Matchday Details
Saturday, August 2 – 5:30pm (AEST) – WIN Stadium
📺 Broadcast: Fox League / Kayo
Referee: Todd Smith | Bunker: Adam Gee
Dragons
1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Tyrell Sloan 3. Moses Suli 4. Mathew Feagai 5. Corey Allan 6. Lyhkan King-Togia 7. Kyle Flanagan 8. Emre Guler 9. Damien Cook 10. David Klemmer 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Michael Molo 13. Jack de Belin 14. Jacob Liddle 15. Hamish Stewart 16. Hame Sele 17. Blake Lawrie 18. Jacob Halangahu 19. Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga 20. Lachlan Ilias 21. Hayden Buchanan 22. Ben Murdoch-Masila
Raiders
1. Kaeo Weekes 2. Jed Stuart 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Xavier Savage 6. Ethan Strange 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papali’i 9. Tom Starling 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Zac Hosking 13. Corey Horsburgh 14. Owen Pattie 15. Simi Sasagi 16. Morgan Smithies 17. Ata Mariota 18. Danny Levi 19. Manaia Waitere 20. Noah Martin 21. Trey Mooney 22. Ethan Sanders
Match Preview
The next assignment in Canberra’s quest for their first minor premiership since the “glory days” continues in the twilight hours of Saturday evening in Wollongong. The Dragons sit 12th on the ladder, leaving fans frustrated and thinking of the good times that have seemingly left them in recent times. A frustrating and somewhat controversial loss last week all but sealed the Dragons’ fate of no finals football this season. While technically mathematically possible, they will need a perfect record from here on in, and have other results go their way.
The home side lines up this week with just one change: Michael Molo comes into the starting side for the injured Jaydn Su’A (knee). Hame Sele gets a call up to the interchange bench and will be keen to make the most of another opportunity to impress Shane Flanagan. For Ricky’s Raiders, Seb Kris comes back into his normal starting left centre position after missing last week’s win with concussion. Simi Sasagi moves back onto the bench; his form has been remarkable whenever he has been on the field. Unfortunately for rookie Noah Martin, Canberra can only name 17 players and he moves back to reserve grade despite scoring his first ever try in the NRL last weekend.
A valiant second-half effort saw the Dragons give the Raiders a scare in round 18. The Raiders led 24-6 after 49 minutes, so the Dragons could be forgiven for thinking the game was out of reach. Skip forward to a 72nd minute try from Kyle Flanagan and the Dragons found themselves in an unthinkable position, only trailing 28-24 with plenty of time left. The Raiders kept their cool and held for another win, but it does set this game up to be another competitive one, especially now the Dragons have home field advantage.
Kaeo Weekes’ game against the Dragons was one of the most impressive individual performances seen in the NRL. He ran for an incredible 346 metres and scored three tries. The top metres gained by a Dragon that night was winger Sione Finau, with 217 metres, to put in perspective how dominant he was. Finau is currently linked with a move to Canberra, although details of his tour of Canberra HQ were leaked to the media by Finau’s agent, all but ending the interest from Canberra’s end. The Dragons need to stop Kaeo this time around and this is the key focus to this game.
Prediction
RLZ Tip: Raiders by 8
See our full Round 22 Predictions here: 2025 NRL Tipping: Round 22 Writer Predictions
Have your say: Who wins? Drop your tip in the comments or vote in our poll.
Related Links
- Round 22 Late Mail
- 2025 NRL Round 21 Injury List
- Power Rankings – Round 21
