NRL Round 19 Preview and Prediction - Canberra Raiders v St. George Illawarra Dragons @ GIO Stadium

Canberra Raiders (11th) v St. George Illawarra Dragons (7th) @ GIO Stadium
 
Preview - A desperate Canberra Raiders need a victory against the 7th placed St George Illawarra Dragons as they look to keep their flickering finals’ hopes alive at GIO Stadium on Friday night. The Raiders have been the disappointment of the season, rooted in 11th spot with just 6 wins from 16 games. They are coming off two straight home losses against the Broncos and Cowboys as they continue to suffer from both poor discipline and poor organisation in the halves. The Dragons have hit a flat spot in their season and would have taken the bye to reassess what has gone wrong over the past couple of months. They were poor in their last start 20-10 loss to the Titans on the Gold Coast, as their attack continued to falter after starting the season with all guns blazing. 
 
History - The Dragons finally appear to have broken their hoodoo in Canberra, having won the past 4 clashes between the two Clubs. Last year they won that infamous Golden Point game that was played in semi-darkness. Before that 4-game winning streak, the Raiders had won an amazing 15 from the past 16 clashes against the Dragons including a long unbeaten run in Canberra. 
 
Canberra Raiders’ Scouting Report - Ricky Stuart has once again largely stuck solid with a side that has been a gross disappointment this season. Josh Hodgson will provide them with a boost as he is expected to be back from injury and will replace Kurt Baptiste in the hooking role. Josh Papalii is expected to back up from Origin, however all eyes will be halves pairing Blake Austin and Aiden Seizer after rumours during the week that the pair were under pressure to hold on to their starting roles beyond this season after underwhelming campaigns. 
 
St George Illawarra Dragons’ Scouting Report - The Dragons have shuffled their backline with Josh McCrone winning back his spot as starting halfback, after bring dropped to the interchange bench against the Titans. Kurt Mann goes back to a more natural position on the wing. The Dragons could make some late changes with their extended bench containing both Paul Vaughn and Josh Dugan. Vaughn could be set to return from injury against his old side, while Dugan could back up from Origin. Tyson Frizzel has not been named. 
 
Verdict - Raiders by 4-10

I promised myself I was done with backing the Raiders for the year after their latest disappointment; however I have managed to find them again here against the Dragons. I think Ricky Stuart would have used the bye period to do a lot of soul searching and perhaps some honesty sessions with some of his underperforming players as they slumped to another shock defeat at home in their last outing. The reason I am tipping the Raiders is I think the Dragons have hit the wall a bit, and they have an awful record historically in Canberra over the years. This really is the Raiders’ last throw of the dice to keep their season alive, and surely on a Friday night in front of their home fans, where they have a great record on Friday nights, they can get a bit of life into their season here with a victory. With both sides struggling to score points of late, this could be a low scoring game, however I just think Canberra might find something here and have too much for the Dragons.