<p>What a way to wrap up <a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/huddle/nrl/predictions/round-9-tips-2025">Magic Round 2025</a>! The NRL’s annual footy festival will have one last trick up its sleeve in the shape of this battle between second and third, when the Melbourne Storm battling the Canberra Raiders at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday night.</p> <p>The Raiders have been one of the surprise packets so far this season, winning six of their opening eight matches. They showed incredible, champion-esque resilience in last week's 40-28 comeback win over the Dolphins, erasing a 28-10 half-time deficit.</p> <p>Meanwhile, Melbourne bounced back from their loss to the Dolphins with a 24-16 ANZAC Day victory over South Sydney, thereby improving to 5-2 on the season.</p> <p>This week the Storm welcome back Tui Kamikamica from injury with Lazarus Vaalepu dropping to the reserves, while Sua Fa’alogo has been cleared to start on the wing after passing concussion protocols.</p> <p>Big Nelson Asofa-Solomona is also a chance to feature after being named in the extended squad.</p> <p>Meanwhile, Canberra enters this clash unchanged, riding a four-match winning streak and employing the ‘if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’ strategy.</p> <p>Here’s how these two teams will line up on Sunday, as well as some betting tips for the H2H, first try scorer and over/under markets. This is our Storm vs Raiders prediction.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Storm vs Raiders Teams</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Melbourne Storm</h3> <p>1. Ryan Papenhuyzen</p> <p>2. Sua Fa'alogo</p> <p>3. Grant Anderson</p> <p>4. Nick Meaney</p> <p>5. Xavier Coates</p> <p>6. Cameron Munster</p> <p>7. Jahrome Hughes</p> <p>8. Stefano Utoikamanu</p> <p>9. Bronson Garlick</p> <p>10. Josh King</p> <p>11. Shawn Blore</p> <p>12. Eli Katoa</p> <p>13. Trent Loiero</p> <p>14. Tyran Wishart</p> <p>15. Alec MacDonald</p> <p>16. Tui Kamikamica</p> <p>17. Joe Chan</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Canberra Raiders</h3> <p>1. Kaeo Weekes</p> <p>2. Savelio Tamale</p> <p>3. Matthew Timoko</p> <p>4. Seb Kris</p> <p>5. Xavier Savage</p> <p>6. Ethan Strange</p> <p>7. Jamal Fogarty</p> <p>8. Corey Horsburgh</p> <p>9. Tom Starling</p> <p>10. Joe Tapine</p> <p>11. Hudson Young</p> <p>12. Matty Nicholson</p> <p>13. Morgan Smithies</p> <p>14. Owen Pattie</p> <p>15. Zac Hosking</p> <p>16. Josh Papali'i</p> <p>17. Ata Mariota</p>

<h2>Storm vs Raiders Prediction and Betting Tips</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Head-to-Head Prediction</h3> <p>Rounding out NRL Round 9 and the 2025 edition of Magic Round are the Melbourne Storm and the Canberra Raiders.</p> <p>This seems like a case of leaving the best for last, as both of these sides are genuine premiership threats this season.</p> <p>Neck and neck in the standings, both a win away from the summit of the table and both coming off wins, this is as close as it comes.</p> <p>Call us crazy but we actually fancy the Raiders here. Yes, Melbourne are known to enjoy Magic Round more than most, but there’s something magical about the Green Machine this season.</p> <p>Written off by everyone, they are running on pure defiance at the moment and have won six of their last eight matches as an underdog.</p> <p>We’re tipping them to shed that underdog tag and announce themselves as genuine contenders with a stunning Suncorp scalping of the Storm.</p> <p><strong>Betting tip: </strong>Canberra Raiders.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>First Try Scorer Prediction</h3> <p>We’re also going to try and find some value in this market. It’s not considered conventional to back a forward in this market, but there is a method to our madness here.</p> <p>Matty Nicholson has been on somewhat of a try scoring tear this season. An expert line runner, there’s plenty of value to be had if Nicholson can muscle over early in this one.</p> <p><strong>Betting tip: </strong>Matty Nicholson.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Over/Under Prediction</h3> <p>Each of Melbourne's last four matches at Suncorp Stadium have gone over the total match points line.</p> <p>Add this to the fact that both them and the Raiders have been scoring tries for fun lately and the over total match points becomes the more appealing of the two options in this market.</p> <p><strong>Betting tip:</strong> Over total match points.</p>

<h2>Storm vs Raiders Match Details</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Date:</strong> Sunday, May 4, 2025.</p> <p><strong>Kick-off:</strong> 6:25pm AEST.</p> <p><strong>Location:</strong> Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.</p>