Wounded Raiders have beaten the Bulldogs 26-10 at GIO Stadium
LESS than a week after Raiders coach Ricky Stuart described his side’s effort against Manly as “soft”, Canberra produced a gallant performance to earn their first win of the season against the Bulldogs.
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THEY showed backbone, bravery and fortitude. This was different to the “soft” side which showed up at Brookvale just six days ago.
Less than a week after Raiders coach Ricky Stuart described his side’s effort against Manly as “crap and soft”, Canberra produced a gallant performance to record their first win of the season.
At GIO Stadium, a wounded and depleted Raiders side demolished Canterbury 26-10. It was a much-needed win after four straight defeats.
And Canberra did it through courage and pluck, playing the final 25 minutes with just 14 men after three of their stars came from the field injured.
Right on full-time, Canterbury skipper Josh Jackson was placed on report for a late and high hit on Raiders five-eighth Aidan Sezer, who had just got a kick away.
Sezer was taken from the field so Canberra actually finished the game with 13 men.
“It (victory) was a big relief, especially after Ricky’s comment last week,” Sezer told Channel Nine. “We have lost four on the trot so hopefully this can kickstart our season.”
It was clear Canberra players were still stinging after Stuart’s spray following the said last week after the 32-16 loss to Manly.
“Soft. Soft football, soft pieces of play, soft choices and I’ve probably protected them for too long,” he said.
The Raiders were anything but soft.
Canberra halfback Sam Williams was taken from the field on a medicab with a knee injury midway through the second half. It was a horror blow for the home side.
The Raiders had already lost forward Ata Hingano and winger Michael Oldfield to concussion. Canberra forward Luke Bateman also came from the field but returned later.
“The Raiders answered every challenge Ricky threw at them,” Fox Sports commentator Mark Gasnier said.
Stuart jumped for joy on the sidelines, fully aware how much his side needed victory.
“To call your troops out like (Stuart did), there was nowhere else to go,” former Test forward Gorden Tallis said.
Defeat was painful again for Canterbury. They looked slow and remain anchored on two competition points.
Sezer produced a truly dazzling kicking game while centre BJ Leilua was back to his powerful best. Forward Joseph Tapine was colossal in defence.
Canterbury finally dragged themselves back into the game when Kieran Foran scored from first receiver 12 minutes into the second half.
After being off the pace for most of the match, suddenly the Bulldogs were only behind by 12-6. But the mini-revival ended in the 59th minute when another superb Sezer kick landed in the hands of Jarrod Croker who scored.
Croker added the conversion to lead 18-6. And Croker scored again from another Sezer kick in the 64th minute to seal a big win.
Canterbury enjoyed 62 per cent of possession in the first half but couldn’t score. The Bulldogs were tackled 28 times inside Canberra’s 20 metre zone.
A handling error from Bulldogs prop Aaron Woods allowed Canberra to run almost the length of the field — through winger Jordan Rapana — before centre BJ Leilua went past two defenders to score from dummy half on the next play. Leilua was at it again in the 15th minute when he scored out wide after a tidy kick from Sezer. Rapana lept and tapped the ball back to Leilua who crashed over. ‘Leipana’ was back.
Bulldogs winger Brett Morris failed an HIA test after copping studs to the face in the 10th minute and didn’t return.
Full-time CANBERRA 26 (J Croker 2 J Leilua 2 tries J Croker 5 goals) bt CANTERBURY 10 (K Foran J Morris tries M Mbye goal) at GIO Stadium. Referee: Alan Shortall, Grant Atkins