Canberra Raiders: Round 1 Team Comparison

STAFF WRITERS | February 10, 2017 - 9:15am

With a Top 4 finish to the regular season and a trip to the Preliminary Finals in 2016, the Canberra Raiders have shown they are the real deal.

With the majority of the team signed until the end of 2018, the Raiders will be thinking now is their time.

2016 Round 1 Team

With a forward pack that is just downright scary, the Raiders will once again look to steamroll their opposition upfront. Mid-season signing Junior Paulo, along with Shannon Boyd and Joseph Tapine are three of the biggest humans in the game right now.

When the Raiders can release prop Paul Vaughan and club favourite Shaun Fensom can't get a game, you know they have plenty of talent and options to choose from.

A solid halves pairing of Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer, along with perhaps the best hooker in the league Josh Hodgson, gives the Raiders plenty of options in attack. The Raiders scored more points than any other team in the NRL in 2016 and they will once again look to blow teams off the park in 2017.

The emergence of Jordan Rapana and Joey Leilua has been a revelation for the Raiders backline. The two combined form one of the most lethal centre/wing combos in the league, using both speed and power to dominate their opponents.

The 2017 Canberra Raiders look eerily similar to their 2016 counterparts and that can only mean good things for the club on the rise.