Round 20 - Storm vs Raiders

[blazza18]

1. Billy Slater
2. Suliasi Vunivalu
3. Will Chambers
4. Curtis Scott
5. Josh Addo-Carr
6. Cameron Munster
7. Jahrome Hughes
8. Jesse Bromwich
9. Cameron Smith ©
10. Nelson Asofa Solomona
11. Felise Kaufusi
12. Ryan Hoffman
13. Dale Finucane

14. Kenny Bromwich
15. Tim Glasby
16. Christian Welch
17. Joe Stimson
18. Tui Kamikamica
19. Brodie Croft
20. Cheyse Blair
21. Albert Vete

So lima lima lima duck pathetic that we don't know what's going on with Brandon Smith.

[sallymay]

From a post in the storm family from Brandon Smith Mother she posted it just b4 the warriors game about being at the capt run with brandons brother jayden who was run over by a car in a freak accident .... and i just saw it tonight...crazy

"I am very proud of Brandon his little brother Jayden is also a pretty good league player following in his brothers footsteps just a little hurdle for Jayden at the moment 6 to 8 months recovery but will get through we are pretty gutted Brandon’s out but good to see him home miss my boy a lot probably out for 2 games Melbourne staff will get him back on the field in no time he has been told rd 21

If your in the family group there were more comments its worth a read

[RobbieRoss]

Thanks Sallymay. Very sorry to read about the accident to Brandon's brother .

I had separately sent a private email to Frank Ponissi this evening asking if he could please ensure he addressed Brandon in the injury report this week. To his credit he has replied, and so we can expect some information. Hopefully he confirms Brandon's mum's understanding that Brandon will be back next week.

For those following the 20s, I have also asked him to report on Kayleb Milne, Junior Ratuva and Kelma Tuilagi, all of who are not playing this week.

[sallymay]

Junior ratava is in the falcins squad this week pretty sure i saw that on the falcons page

Kalab and Kelma have been playing Qcup for falcons.and easts tigers i think Kalab is injured now though so you might get.something from frank him

[yourhero]

Raiders line-up;

1. Brad Abbey
2. Michael Oldfield
3. Nick Cotric
4. Joseph "C*ckhead" Leilua
5. Jordan Rapana
6. Blake Austin
7. Sam Williams
8. Dunamis Lui
9. Josh Hodgson
10. Junior Paulo
11. Joseph Tapine
12. Elliott Whitehead
13. Josh Papalii

14. Liam Knight
15. Luke Bateman
16. Siliva Havili
17. Iosia Soliola

18. Jack Murchie
19. Makahesi Makatoa
20. Royce Hunt
21. Emre Guler

[Bullucked]

Raiders line-up;
4. Joseph "C*ckhead" Leilua

True, he might be but geez I'd like to see him in our colours with his faults ironed out. He could be anything that fella, his own stupidity is all that's holding him back (oh, and maybe the team he plays for!)

[yourhero]

True, he might be but geez I'd like to see him in our colours with his faults ironed out. He could be anything that fella, his own stupidity is all that's holding him back (oh, and maybe the team he plays for!)

Weird, I struggle to think of a worse fit for our organisation

On his day - a phenomenal attacking player. Defence has never been a strong suit. Work ethic and attitude even less so.

Club is irrelevant IMO. BJ was just as much of a scumbag when he was at the Knights... Screaming and celebrating in McLean's face as he lay unconscious with a shattered cheekbone was all I needed to see of Leilua's character to make an assessment. There was also that game last year where he sulked off the field at full time and refused to shake hands with Storm players.

[Mattpoet]

Soliola's first time at AAMI since he hit Billy...

[steaming stormer]

Sam Kasiano hasn't quite had an impact. We should have waited and bought someone else maybe got Woods or another Canterbury offload.

Woods???? Really??? He's the most overrated forward in the game. Backs into tacklers, meaning he gets next to no post contact metres, and is lazy at marker in defence.
I'd be filthy if we signed him - there's a reason he was a player the Dogs are happy to let go to help fix their cap space

[Cameron]

Bellyache would fix Woods and make him the player he should be.

That is what these blokes don't realise; rather than going for the money, they should go for the best coaching. That way they can be the best players they possibly can.

At least Sam Kasiano realised that.

[coupy73]

Right now we have sneaked to top of the ladder and finals only a few weeks away. What illegal wrestling/tackling/defensive tactic will Melbourne be the only ones using this year and which coach will be the first to raise it.

.......go!

[Scooter]

Soliola's first time at AAMI since he hit Billy...

Mattpoet Soliola's first match back from his suspension was actually in round 26 last year v Storm at AAMI Park. He copped it from the fans when he came off the bench and every time he touched the ball.

[LESStar58]

Raiders line-up;

1. Brad Abbey
2. Michael Oldfield
3. Nick Cotric
4. Joseph "C*ckhead" Leilua
5. Jordan Rapana
6. Blake Austin
7. Sam Williams
8. Dunamis Lui
9. Josh Hodgson
10. Junior Paulo
11. Joseph Tapine
12. Elliott Whitehead
13. Josh Papalii

14. Liam Knight
15. Luke Bateman
16. Siliva Havili
17. Iosia Soliola

18. Jack Murchie
19. Makahesi Makatoa
20. Royce Hunt
21. Emre Guler

Its Joey "amateur photographer" leilua

[yourhero]

Taken from the Raiders website...


NRL Match Preview: Raiders v Storm

Vincent Smith-Koppie
Thu 26 Jul 2018
raiders.com.au

As the Canberra Raiders' season begins to enter must-win territory they head down to AAMI Park on Saturday night to face the Melbourne Storm.

The Raiders are coming off a controversial 28-24 loss to the Cronulla Sharks where their second-half comeback fell just short with a number of refereeing errors costing the Raiders.

The Melbourne Storm defeated the New Zealand Warriors 12-6 last week in a low-scoring contest at Mt Smart Stadium.

Joe Tapine returns to the second row for the Raiders, pushing Sia Soliola to the bench and Jack Murchie out of the 17, while Michael Oldfield shifts to the wing with Nick Cotric moving to centre.

Dale Finucane starts at lock for the Storm with Kenny Bromwich dropping to the bench.

Last Time: The Melbourne Storm ran out comfortable winners when these two met in Round 26 last year.

They raced to a 20-0 lead within the first 20 minutes before finishing with a 32-6 win.

Key Matchups

Josh Hodgson vs Cameron Smith

This Saturday we will see two of the best hookers in the game battle it out at AAMI Park. Cameron Smith is considered by many to be one of the best players of all time and even though he's now retired from representative football his club form has been as good as ever, and he's a chance of securing his third Dally M medal this year.

Josh Hodgson has missed most of the season due to injury but since his return he's shown just how good a player he is. Like Smith, he's great with the ball in hand, laying on four try assists in the five games he's played this year, as well as being a great game manager. Both teams are a different side with their inspirational hooker on the field and these two captains will be looking to guide their team around the park on Saturday night and lift them to a victory.

Junior Paulo vs Nelson Asofa-Solomona

The Raiders and the Storm both possess huge forward packs and that's personified by the battle between Junior Paulo and Nelson Asofa-Solomona. These two starting props will be looking to use their big frames to lay a platform that their side can build off.

Asofa-Solomona has already broken more than 50 tackles and run for over 700 post-contact metres this season. He's proven himself as a man who is difficult to defend against and the Raiders will need to stop him if they are any chance of upsetting the Storm this weekend.

Paulo has only played 13 games this year but in the matches he has played he's been huge for the Green Machine. He is one of the Raiders' hardest runners and he creates creating plenty of second phase play with 21 offloads so far this year. Both Paulo and Asofa-Solomona average 98 running metres per game and with the last meeting between the Storm and the Raiders decided in the first 20 minutes, the starting props have huge role to play on Saturday night.

Joey Leilua vs Will Chambers

Joey Leilua has been great again this season and already has nine tries to his name to go along with his 33 offloads. He's so dangerous with the ball and was close to Canberra's best last week, crossing for his third double of the season and laying on a try assist for Brad Abbey. This weekend he comes up against an incumbent Kangaroos and Queensland centre in Will Chambers.

Chambers is one of the best defensive centres in the NRL and has made 202 tackles in just the 13 matches he has played for the Storm this season. He's also averaged close to 100 running metres per game and loves to put in attacking kick close to the line. Watching these two fiery centres battling it out will be one of the highlights of Saturday's clash.

Head to Head

Unfortunately for the Raiders it's been one-way traffic in the past between these two.

Canberra have won just 11 of the previous 40 clashes and at 27.5% that's their worst winning percentage against any NRL opponent. To make matters worse, the Raiders have beaten the Storm in Melbourne just four times from 20 attempts.

[yourhero]

Raiders will be without;
- Aiden Sezer
- Shannon Boyd
- Jarrod Croker
- Jack Wighton
- Ata Hingano

Our forwards need to play with intent from the kick-off. If we cannot manage a reasonably comfortable win, serious questions need to be asked.