Check out the match preview and prediction for the 2025 National Rugby League round 11 clash between the Canberra Raiders and the Gold Coast Titans.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Canberra Raiders Vs Gold Coast Titans
Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Date: Sunday May 18, 16:05pm (AEST)
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
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 14. Owen Pattie 15. Simi Sasagi 16. Josh Papali’i 17. Ata Mariota 18. Jed Stuart 19. Noah Martin 20. Pasami Saulo 21. Trey Mooney 22. Danny Levi
Titans: 1. Jaylan De Groot 2. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 3. Brian Kelly 4. Jojo Fifita 5. Phillip Sami 6. AJ Brimson 7. Jayden Campbell 8. Moeaki Fotuaika 9. Sam Verrills 10. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 11. Klese Haas 12. Beau Fermor 13. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 14. Kieran Foran 15. Jaimin Jolliffe 16. Chris Randall 17. Josiah Pahulu 18. Tony Francis 19. Arama Hau 20. Josh Patston 21. Harley Smith-Shields 22. Sean Mullany
Referee: Liam Kennedy
Bunker: Adam Gee
MATCHDAY PREVIEW
The Titans will leave the sunshine and beaches of the Gold Coast and head to cold Canberra for a Sunday afternoon battle with the Raiders. Canberra led the competition after leading the Bulldogs 20-0 at halftime last Sunday, only to concede 32 consecutive points in the second half to go on to lose 32-20. The Raiders will be keen to make amends for their second half struggles, meaning the Gold Coast will have to be very aware of the bounce back factor. It has been another typically frustrating season for the Titans so far: mixed form, injuries and star players lacking consistency the major factor. They got a much-needed road win at Newcastle last round and will look to use that as a building block for back-to-back road wins here.
Mixed team news for the Raiders as English recruit and rookie of the year frontrunner Matty Nicholson’s season is in major doubt. The only chance of a return in 2025 would involve Canberra making a deep finals run, giving him time to ramp up his conditioning after undergoing surgery on a broken ankle. The positive news for Canberra is the return of prop Corey Horsburgh, who slots back into the starting team. The Titans welcome back some much-needed guidance and experience, with Keiran Foran named on the interchange bench for his first appearance of the regular season. At the beginning of last week’s win over Newcastle we saw Jojo Fifita and Philip Sami switch centre and wing roles contrary to what was named on the team sheet; this change sat well enough with coach Des Hasler as he continues this line-up, with Fifita in the centres and Sami on the wing. The final changes for the Titans comes in the forward pack, with Izsac Fa’asuamaleaui ruled out due to concussion protocols, replaced by impact bench forward Jaimin Jolliffe who also returns from suspension.
These two teams met just a month ago and the Titans got off to a red hot start – scoring three tries in the first 19 minutes and rocketing out to a 16-0 lead. Like the Raiders did themselves last week against the Bulldogs, the Titans failed to hold on and the Raiders won the game 30-20. The initial 20-minute domination will allow the Titans to know they can cause Canberra issues and they have hopefully learnt from what went wrong last time. The big undoing for the Titans is defence. Through the first 10 rounds of the competition, they have averaged 30 points conceded per game. This is an alarming statistic especially when coming up against a Raiders team who themselves score 27 points per game in attack.
The key individual match-up that I’m looking forward to the most this weekend is the fullback battle. After a slow start to the season, Kaeo Weekes has been jaw droppingly good over the last month. We all can see his damaging potential and lethal acceleration: if he maintains this level of form and continues to build as we expect it is going to be must-see entertainment every weekend. He matches up against the Titans’ Jaylan De Groot. I have a lot of respect for the way he has approached his game considering this would be a tough role to play on a leaky Gold Coast defence. He doesn’t have the same flair and try scoring instinct Weekes has, but he has been more reliable under the high ball and has been first grade-level consistent week in and week out. Even if he loses his spot with Foran coming back to fitness, he can hold his head very high and know he is a first grade quality fullback in many eyes.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Canberra by 8 points.
Check out our round 11 predictions here.
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