Melbourne Storm vs Canberra Raiders Tips - Back red-hot Storm to cover line

By Robert Norman

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10 Aug 2021

Round 22 gets underway at Sunshine Coast Stadium on Thursday
The Storm are out to extend their 17-game winning streak
The Raiders beat the Dragons in the last round
The Storm beat the Raiders in Canberra in Round 11

Back the Storm to cover the line and extend their impressive winning run. (Handout/NRL Photos via Getty Images)

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The freight train that is the Melbourne Storm just keeps on chugging as Craig Bellamy’s side now looks to extend their winning streak to 18 in a row against the Raiders on Thursday night.

The premiership favourites had their hands full in the first half against Manly last week before kicking clear to win by 10 points in the late stages to maintain their lead atop the table.

The Raiders, on the other hand, find themselves back in the eight following a gutsy win over the Dragons.

Ricky Stuart’s men were electric in the first half and showed some promising signs in the second to keep St George off the scoreboard.

Unfortunately, the Raiders face a much tougher test this week against a Storm team that has beaten them on the last three occasions.

Melbourne rattled off a comfortable 34-10 win at GIO Stadium when these two sides met back in Round 11 as the Raiders struggled to get their hands on the ball.

Given the Storm’s outstanding record on the Sunshine Coast it is no surprise to find them laying a healthy -22.5 points at the line.

Ryan Papenhuyzen looks likely to play after suffering a slight knee injury last week, while Nelson Asofa-Solomona is set to return – a worrying sign for the Raiders after scoring twice in their previous meeting.

The way Canberra has played defensively recently should see them remain competitive in this contest, but this still shapes as a serious reality check for the Green Machine against the benchmark in the competition.

Verdict

Melbourne Storm v Canberra Raiders

With an 11-3 record as the home favourite at the line to their name, you’d be mad not to back the Storm to cover.

Storm -22.5

Line

@1/1 - 1 Unit

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