2024 NSW Cup Round 6: Canberra Raiders v Canterbury Bulldogs
Canberra Raiders v Canterbury Bulldogs
Sunday 14 April, 4:00pm
Canberra Stadium
Broadcast: No broadcast or live stream available
Canberra Raiders
1. TBA 2. Michael Asomua 3. Nick Cotric 4. Manaia Waitere 5. Jed Stuart 6. Kaeo Weekes 7. Adam Cook 8. Emre Guler 9. Zac Woolford 10. Peter Hola 11. Mitchell Spencer 12. Noah Martin 13. Hohepa Puru (c)
14. Adrian Trevilyan 16. Luke Webley 21. Peter Taateo 18. Loghan Lewis
Canterbury Bulldogs
1. Joash Papalii 2. Jeral Skelton 3. Hayze Perham 4. Reece Hoffman 5. Eli Clark 6. Bailey Biondi-Odo 7. Joseph O'Neill 8. Liam Knight 9. Jake Turpin 10. Zane Tetevano 11. Lachlan Vale 12. Harry Hayes 13. Lipoi Hopoi
14. Romano Cook 15. Jordan Samrani 16. Jirah Momoisea 17. Jack Todd
Last round: The Canberra Raiders scored seven tries in a 30-6 victory over the Parramatta Eels at Canberra Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The win means the Raiders are still undefeated, and sit in second place on the ladder, behind the Panthers.
Canberra half Adam Cook set up the first three tries for the Raiders, two of them with long passes to winger Jed Stuart. His kick ahead to the in goal also set up centre Manaia Waitere for a four pointer. That delivered a 12-6 lead to the home team at the 30 minute mark. Cook initiated and backed up to score a try of his own near the 60th minute. He was in everything. It wasn't his day with the boot, however. He missed five conversion attempts, before landing his sixth attempt just before full time. Kaeo Weekes also missed a goal. To be fair to the kickers, almost all of the attempts were from the sideline.
Raiders winger Michael Asomua bagged a double in the second half, while Trey Mooney got a very well deserved try with two minutes remaining. He just crashed over. Mooney was named captain for the match, with Hohepa Puru starting from the bench. Former Raiders forward Makahesi Makatoa produced the only try for the Eels in the 23rd minute of the game.
The Raiders had 60 per cent share of possession - and almost 10 minutes more than the Eels with the ball in hand. No wonder when you look at the completion rates (Raiders 84 per cent, Eels 64 per cent) and the error count (Eels 13, Raiders eight). The Eels also posted more infringements than the Raiders (11-7). Canberra dominated all the attacking statistics. They made over 550 more running metres and 200 more post contact metres than the Eels. Canberra produced more line breaks (6-4), tackle breaks (42-32) and offloads (8-4). The Raiders also posted over 350 more kicking metres than the Eels. Parramatta had a much heavier defensive workload - and missed more tackles (42-32) and recorded more ineffective tackles (16-8).
Trey Mooney (239) topped the running metres for the Raiders, coming in ahead of Chevy Stewart (198), Michael Asomua (196), Peter Hola (174) and Emre Guler (172). Adam Cook produced three try assists, while Nick Cotric got two - giving the final pass for the Asomua tries. Jed Stuart and Asomua both posted two line breaks. Stewart made eight tackle breaks, Mooney seven. Mooney (29) led the tackle count, followed by Zac Woolford (25), Mitch Spencer (23), Noah Martin (22) and Hohepa Puru (22). Cook, Mooney and Stewart were the best performers all round.
This round: In Round 6, the Raiders host the Canterbury Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium. The Bulldogs are coming off a 20-14 win over the Roosters at Belmore Sports Ground on Saturday. It was 10 all at half time, but tries to halfback Cassius Tia and winger Jeral Skelton gave the home team a 10 point advantage with just over 10 minutes remaining. A late try to Roosters centre Kyron Fekitoa was not enough. It was the Bulldogs' third win of the season - having produced narrow wins over the Eels (38-36) and Rabbitohs (22-20) in the opening month.
Team news: Chevy Stewart will make his NRL debut this week, but the Raiders have yet to name his replacement in NSW Cup. Trey Mooney has also been selected in first grade, meaning Peter Hola will start at prop and Hohepa Puru at lock.
2024 season record: Raiders: 4 and 0, 1 draw (2nd, +116)
Bulldogs 3 and 2 (7th, -26)
Form: Raiders: WWWDW
Bulldogs: WLLWW
Recent meetings: 2023 Round 25 Raiders 40 defeated Bulldogs 12 at Raiders Belconnen
2023 Round 10 Raiders 10 drew Bulldogs 10 at HE Laybutt Field
2022 Round 19 Bulldogs 39 defeated Raiders 26 at Canberra Stadium
2022 Round 2 Bulldogs 48 defeated Raiders 12 at Stadium Australia