The Canberra Raiders U20s will be hunting a return to the winners’ circle when they cross swords with the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium on Saturday evening.
Brett White’s brigade will have to make amends for a 32-6 loss to the Knights if it is to notch a win on Saturday, but a win will be pivotal for the team's finals aspirations.
The 11th-placed Raiders form part of a four-team logjam in which all sides sit on 10 competition points, three of which are eyeing a spot in the top eight ahead of Round 11.
The Raiders will meet a Parramatta outfit that pipped the Roosters 30-28 in a heart-stopping come-from-behind win on the weekend.
The fourth-placed Eels will be looking to further entrench themselves in the top four on Saturday, but they are set to butt heads with a side that steamrolled them 42-22 at GIO Stadium when the two sides last met.
The men in green shot out of the blocks on a clear-blue Saturday afternoon to take a 24-10 lead into half-time, before they continued the onslaught in the second stanza in mounting a return to the winners’ circle.
In team list news, rising playmaker Jayden Carroll will don the Raiders’ Number 6 jersey in a move that has shifted Lachlan Cooper to the bench.
Meanwhile, Fabien Paletua-Kiri will play in the front-row in a move that has pushed Zac Masters to lock and captain Jarrod Tuite from lock to hooker.
Saturday’s NRL curtain-raiser will kick off at 5:45pm.
