Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs
Canberra Stadium, 2:00pm
Raiders: Josh Dugan, Blake Ferguson, Jarrod Croker, Joel Thompson, Reece Robinson, Josh McCrone, Sam Williams, Brett White, Alan Tongue (c), David Shillington, Danny Galea, Bronson Harrison , Shaun Fensom. Interchange: Joe Picker, Josh Miller, Josh Papalii , Sam Mataora
Rabbitohs: Nathan Merritt, Dylan Farrell, Shaun Corrigan, Greg Inglis, Chris McQueen , John Sutton, Chris Sandow, Ben Ross, Issac Luke, Shannan McPherson, Eddy Pettybourne, David Taylor, Michael Crocker (c). Interchange: Luke Burgess, David Tyrrell, Jason Clark, Nathan Peats
Souths have run into a small patch of good form having beaten the Dragons two weeks ago and putting the Eels to bed 56-6 last week. Today they head to the nation’s capital to take on a struggling Raiders side that would be desperate to salvage some pride out of what has been a disappointing season at best.
The Raiders can usually take a slight advantage out of a match played in cold Canberran conditions but the fact that the game is played on a Sunday afternoon means that the benefits are relinquished.
I find this match hard to pick as one can’t be too sure on whether or not South will ‘turn up’ for the match. That’s no disrespect to the bunnies but all year they have gone missing in different parts of different matches. The money stays firmly in the pocket for this one.
Mike’s Best Bet: None
St George Illawarra Dragons v Sydney Roosters
WIN Stadium, 3:00pm
Dragons $1.15, Roosters $7.25 (Betfair)
Dragons: Darius Boyd, Brett Morris, Mark Gasnier, Matt Cooper, Jason Nightingale, Jamie Soward, Ben Hornby (c), Dan Hunt, Nathan Fien, Michael Weyman, Beau Scott, Ben Creagh, Matt Prior. Interchange: Jon Green, Trent Merrin, Adam Cuthbertson, Dean Young
Roosters: Anthony Minichiello, Sam Perrett, Joseph ‘BJ’ Leilua, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Phil Graham, Braith Anasta (c), Mitchell Pearce, Jason Ryles, Jake Friend, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, TBC, Aidan Guerra, TBC. Interchange: Anthony Mitchell, Mose Masoe, Brad Takairangi, Lama Tasi
I’m not going to talk about Todd Carney’s indiscretions but only mention that he and Nate Myles have been stood down by the club and Braith Anasta moves to 5/8th.
It’s a bit of a horrid time for Roosters fans who had high hopes of their team this year after making an appearance in the 2010 Grand Final. The Roosters were dealt with easily last week by the Sea Eagles in a 36-8 cruisy win in which the Roosters didn’t put up much resistance.
The Dragons could seemingly use an easy win just to regain some of their lost confidence which has come from winning only two of their past nine games.
Jamie Soward suffered a bit of an injury to his back last week and was a bit ginger. It will be interesting to see if he is 100% this week and whether or not he decides to get a bit more ‘hands on’ in attack.
Mike’s Best Bet: None
Starting Bank: $2000, Current Bank $2549.39
(Team lists sourced from nrl.com.au)
