The Cowboys will be out to make amends for a narrow loss in round one and also get their attack in gear after posting just one try against the Bulldogs.
The Raiders showed plenty of positive signs against the Sharks, holding their nerve to get home on the back of a late Hudson Young try after going 19-18 behind with seven minutes to play.
Ricky Stuart's men face a long road trip to Townsville but the Cowboys have failed to turn Queensland Country Bank Stadium into a fortress, losing their past five home matches.
One game the Cowboys did manage to win at home in 2021 came in round seven when they charged back from18 points down to beat the Raiders 26-24.
The Rundown
Team news
Cowboys: Jordan McLean replaces Jamayne Taunoa-Brown (knee) in the starting side and Griffin Neame is the new face on Todd Payten's bench.
Coen Hess has been promoted to the starting side at prop, Jason Taumalolo goes back to lock and Mitchell Dunn to the bench.
Raiders: After six games in two seasons as a Raider, Matt Frawley gets the nod at halfback with Brad Schneider in COVID isolation. Tom Starling takes over at hooker from Josh Hodgson, who is expected to miss a month with a knee injury.
The new back-up hooker is 20-year-old Adrian Trevilyan, who makes his NRL debut off the bench.
Key match-up
Chad Townsend v Matt Frawley: The Cowboys playmaker is closing in on 200 career games and has a premiership ring from his days at Cronulla. The Raiders No.7 is only four years Townsend's junior but has played just 37 NRL games and would love to grab this opportunity with both hands as he fills in for Brad Schneider, who is in COVID isolation. Townsend's kicking game came to the fore in a tense second half against the Bulldogs but in the end he couldn't get them home and he'll be looking to go up a notch this week.
Stat attack
The Raiders came up with 23 offloads in round one, stretching the Sharks on several occasions with some enterprising second-phase play. Joe Tapine led the way with four offloads while Josh Papalii, Elliott Whitehead and Corey Harawira-Naera had three each. In stark contrast the Cowboys produced just two offloads on a steamy evening in Townsville where conditions were hardly conducive but their attack was out of sync for much of the game.
Story first published on NRL.com