The Raiders believe the ‘s finals scheduling has ‘made it harder’ for them to beat the Storm in Melbourne next week, info situs gacor with Ricky Stuart complaining his team always draws ‘the short straw’.
On Sunday, the NRL confirmed the schedule for Week 1 of the finals, which begin on Friday night at BlueBet Stadium when reigning minor premiers Penrith host Parramatta as they look to move a step closer to a second Grand Final triumphs in a row.
The Raiders travel to Melbourne on Saturday night to take on the Storm at AAMI Park, an arrangement which has left the club unimpressed.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart bemoaned his team’s luck when it came to finals scheduling
Canberra played on Sunday afternoon as they strolled to a 52-10 annihilation of the Tigers at Leichhardt Oval to clinch eighth place.
The Storm, however, will have an extra two days of rest after losing to Parramatta on Thursday night in the opening game of Round 25.
‘It’s made it harder for us and it reminds me of 2020 because it’s not easy, but we’re used to it,’ Raiders boss Don Furner told the .
Two years ago, the Storm and the Raiders faced each other in the preliminary final, with the game played at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane due to Covid-19 lockdowns in Victoria.
Melbourne thrashed Canberra 30-10 in the preliminary final in 2020, when the two teams met at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane due to Victoria’s Covid-19 lockdown
The Raiders have won in each of their last four trips to AAMI Park, winning 20-16 in July
While the Storm had been based on the Sunshine Coast, the Raiders were denied permission to travel to travel to Queensland 24 hours before kick-off.Canberra were instead ordered to fly to Brisbane on the day of the game and head directly to Suncorp Stadium.
The less than ideal preparation saw the Raiders concede 22 unanswered points in the first 24 minutes, a deficit they never recovered as they lost 30-10.
‘I’m just happy to be in the semis,’ Stuart said after the win against the Tigers.’We are a club that’s very used to getting the short straw.
‘I thought we would play on Sunday and then when we had 24 hours less [until the game] I thought to myself I’d make a couple of changes.
‘Because we are playing on the Saturday that gave me the idea to rest a few players.’
The Roosters and the Rabbitohs meet on Sunday night in their elimination final
The Raiders had reportedly asked the NRL for the finals to be the last one on the schedule, given they were the last team to confirm their finals slot and travelled back to Canberra from Sydney on Sunday night.
The NRL has instead scheduled as Saturday’s first game, to be followed by the qualifying final between Cronulla and the Cowboys at PointsBet Stadium.
A blockbuster Sydney rivalry ends Week 1 of the finals when the Sydney Roosters host the Rabbitohs at Allianz Stadium in a rematch of Round 25.
Despite the short turnaround, the Raiders head to Melbourne with plenty of optimism on the back of winning seven of their last eight games and four straight win in the last four meetings with the storm at AAMI Park.
