Sad image sums up devastating NRL catastrophe in Canberra

A jarring image that emerged from Saturday afternoon’s NRL clash in Canberra revealed the full, grim extent of the Raiders’ woes.

Canberra was in a world of pain.

It was a case of unlucky 13 for Canberra as it faced disaster that many minutes into its dramatic loss to the Warriors on Saturday afternoon.

The Kiwi side secured a thrilling 34-31 win as it pulled off its greatest comeback in club history on a day the Raiders were decimated by injury.

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Lock Joseph Tapine limped off with an ankle issue early then, less than a quarter of an hour into the contest, Ryan James and Sebastian Kris were laid low by a sickening collision as they clashed heads in a frightening case of friendly fire.

Coming in to make a tackle, the Raiders forwards smashed into each other and immediately collapsed to the ground, prompting the referee to stop the game as trainers rushed onto the field.

The distressing scene saw James lying on top of Kris as both men lay motionless. Kris later tried to crawl forward as the pair received medical attention.

That’s got to hurt.

The Raiders were in a world of pain.

They were both escorted off the field for their respective Head Injury Assessments which, combined with Tapine’s injury, left the Raiders facing the possibility of playing the remaining 67 minutes with just one fit player on the bench.

The extent of Canberra’s injury crisis was laid bare by the image of hooker Tom Starling sitting at one end of the bench and coach Ricky Stuart plonked down the other end, separated by nine empty chairs.

Usually, three of those chairs would be occupied by other players on the bench but the injury carnage meant Starling had no mates.

Tom Starling had zero mates.

The Raiders confirmed shortly before halftime both James and Kris had failed their HIAs and would not return, leaving the Raiders with an uphill battle to hold on for victory.

But being decimated by injury didn’t rattle the home team, as it defied the odds and scored 25 unanswered points to zip towards a 25-6 lead at the break.

However, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck led the Warriors’ incredible fightback in the second half as they edged ahead with a try at the death, before the fullback pulled off a try-saver by knocking the ball loose as Jordan Rapana reached out to score what would have been the matchwinner with seconds remaining.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart stormed out of his post-match press conference after just one question, upset about the officiating.

Originally published as Sad image sums up devastating NRL catastrophe in Canberra