was also solid on the defensive end for the Raiders, having made 23 tackles whilst only missing four.

Blake Green will also be hoping to continue his solid form, the halfback has been deadly with his kicking game, forcing 16 drop-outs for the season.

Green has also been active in the Warriors attack, he has 11 try assist for the season to go along with his six offloads.

Kris vs Fusitu’a

A battle of the wingers will take place at GIO Stadium on Saturday when Sebastian Kris faces off against David Fusitu’a.

Sebastian Kris comes back into the side for the first time since the Raiders match against the Eels in Darwin.

In three NRL games, Kris has scored a try in two of those with the local junior consistently performing throughout the year with Mounties in Canterbury Cup.

Fusitu’a will be hoping to help his team get the win this week, the winger has five tries this season making 16 appearances. 

He has also been crucial when running the ball for the Warriors, with 1937 total running metres whilst averaging 121.1 metres. 

Whitehead vs Papali’i

Two second-rowers come face to face at GIO Stadium this weekend when Elliott Whitehead clashes with Isaiah Papali’i.

Having played every game this season, Whitehead has been a force in attack. The second-rower has three tries this season but also has three line breaks and 16 offloads.

The Englishman has also been instrumental on defence for Canberra, with 762 tackles made this season, having only missed 74 of them.

Papali’i will be looking to show why he is one of the up and coming stars in the NRL this week.

The 20-year-old second-rower is a crucial part of the Warriors attack with 22 tackle breaks to his name to go along with his 579 post-contact metres in 2019.

Both second-rowers will look to provide their teams with a strong attack going into the final game of the season.

"It's still a really important game for us to finish off on a high and up the ladder as far as we can." - Josh Hodgson

Head to Head:

The Canberra Raiders and the New Zealand Warriors have met on 42 occasions, with the Raiders winning 22 of those times whilst the Warriors have won 19 times with the one game ending in a draw.