2021 NRL – North Queensland Cowboys vs Canberra Raiders Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is North Queensland Cowboys vs Canberra Raiders taking place? Saturday 24th April, 2021 – 10:35 (UK)
Where is North Queensland Cowboys vs Canberra Raiders taking place? Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville
Where can I get tickets for North Queensland Cowboys vs Canberra Raiders? Click here for ticket information on 2021 NRL matches
What channel is North Queensland Cowboys vs Canberra Raiders on? Sky Sports Arena will be televising selected NRL games in the UK and you can find their schedule here. For Australian broadcasters, you can find a list here
Where can I stream North Queensland Cowboys vs Canberra Raiders? If televised on Sky Sports, then subscribers will be able to stream the match live via Sky Go. Alternatively, the match will be available to subscribers of Watch NRL
THE TEAM NEWS
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Starting 13: Holmes, Feldt, O’Neill, Lemuelu, Taulagi, Drinkwater, Hampton, Hess, Robson, McLean, Wright, Condon, Burr – Interchanges: Granville, Dunn, Molo, Jensen – Reserves: Marsters, Hola, Clifford, Gilbert
Unavailable: Kane Bradley (Injured), Jason Taumalolo (Injured), Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Injured)
- North Queensland Cowboys made it back-to-back wins as they overcame winless Canterbury Bulldogs last week but this game with Canberra Raiders will be the real test to discover if they have turned the corner from their poor start to the campaign.
- The Cowboys have shown plenty of improvements with the ball in those two wins having scored 64 points but they are still allowing too many with only the Bulldogs conceding more than the 189 points they have shipped.
CANBERRA RAIDERS
Starting 13: Aekins, Kris, Croker, Scott, Rapana, Wighton, G. Williams, James, Starling, Guler, Young, Whitehead, Sutton – Interchanges: Havili, Harawira-Naera, Horsburgh, Papalii – Reserves: Timoko, Soliola, Frawley, Tapine
Unavailable: Harley Smith-Shields (Injured), Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (Injured), Josh Hodgson (Injured), Bailey Simonsson (Injured)
- Canberra Raiders lost for the second game in succession and for the third time in four matches as they failed to go with Parramatta Eels in the second half of last week’s contest and head coach Ricky Stuart has made big changes on the back of that.
- Stuart was frustrated with the performance of some of his players and that has seen Corey Harawira-Naera and Corey Horsburgh receive their first call-ups of the season while Ryan James is also back after he was rested last week but Josh Hodgson is out through injury.
THE PREDICTION
North Queensland Cowboys will sense a big opportunity to make it three straight wins as they host a Canberra Raiders side that were on the end of a big spray from their head coach after last week’s failure. The Raiders were well-beaten by Parramatta Eels with that loss adding to what has been a frustrating start to the campaign and they are now under pressure to win this contest. The Cowboys overcame winless Canterbury Bulldogs last week but they still have a long way to go if they are to compete for the spot in the finals. This will be a good test for them but with Stuart’s words likely to still be ringing in their ears, the Raiders can get back to winning ways in this one to make it five victories in their last six clashes with the Cowboys.
