In Depth Raiders Preview Ahead of Dragons Clash

[Raidercast]

Know Your Enemy: Canberra Raiders

The St George Illawarra Dragons will visit a Canberra Raiders outfit desperate for a victory on their home turf, when the two sides clash at Canberra Stadium on Monday, kick-off 7 pm.

The Green Machine have won just two matches at home this season, and will be looking to bounce back from a 40-0 defeat at the hands of the Wests Tigers on their last home appearance.

A win for the home side would see them draw level with the Dragons on the competition table, while a win for the Red-and-Whites would take them a step closer to a place in the top eight.

Dragons winger Daniel Vidot and utility Josh Miller will take on their former club for the first time, having made a combined 158 appearances for the Green Machine.

In the NYC curtain raiser, the 11th-placed Young Dragons will face a stern test, with the Raiders sitting in second place, just one point off the competition lead.

Gates open at 4:30 pm, with NYC kick-off at 4:45 pm.

NRL Line-Up
NRL Head Coach: David Furner

1. Reece Robinson
2. Dimitri Pelo
3. Jarrod Croker
4. Blake Ferguson
5. Edrick Lee
6. Josh McCrone (C)
7. Sam Williams
8. Dane Tilse
9. Travis Waddell
10. Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (C)
11. Josh Papalii
12. Joel Thompson
13. Shaun Fensom

14. Matt McIlwrick
15. Bronson Harrison
16. Sam Mataora
17. Joe Picker
18. Mark Nicholls

NYC Line-Up
NYC Head Coach: Andrew Dunemann

1. Mitchell Cronin
2. Jonathon Reuben
3. Matthew Allwood
4. Anthony Milford
5. Malcom Congoo
6. Jack Ahearn
7. Mitchell Cornish (C)
8. Shannon Boyd
9. Ben Picker
10. Jeff Lynch
11. Michael Chee Kam
12. Joe Bradley
13. Hayden Crockett

14. Peter Irwin
15. Blake Seager
16. Tim Sloman
17. Uiti Baker
18. Simon Lienesch

Team Changes
The home side will be without their three highest-profile players, with Josh Dugan and David Shillington joining Terry Campese in being unavailable for selection.

Fullback/five-eighth Dugan will be out of action for at least the next three weeks after suffering an ankle injury in last week’s 40-18 loss to the North Queensland Cowboys.

Josh McCrone shifts to five-eighth to cover the loss of Dugan, with Sam Williams returning to first grade at halfback.

Towering front-rower Shillington joins Dragons trio Ben Creagh, Brett Morris and Beau Scott in sitting out this week’s match, following their selection in State of Origin III.

Dane Tilse is promoted from the bench to fill the void left by Shillington, with Joe Picker joining the interchange.

In the only other change, New Zealand international Bronson Harrison returns from a hamstring injury to replace Trevor Thurling on the bench.

For their NYC counterparts, the starting line-up is unchanged from the side that beat the Cowboys 38-22 in Townsville last week.

The bench, however, has been re-shuffled, with Blake Seager, Tim Sloman and Simon Lienesch have been named on a five-man bench, in place of Dennis Tomarchio and. Jeremy Hawkins.

Injuries
The home side will take to the field in the midst of an injury crisis, with eight members of their squad on the sidelines.

Representative quartet Shaun Berrigan, Josh Dugan, Terry Campese and Brett White are all out of action, with the latter two not expected to return to the field this season.

In addition, Glen Buttriss, Jarrad Kennedy, Trevor Thurling and Jack Wighton are all unavailable.

Bronson Harrison, Joel Thompson, and Joe Picker are all expected to play despite carrying injuries.

The Key Threats
The bright spot for the Green Machine in recent weeks has been the form of 19-year-old winger Edrick Lee.

The Queensland-born flyer has scored twice in his first four games in the NRL, proving to be a handful for opposition wingers.

The home side’s centre pairing are a major threat to the Red V, with Jarrod Croker currently leading the NRL’s points-scoring tally, and Blake Ferguson renowned as one of the league’s most potent finishers.

Five-eighth Josh McCrone has been a consistent performer this season, with 12 line-break assists to his name so far in 2012.

There is also strength up-front, with Dane Tilse and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs forming the NRL’s biggest front-row pairing, while lock Shaun Fensom’s name is always among the top tacklers in the game.

The Young Dragons will need to be especially wary of Raiders centre Anthony Milford, who tore the Cowboys defence to shreds last week, scoring a hat-trick in just his second NYC appearance.

Recent Meetings
The Raiders have a strong recent record against the Red-and-Whites heading into the match, having won 13 of the past 14 meetings between the two sides, including the last six.

The Red-and-Whites will be looking to overcome this by winning in Canberra for the first time since 2000.

NYC honours have been relatively even between these two sides, with the Raiders holding a 3-2 advantage, with one match drawn.

Source: Dragons