2025 R21 Sun - Canberra v Newcastle @ GIO

[League Unlimited News]

NRL 2025 - Round 21
Canberra Raiders v Newcastle Knights
GIO Stadium Canberra, Bruce / Ngunnawal (TICKETS)

Sunday 27 July 2025
NRL kickoff 2pm
Live on Fox, Kayo

1. Kaeo Weekes 2. Jed Stuart 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Simi Sasagi 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. Noah Martin 16. Morgan Smithies 17. Ata Mariota 18. Manaia Waitere 19. Trey Mooney 20. Joseph Roddy 21. Danny Levi 22. Ethan Sanders

Out: Sebastian Kris (centre)
In: Noah Martin (bench)
Changes: Simi Sasagi (bench to centre)

1. Dane Gagai 2. Dominic Young 3. Fletcher Hunt 4. Bradman Best 5. Greg Marzhew 6. Jackson Hastings 7. Jack Cogger 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Jayden Brailey 10. Leo Thompson 11. Jermaine McEwen 12. Kai Pearce-Paul 13. Phoenix Crossland 14. Tyson Gamble 15. Mathew Croker 16. Tyson Frizell 17. Jack Hetherington 18. Thomas Cant 19. James Schiller 20. Matthew Arthur 21. Brodie Jones 22. Kyle McCarthy

Out: Thomas Cant (bench to reserve)
In: Jack Hetherington (bench)

Referee: Wyatt Raymond
Sideline Officials: Matt Noyen, Phil Henderson
Video Referee: Grant Atkins

HEAD TO HEAD - 1988 - 2025​

	TOTAL	CANBERRA	NEWCASTLE	DRAWN
ALL MATCHES	60	31	27	2
GIO	29	20	8	1

LAST FIVE MEETINGS​

YEAR	ROUND	RESULT	VENUE	CROWD
2023	Round 22	NEWCASTLE 28-6	GIO	15487
2023	Elimination Qualifying Game	NEWCASTLE 30-28	McD. Jones	29548
2024	Round 1	CANBERRA 28-12	McD. Jones	22378
2024	Round 18	NEWCASTLE 16-12	GIO	12553
2025	Round 17	CANBERRA 22-18	McD. Jones	17527

BIGGEST WINS​

YEAR	ROUND	RESULT	VENUE	CROWD
1994	Round 18	CANBERRA 52-16	Marathon	22945
2002	Round 4	NEWCASTLE 52-6	EnergyAustralia	17256

NEXT FOUR MATCHES​

	Round 22	Round 23	Round 24	Round 25
CANBERRA	ST GEO ILLA (A)	MANLY (H)	(BYE)	PENRITH (A)
NEWCASTLE	(BYE)	PENRITH (H)	NORTH QLD (A)	BRISBANE (H)

LAST THREE MATCHES​

	Round 18		Round 19		Round 20
CANBERRA	ST GEO ILLA	W 28-24	BYE	-	PARRAMATTA	W 40-16
NEWCASTLE	BYE	-	MELBOURNE	L 14-32	WARRIORS	L 15-20

STATE OF PLAY: 2025 SEASON​

	POSITION	PLAYED	BYES	W-L-D	FOR	AGAINST
CANBERRA	1st	18	2	15-3-0	502	370
NEWCASTLE	14th	18	2	6-12-0	266	356

LOWER GRADES
Canberra v Newcastle - NSW Cup - GIO Stadium, Sunday 11:40am
Jersey Flegg - bye weekend

 

[mozza91]

Newcastle vs Newcastle Jr.

Yesterday will have broken us. The Raiders should hump us if they’re fair dinkum.

 

[This Year?]

 

[Saxon]

Knights in a boilov...

...nah, I can't even type it with a straight face.

 

[BadnMean]

I'm sure Adam O'Brian, leader of men, will have the Knights hardened and primed to rise from the Ashes of absurd defeat and outrageous fortune...

Look Raiders should put this team away handily.

I guess sometimes it's the punches you don't see coming which do the damage but who is throwing it? Bradman Best maybe? Leo Thompson stomping Tapine and Papa into the dirt with an ATG prop forward breakout game? Nah.

With Sisagi starting our bench is the least experienced it's been and that could be an opening for the Knights if the bench doesn't aim up. But if Ricky starts one of Ata or Smithies and saves Hors or Papa for the bench then we close that hole.

 

[Warrimoo3]

Stick will have this ready for the grand final:

Google Search

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Game Day thread of the season.

 

[JamesRustle]

Raiders to end Newcastle's season and one of Hasting's teammates to punch him in the face while the team is standing in the in-goal after conceding yet another try.

 

[Fangs]

Newy are going to win a game eventually right? Feels like 10 years ago since they got up (Apparently only a month ago).

Maybe they'll 2 peat the Panthers.

 

[Apey]

We're probably due another smashing after a few close games. The most we've conceded so far this year is 34 so I'll go 32 - 10.

Although if I bet on Raiders 13+ they'll only win by 12.

 

[Warrimoo3]

We're probably due another smashing after a few close games. The most we've conceded so far this year is 34 so I'll go 32 - 10.

Although if I bet on Raiders 13+ they'll only win by 12.

Question for Raiders’ fans :

Is it worth keeping one of Tapine and Big Papa on the field while the other has a rest ? Instead of playing them at the same time . Do they lose too much momentum when they’re both on the bench ? Or should it just depend on the particular team they’re playing ?

 

[Woody90]

Raiders to end Newcastle's season and one of Hasting's teammates to punch him in the face while the team is standing in the in-goal after conceding yet another try.

Our season ended months ago.

 

[Munky]

Raiders to end Newcastle's season and one of Hasting's teammates to punch him in the face while the team is standing in the in-goal after conceding yet another try.

My favourite moment from Sunday's whackiness was Hastings mouthing off after putting the ball into the grandstand off a short drop out.

 

[Rudy]

Here's Newcastle for you:


I don't know how anyone can stand living in that shithole.

 

[Bobby DIGital]

 

[BadnMean]

Question for Raiders’ fans :

Is it worth keeping one of Tapine and Big Papa on the field while the other has a rest ? Instead of playing them at the same time . Do they lose too much momentum when they’re both on the bench ? Or should it just depend on the particular team they’re playing ?

For a lot of the season, that's how we did it. So yes you're right, that idea of Papa leading the bench unit has a lot of value. Another way we have done it is start both but run Taps longer & juggle the rotation so there's only a 7-10 min period without either or both on.

Recently we've cut Tapine's minutes down significantly to get some minutes into other middles and preserve Taps for the final stretch so it's been more noticeable. He can play 60 mins but since round 13 has averaged about 45 mins.

We've also lost Nicholson which means Hosking is starting edge- Hosking ideally came on at lock to provide a change of pace and energy to help that bench unit too.

Nicholson is back in a couple of weeks so we'll see how that shakes out as troops return and we finally play some higher ranked teams again. For the moment Ricky seems fine preserving Tapine and letting Mariota and Smithies learn to lead the line.

 

[Warrimoo3]

Where does Mooney fit in? He looks like a beast and can create some second phase , but seems to have the odd mistake in his game. Martin looks a likely prospect with possibly a high ceiling. And I like what Nicholson brings. As elusive as any forward with his hit and spin on the right edge.

 

[BadnMean]

Where does Mooney fit in? He looks like a beast and can create some second phase , but seems to have the odd mistake in his game. Martin looks a likely prospect with possibly a high ceiling. And I like what Nicholson brings. As elusive as any forward with his hit and spin on the right edge.

Mooney is biding his time until Papa retires. If Papa goes around again he might look elsewhere. Good player but just been jumped by Mariota and it's a stacked middle. We've had very few injuries or suspensions so in a normal year he may have played a half dozen Fg games already this season.

Roughly; Smithies, Hors and Hosking are the workrate middles. Papa, Ata and Tapine are the impact middles. Mooney is in the impact bunch waiting for a chance.
(you could argue Taps and Hors are two-fer middles but they are exceptional)

Noah Martin is going to be an absolute weapon. Has explosive speed and power you'd never guess by looking at him.

When we signed him I watched Nicholson SL highlights and was convinced it was mostly just awful SL defence he was running through. He seems to have nice timing, run hard lines and has just enough footwork to cause doubt. Also nice hands for a bass ala Whitehead. I kinda think Martin has it all over him physically but Nicholson turned up to the first trial in the heat and made 40 tackles for no misses...

 

[Warrimoo3]

It’s interesting how some players are just a lot harder to tackle than others. Steve Menzies used to be the most elusive player in the NSW SOO team when they ran drills to test for the ability to beat defenders . Used to come out on top out of everyone including the backs. No wonder he scored so many tries although it obviously helped running off Cliffy.

Just back to Canberra apparently Savage was the fastest player over 20 metres in the Raiders’ squad just in front of Weekes a year ago. Wonder if that has changed since Savage has bulked up

 

[BadnMean]

It’s interesting how some players are just a lot harder to tackle than others. Steve Menzies used to be the most elusive player in the NSW SOO team when they ran drills to test for the ability to beat defenders . Used to come out on top out of everyone including the backs. No wonder he scored so many tries although it obviously helped running off Cliffy.

Just back to Canberra apparently Savage was the fastest player over 20 metres in the Raiders’ squad just in front of Weekes a year ago. Wonder if that has changed since Savage has bulked up

Yeah maybe Matty Nich has some of that agility- it's the balance to stay in good position and zip away under contact too instead of just getting stopped or knocked over.

I'd say Savage and Weekes about even- I don't see many signs of Xav slowing down, he just rarely gets a chance to go through all the gears. Weekes gets a lot more opportunity as a FB. We don't spread early or use our wingers much- everything arrows back in toward the ruck or as wide as our edge forwards running a line. I think at one point both our edge forwards were up near the top tryscorers for position- indicative of our style and where we attack.

I wonder if Weekes has him over 50-80?