Canberra score 14-12 upset win over the Roosters to throw the minor premiership race wide open
CANBERRA have defied the odds to down the Roosters 14-12 in a serious upset and thrown the race for the minor premiership wide open.
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THERE has been madness off the field, and some massive upsets on it.
But after losing a stranglehold on the NRL minor premiership following a shock 14-12 loss to Canberra, Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson said it was time to applaud all NRL players for finally returning the spotlight back to where it belongs.
With all the talk throughout the week surrounding the coaching circus and what may or may not happen next season, the Roosters and the Raiders capped off a terrific round of football that ultimately threw the race for the minor premiership wide open.
Asked if he agreed this was the closest comp we have seen in years, Robinson declared it was time to give the players a pat on the back.
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“The only thing I’d like to say on probably the last couple of weeks in rugby league as a rugby league fan, thank God we have got the salary cap to keep the competition equal,” he said.
“It has been a pretty obvious circus.
“Luckily, we have a highly talented group of rugby league players that get put under a salary cap and they keep producing each weekend.
“And there is a lot of stuff around the game which has been self-destructive.”
With only two rounds of the regular season remaining, the Roosters, Melbourne and South Sydney are now all 32 competition points, although the Storm have top spot because of a better points differential.
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The Roosters had a chance to go outright leaders but Canberra came up with their best performance of the season in a high quality contest.
The Roosters finished with two tries to Canberra’s one but the Raiders got home on the back of an inspired defensive effort and four penalty goals to Sam Williams.
The Raiders led 12-0 at halftime on the back of a Jordan Rapana try and three penalty conversions to Williams.
The Roosters then locked up the scores with back-to-back tries to Boyd Cordner and Victor Radley but after Williams landed another penalty goal the Raiders held tight through and intense and thrilling final 10 minutes.
After a season defined by a number of close losses, this was the Raiders’ gutsiest and most disciplined performance in a long, long time.
“As a coach I say to people, this team is not far away,” Ricky Stuart said.
“And sometimes you need a couple of things to go your way in tight competitions like this to actually help you.”
Stuart pointed to the fact that the Raiders were without fullback Jack Wighton, captain Jarrod Croker and halfback Aidan Sezer, while they also lost stand-in fullback Brad Abbey and Luke Bateman to concussion.
Josh Hodgson said about Canberra’s effort: “As a player I have always had belief.
“I think that is where the frustration comes from, especially when you get a win like that.
“I think you get even more frustrated when you look at what you can do.
“Consistency is the biggest thing we need.
“We talk all the time that we are not too far away.”
The Roosters now take on Brisbane at Allianz Stadium this Saturday followed by Parramatta.
Although out of the race for the top eight, the Raiders can still cause some damage.
They take on South Sydney at home on Saturday followed by the Warriors in the final round.
Robinson was not upset with the overall effort but said it again highlighted that there is room for improvement.
“If you are not searching for continual improvement you are going to be satisfied with something that is probably not going to get a great result,” he said.
“We know we are on the right path as I have said many times. But we are unsatisfied as in we keep searching for more.
“We had to fight our way in a different position. We had been in front a lot. We were behind today. It hasn’t happened for a while and we fought our way back into that game really well.
“We came out of halftime clear in what we wanted to do but we just couldn’t sustain it for long enough.”
CANBERRA 14 (J Rapana try S Williams 5 goals) bt SYDNEY ROOSTERS 12 (B Cordner V Radley tries L Mitchell 2 goals) at GIO Stadium. Referee: Henry Perenara, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski. Crowd: 10,594
Originally published as Canberra score 14-12 upset win over the Roosters to throw the minor premiership race wide open
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