Round 5 RAIDERS V ROOSTERS

[TITAN PETE]

RAIDERS V ROOSTERS - 7TH APRIL, 6:30PM, CANBERRA STADIUM | #NRLCANSYD

Raiders

1 Reece Robinson
2 Sandor Earl
3 Jarrod Croker
4 Jack Wighton
5 Edrick Lee
6 Josh McCrone (c)
7 Sam Williams
8 David Shillington (c)
9 Glen Buttriss
10 Brett White
11 Josh Papalii
12 Joel Thompson
13 Shaun Fensom

Interchange
14 Matt McIlwrick
15 Joel Edwards
16 Dane Tilse
17 Tom Learoyd-Lahrs
18 Anthony Milford

Coach: David Furner

Roosters

1 Anthony Minichiello (c)
2 Daniel Tupou
3 Michael Jennings
4 Shaun Kenny-Dowall
5 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
6 James Maloney
7 Mitchell Pearce
8 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
9 Jake Friend
10 Sam Moa
11 Mitchell Aubusson
12 Sonny Bill Williams
13 Boyd Cordner

Interchange
14 Daniel Mortimer
15 Martin Kennedy
16 Isaac Liu
17 Aidan Guerra
19 Luke O'Donnell

Coach: Trent Robinson

[TITAN PETE]

Raider Ferguson out for up to 8 weeks
By David Barbeler
AAP
Tue 02nd April, 6:25pm


An unpenalised shoulder charge by Newcastle hooker Danny Buderus will see Canberra centre Blake Ferguson miss up to eight weeks in the NRL with a fractured cheekbone.

While the 45th minute shoulder charge during the Raiders' 28-12 loss to Newcastle on Sunday prompted no immediate action from referees Gerard Sutton and Brett Suttor, the officials have both been stood down from this week's fixtures for missing the incident as well as a mid-air tackle on Jack Wighton.

Ferguson will meet with the surgeon on Wednesday to see if the fractured eye-socket requires surgery, with anywhere between three to eight weeks on the sideline being forecasted.

The 23-year-old Indigenous All-Stars representative had only just worked his way back into the side after narrowly avoiding the same fate as sacked fullback Josh Dugan three weeks ago.

However in a somewhat contradictory NRL match review summary of round four, it's stated there was only a "minor clash of heads" and that Buderus "could have" been penalised.

In regards to the contact made on Wighton by Akuila Uate in the 31st minute, the report said no further action was required.

The loss of Ferguson means Wighton will shift to the centres for this Sunday's clash with the Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium, with scans clearing any serious damage to his arm after injuring it in the mid-air incident.

Youngster Edrick Lee will come into the side on the wing.

Raiders coach David Furner was still seething over the two controversial incidents on Tuesday.

"I'm extremely disappointed that something like that could be missed," Furner said.

"There's been a lot said about the shoulder charge and player's safety and there I've lost a player on an incident that was blatantly a shoulder charge and not acted on.

"Jack Wighton's one should have been a penalty, it was a dangerous position, he ended up getting bone bruising luckily not a broken wrist."

Furner said that missing dangerous incidents changed the momentum of tight games.

"The way the competition is it's about possession and field position and we were given none," he said.

"They're bad decisions. It wasn't even 50-50 it was mandatory penalties there and they needed to be acted on."

Meanwhile, Matt McIlwrick will make a return to the Raiders this Sunday for Shaun Berrigan on the bench, while under-20s star Anthony Milford has also been named on a five man bench after scoring four tries in his past two matches for the Raiders NYC team.

Raiders: Reece Robinson, Sandor Earl, Jarrod Croker, Jack Wighton, Edrick Lee, Josh McCrone, Sam Williams, David Shillington, Glen Buttriss, Brett White, Josh Papalii, Joel Thompson, Shaun Fensom. Interchange: Matt McIlwrick, Joel Edwards, Dane Tilse, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Anthony Milford (one to be omitted).

[TITAN PETE]

late mail.

Raiders v Roosters

RAIDERS: Jack Wighton, Glen Buttriss and Sandor Earl are still required to pass a fitness test before being cleared to play.

ROOSTERS: No changes expected, with Luke O'Donnell to drop off the interchange bench.