The Raiders and the Cowboys open Round 6 in what is shaping as a critical game for each outfit.
Best Bet
Canberra -3.5 ($1.90)
After two weeks of bush matches, the Raiders return home and they look strong plays laying less than a try on what shapes as a chilly Thursday night against a poor-travelling team like North Queensland.
The big news out of Canberra heading into this match is that boom youngster Xavier Savage has been named on the bench. He is likely to start with Ricky Stuart certainly of the view that he is fooling the world with this skullduggery.
The Raiders were beaten by 14 by the Storm last week but dug deep in the second half so there is something there with the Raiders. Canberra also bounce back off a big loss too. They are 6-1 against the number playing at home off a double digit loss.
The Cowboys have arguably been better than expected this year but this is a worrying spot for them with North Queensland covering just 6 of 19 away from Townsville and just 1 of 11 on the road off scoring more than 24.
Same Game Multi
Canberra Win/Xavier Savage Try/Jack Wighton Try ($5.25)
Canberra are value against North Queensland.
Savage has scored in one of his two NRL appearances and was electric in the trials this year.
Wighton has seven tries in 14 games against the Cowboys and has crossed twice this year.
Value Bet
Joseph Tapine Try ($6.00)
Joseph Tapine is an underrated tryscorer for a middle forward. He has just six tries in his last 45 games but has been close on a number of occasions this year and the Cowboys have conceded four tries to forwards the last two weeks.
