NRL

Cronulla Sharks v Canberra Raiders

01 Sep 19 0 Comments

Written by beteasy

Photo By Getty Images

The Sharks will play their fifth home game in six weeks when they host the top four Raiders on Sunday, with Cronulla’s season springing to life after four straight victories at Shark Park.

In seventh spot, a Sharks win and losses by the Panthers and Tigers will assure them a place in the finals. A groin injury has pushed winger Sosaia Feki out, replaced by Sione Katoa.

An eight-point try by the Sea Eagles changed their game against the Raiders, with Canberra holding sway at 8-4 early in the second half before they lost grip of that one. Joey Leilua’s indiscretion has cost him two weeks on the sidelines, with Bailey Simonsson drafted back into the starting team for Ricky Stuart’s side.

When these teams met in round 14, Canberra got home 22-20, despite leading 20-0. Cronulla staged a comeback that fell just short, with a Jarrod Corker penalty goal all that separated the two sides.

Cronulla are 8-3 at home in 2019, the best record of any side in the competition, but Canberra have won 8 of their 11 road games, so they’re no slouches away from the capital.

The Wolf thinks this will be another close one, but the Raiders are being undervalued by the looks of it. They’ve had a tough past month with matches against the Roosters, Storm and Sea Eagles, and have the superior attacking and defensive stats against the erratic Sharks.

Wolf Facts

The Sharks can almost guarantee themselves a final appearance with a win against the Raiders. That would put them on 26 competition points and currently they have a healthy +34 points differential. This is 56 differential points more than the Wests Tigers and 123 more than the Panthers.
After 19 seasons with the one club, Paul Gallen will be playing his last home game this Sunday. In his final season, Gal has still run the most metres by any forward at the Sharks with 2,098 metres. That is 315 more metres then the next best in Andrew Fifita (1,783 metres).
The last time the Sharks and the Raiders met, the Raiders won 22-20 but the Sharks scored one more try than the Raiders.