Check out the match preview and prediction for the 2025 National Rugby League round 1 clash between the Canberra Raiders and New Zealand Warriors.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Canberra Raiders Vs New Zealand Warriors
Venue: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas
Date: Sunday March 2nd 2025, 11:00am (AEDT)
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Canberra Raiders: 1.Kaeo Weekes 2.Savelio Tamale 3.Matthew Timoko 4.Sebastian Kris 5.Xavier Savage 6.Ethan Strange 7.Jamal Fogarty 8.Corey Horsburgh 9.Tom Starling 10.Joseph Tapine 11.Hudson Young 12.Zac Hosking 13.Morgan Smithies. Interchange: 14.Owen Pattie 15.Simi Sasagi 16.Josh Papalii 17.Ata Mariota. Reserves: 18.Danny Levi 19.Trey Mooney 20.Ethan Sanders 21.Chevy Stewart 22.Jed Stuart.
New Zealand Warriors: 1.Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2.Taine Tuapiki 3.Ali Leiataua 4.Adam Pompey 5.Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 6.Chanel Harris-Tavita 7.Luke Metcalf 8.James Fisher-Harris 9.Wayde Egan 10.Mitchell Barnett 11.Kurt Capewell 12.Marata Niukore 13.Erin Clark. Interchange: 14.Dylan Walker 15.Jackson Ford 16.Demitric Vaimauga 17.Leka Halasima. Reserves: 18.Samuel Healey 19.Te Maire Martin 20.Eddie Ieremia-Toeava 21.Bunty Afoa 22.Edward Kosi.
Referee: Grant Atkins
Bunker:
MATCHDAY PREVIEW
The Raiders and Warriors officially launch the 2025 NRL season from Las Vegas this Sunday (AEDT). Both teams will be keen to promote the game on a global scale, showcasing the physical toughness and excitement rugby league has to offer. Getting the season off to a winning start and taking two competition points back to Australia or New Zealand is oh so vital for two teams not considered serious top eight candidates by pre-season predictions.
The Raiders have named back rowers Hudson Young and Morgan Smithies despite the unfortunate headlines that have been dominating the news this week. The word coming out from this is any punishments will be decided when the team returns to Canberra. On a much more positive note for the Raiders, hooker Owen Pattie (who just signed a new contract till the end of 2028) makes his club and NRL debut off the interchange bench. Savelio Tamale makes his Raiders debut on the wing, getting first shot at replacing the hole Jordan Rapana’s departure has left.
The Warriors looked good in their pre-season hit-outs. The highlight was a 36-10 win over the Storm where the bulk of the players named in this team list got out to a 36-0 lead by half-time. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak suffered an injury in their first trial match against the Sharks, prompting an early season backline reshuffle, leading to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Taine Tuaupiki getting the two wing spots for round one. The departure of Fonua-Blake hurt the Warriors, but James Fisher-Harris – who will make his Warriors debut – is a fantastic replacement. Erin Clark starts at lock and replaces Tohu Harris – who surprisingly retired from the game during the pre-season.
This feels like the appropriate opening match-up with both clubs entering new eras in 2025. The future is full of promise with lots of exciting young talent ready to battle it out. Last season these two teams met twice with both teams finding a win each, most recently a 20-18 Raiders win in Canberra on a freezing July evening. Hudson Young got himself a double that night and will be looking to replicate this. He might feel he has some making up to do as well just quietly.
There are a few exciting match-ups I’d like to highlight in this preview – starting with Corey Horsburgh vs James Fisher-Harris. Horsburgh has seemingly mended any tension he and coach Ricky Stuart had over the last season or so and earned himself the starting front row spot. Once an Origin candidate, he will want to prove he is still at this level and has a brilliant opportunity against one of the toughest front rowers in the game in Fisher-Harris, who will be keen to show the Warriors fans that he can do what Fonua-Blake has done for them.
The next match up I want to highlight is Kaeo Weekes vs Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad. Charnze had one of the most consistent and reliable seasons I’ve seen from a fullback during Canberra’s 2019 Grand Final season. He has since left and done the same reliable job for the Warriors. A Maori All-Star with still so much left to give will be a threat for Canberra if they don’t handle him properly. Weekes has now overtaken Xavier Savage in the Raiders’ X-factor rankings. He can break a defensive line from a standing start and apply pressure to tiring forwards trying to set a defensive line. I believe these two fullbacks will play a key role in deciding which one of these teams comes home with an undefeated record in the USA.
The final match-up I’ll focus on is Roger Tuivasa-Sheck vs Savelio Tamale. Tuivasa-Sheck is going to make life difficult for Tamale (making his Raiders debut). I feel the Warriors will try and play this as a potential mismatch, giving him a lot of ball and putting Savelio to the test both in the air and on the ground. If he can hold his own and put in a good display against the man known as “RTS”, that will give Ricky Stuart something to think about during future team list Tuesdays.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
It’s always hard to predict round one results. There are so many unknown strengths and weaknesses that don’t come out until a month or two into the competition. The Raiders might lack the consistency and discipline with such a young roster to put in a full 80-minute display week-in-week-out, while the Warriors looked really switched on during their trial games.
Warriors by 6 points.
Check out our round 1 predictions here.
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