Preview: Storm v Raiders
VENUE & TIME: AAMI Park, Sunday August 1, 4.00pm (NZT)
COVERAGE: Sky Sport
HEAD TO HEAD: Storm 20, Raiders 6
LAST TIME: Storm 17 - Raiders 6 at Canberra Stadium, Round 10, 2010.
MATCH ODDS: TAB NZ: Storm $1.42, Raiders $2.70
WALKING WOUNDED: Prop Bryan Norrie is being rested this week by Melbourne, paving the way for Kevin Proctor's return, while Anthony Quinn (back) and Hep Cahill (ankle) both remain unavailable at present. Canberra regains David Shillington from a virus and has promoted Tom Learoyd-Lahrs to the starting front row alongside Shillington in an effort to get the team off to a better start, but Alan Tongue (groin), Glen Buttriss (ankle), Shaun Fensom (ankle) and Troy Thompson (shoulder) won't play with the four all considered a chance to return the following week.
FORM: After suffering three successive losses on the road from Rounds 17-19, the Storm bounced back after an arm wrestle last weekend against the Panthers at AAMI Park. Down 10-6 with 15 minutes left the home side scored tries through wingers Justin O'Neill and Matt Duffie to prevail.
The Raiders also did it the hard way against the Sharks in the nation's capital but the 20-13 triumph was the club's third in a row after it had copped four-straight defeats before that and it now sits 11th, just one win behind eighth-placed South Sydney.
WHO'S HOT: Prop Aiden Tolman is starting to get back to the numbers he was putting up early in the season before he suffered a knee injury, with 129m last week his best effort since Round 6 when he was averaging 139m a game in 2010. Winger Daniel Vidot has been in red-hot try-scoring form in recent weeks, with his second-successive double against the Sharks giving him five four-pointers in his past three outings. His brace against the Knights had been overshadowed by Josh Dugan's hat-trick.
WE THINK: Canberra's record in Melbourne does not make for happy reading for fans of the Green Machine, with just one win from a dozen starts and that sole victory a decade ago. In fact so bad has the Raiders' record been since Craig Bellamy took over as coach of the Storm that they boast just one win from the past 16 matches between the teams, last year at Canberra Stadium. Canberra might have a finals berth on the line but apart from the Round 18 win over Manly its recent wins have been over struggling teams Newcastle and Cronulla while Melbourne has shown that not playing for competition points has removed none of its competitive instincts and no contender will want to come up against Bellamy's men in the run home as players not only strive for wins before their team is broken up but some of them also look to put themselves in the shop window before season's end. Storm by 10.