The Roosters defeated an undermanned Canterbury, who were missing four players due to Origin including their halves combination, in round 11 32 – 12.
It took the Roosters, who started a short priced favourite for the game, a long time to get the better of their determined opponents and it was only three tries in the last fifteen minutes that blew the score-line out.
It wasn’t the Roosters at the best and the score-line flattened them to a degree but it did make it four wins from the past five weeks, during which time they’ve averaged 26 points per game.
Special Offer: $250 Sydney Roosters vs Canberra Raiders FREE BET
It was also their fourth 13+ win of the season – all of which have been produced at Allianz Stadium
The Roosters are close to being back to the form that made the team to beat last season and only some poor execution in attack and discipline in defence, are preventing them from reaching that level again.
RAIDERS
The Raiders relieved some of the pressure that they had been under with a 42 – 12 win last week over the Cowboys who were without several of their Origin stars Jonathan Thurston, Brent Tate, Matt Scott and James Tamou.
Like the Roosters, the Raiders took their time in getting the upper hand over the Cowboys and it wasn’t until half-way through the second half with a try to Reece Robinson, that the game was put behind doubt.
Two more tries in the final five minutes of the game gave the Raiders their fourth win of the season and only their second in the past seven matches.
It was also the first time since round 5 that an opposing team has failed to score more than 20 points against the Raiders but had the aforementioned players be available for the Cowboys, that mark would’ve been surpassed.
That defensive record doesn’t read well for the Raiders as the Roosters, along with the Cowboys, have scored the most points in the competition thus far.
HEAD TO HEAD
The two sides have met twice in each of the past two season and surprisingly, the ledger is 2 – 2, with the result always going with the home-side and the biggest winning margin posted by either side, only six points.
The Raiders will be out to confirm that last week’s win wasn’t just due to the fact that the Cowboys were missing players and will be competitive but just too hard to see them holding out the Roosters’ attack.
The Raiders don’t travel well at the best of times but at Allianz, they’ve won one of their past fifteen matches.
TIP: ROOSTERS 13 +
Odds Comparison:
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| Sydney Roosters | 1.17 | 1.18 | 1.19 | 1.18 | 1.17 | 1.18 |
| Canberra Raiders | 5.25 | 5.15 | 4.85 | 5.15 | 5.25 | 5.00 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Teams:
Roosters: Anthony Minichiello (c), Daniel Tupou, Michael Jennings, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Jake Friend, Sam Moa, Aidan Guerra, Sonny Bill Williams, Frank-Paul Nuuausala. Interchange: Dylan Napa, Isaac Liu, Mitchell Aubusson, Remi Casty
Raiders: Anthony Milford, Reece Robinson, Jarrod Croker, Jack Wighton, Sami Sauiluma, Terry Campese (c), Josh McCrone, David Shillington, Glen Buttriss, Brett White, Josh Papalii, Jarrad Kennedy, Shaun Fensom. Interchange: Mitch Cornish, Joel Edwards, Paul Vaughan, Dane Tilse, Shannon Boyd
