The Canberra Raiders are desperate to ignite their 2025 campaign as they host the Parramatta Eels on Saturday afternoon.
After back-to-back defeats to start the season, there have still been encouraging signs from several of Canberra’s emerging talents.
When it comes to the Eels, Steve Georgallis would have been extremely disappointed with his side’s performance against the Warriors.
The defeat was unexpected, and being held to zero by a new franchise was concerning.
Game Info
Date: Saturday, July 19, 2025
Kick-off: 12:45 PM AEST
Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Referee: Tori Wilkie
Broadcast: Foxtel and Nine
Live Stream: Kayo & Nine Now
Team Lists
Parramatta Eels
1. Abbi Church 2. Zali Fay 3. Rory Owen 4. Lindsay Tui 5. Martha Mataele 6. Cassey Tohi-Hiku 7. Rachael Pearson 8. Elsie Albert 9.Rueben Cherrington 10. Breanna Eales 11. Chloe Jackson 12.Paige Travis 13. Ryvrr-Lee Alo 14. Taneka Todhunter 15. Rysh’e Fa’amausili 16. Tess McWilliams 17. Fleur Ginn 18. Rosie Beckett 19. Ruby-Jean Kennard-Ellis 20. Jessica Kennedy 21. Yasmine Baker 22. Chelsea Makira
Coach Steve Georgallis will be hoping for a return to the grit and discipline of Round one. He’s decided against wielding the axe with only one change made to the team. That comes in the form a minor adjustment to the forwards, with Breanna Eales again named to start and Tess McWilliams listed on the bench, though the pair swapped roles last week and may do so again. Co-captain Mahalia Murphy has also been named as the 18th player as she nears a return from a hamstring injury.
Canberra Raiders
1. Elise Simpson 2. Madison Bartlett 3. Leianne Tufuga 4. Cheyelle Robins-Reti 5. Isabelle Waterman 6. Georgia Thomas 7. Zahara Temara 8. Chloe Saunders 9. Chanté Temara 10. Sophie Holyman 11. Monalisa Soliola 12. Hollie-Mae Dodd 13. Simaima Taufa 14. Lili Boyle 15. Grace Kemp 16. Jordyn Preston 17. Tatiana Finau 18. Amelia Pasikala Eli 19. Kerehitina Matua 20. Jaida Faleono 21. Relna Wuruki-Hosea 22. Sereana Naitokatoka Fotu Moala
Coach Darrin Borthwick has rung in the changes following last week’s heavy defeat to the Sharks. Cheyelle Robins-Reti moves from fullback to centre, replacing Mackenzie Wiki, while Elise Simpson will make her NRLW debut at fullback.
Cheyelle Robins-Reti
Georgia Thomas returns to the halves in place of Sereana Naitokatoka, and Chante Temara has been promoted to start at hooker with Emma Barnes ruled out under concussion protocols. Lili Boyle joins the bench, and Amelia Pasikala comes in as 18th player.
The Game
Canberra will be desperate to bounce back from what was a demoralising 56-6 thrashing at the hands of Cronulla, an outing that started poorly and never improved. Sharks winger Emma Verran ran riot with four tries in the first half alone as the Green Machine struggled to land any blows of their own. The Raiders missed 34 tackles, had 17 ineffective ones, committed 10 errors, and were dominated in line breaks 8-1.
The Eels arrive with a 1-1 record after upsetting the Sharks in Round 1 before being kept scoreless by the Warriors last weekend. While the 14-0 result in New Zealand may look damning, the Eels were competitive in most areas. Unfortunately, 17 errors and an 8-1 penalty count left them chasing the game.
Parramatta edged Canberra in a tight two-point win last season and will be confident of repeating that feat as they look to hand the Raiders a third consecutive loss.
All eyes will be on Raiders debutant Elise Simpson at fullback. A former Australian youth touch football and schoolgirls rugby sevens representative, Simpson brings lightning pace and sharp footwork to the backfield. If you’ve missed her 2025 Tarsha Gale highlights, do yourself a favour and look them up, she’s a game-breaker the Eels will need to contain early.
For Parramatta, Rachael Pearson continues to shine despite the loss to the Warriors.
Rachael Pearson
While she may not be the most explosive ball-runner, Pearson is a smart, sneaky attacker who knows how to thread through defensive lines and apply pressure through her kicking game. She’ll be pivotal in dictating the early tempo and pinning the Raiders deep.
The Eels struggled with their play around the ruck, with Rueben Cherrington and Taneka Todhunter struggling out of dummy half, with several passes missing their targets or going behind the runner, disrupting any attacking rhythm.
Moving forward, the spine combinations need to simplify their execution, prioritising clean service to the halves and allowing the likes of Rachael Pearson to control the tempo. A clearer division of responsibility at hooker might be beneficial as the Eels look to regain sharpness around the ruck.
Canberra’s start to the year has been anything but convincing, and unless something clicks fast, 2025 may be a long road. Parramatta, while still finding consistency, have shown a grittier, more resilient edge to their football, and that may be all it takes to hand Canberra another defeat.
It may not be a high-scoring affair, but expect the Eels to get the job done.
Prediction: Eels by 8
Player of the Game: Rachael Pearson
Kye
Hopefully the girls turn it around this week. I think they have missed Madeline Jones up front, someone really needs to fill her boots.
Great win by the girls
Great win to the women! A dominant performance.
Well done
Great win to the women! A dominant performance.
Well done!
Ignore previous comment peye?? What the ”
Yet another performance where the team collectively and predictably fell away. This team, and the club as a whole, has forgotten how to win. Jason Ryles fails to understand this. But hey, the coach has told them that winning kk longed matters this year. But don’t worry, we’ll flick a switch and it will suddenly matter in 2026.
Sorry, didn’t see this was for the girls
What a win! Was a little nervous coming in that we’d play Canberra into form and give them their first win, in true Parra fashion lol. Could not be happier with the result; I was (probably prematurely) thinking last week that it feels like we’re maybe more of a defense orientated team in the Georgallis era, and thus rarely seem to completely blow a team out. Feels like it’s always fairly close or gritty wins. So happy to be proven wrong today. Granted Canberra were really poor, but it’s just so nice to be on the other side of that scoreline after the 2023 season!
Cassey had a shocker last week, so was really good to see her bounce back perfectly and play so confident today. Beautiful kicking, crisp catching and passing, hard runs. Service from dummy half was much improved, though I feel like Rueben’s passes were slightly better? Taneka’s often looked a little high, but last season I thought she got better each game too, so fingers crossed it happens again.
Rory is so so good. Just unbelievable effort, love the combo with Zali on the wing. Martha and Chloe are such guns and only getting better. I feel like we’re still maybe a step behind the level the Roosters and Broncos are on, but I can honestly see the core players we’ve got and the youth coming through leading us to a prem within the next few years too.
Knights should be a good test next week. Up the Eels!