‘Terrible’ Canberra Raiders pull off miracle comeback against Gold Coast Titans

The Raiders have pulled off a miraculous comeback against the Titans, scoring five consecutive tries to clinch a thrilling two-point win.

Jordan Rapana of the Raiders. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images

The Canberra Raiders have pulled off a miraculous comeback against the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday, scoring five consecutive tries to clinch a two-point victory at GIO Stadium.

Gold Coast raced to an early lead in Canberra, scoring four unanswered tries to go ahead 22-0 in the Round 3 contest.

The Raiders completed at just 57 per cent in the opening 40 minutes, with ill-discipline frustrating the hosts in an error-riddled first half.

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A late consolation try for Raiders centre Semi Valemei meant players returned to the sheds at halftime with the Titans leading 22-4.

Speaking on Fox League, former Roosters star Braith Anasta called the Raiders’ performance “terrible” in the opening half.

“It’s been total domination. Their middles have been outstanding,” Wests Tigers icon Benji Marshall told Fox League at halftime.

Melbourne Storm great Cooper Cronk added: “The whole talk has been the control of the halves and power and dominance of the forwards.

“It was a total annihilation.”

Jack Wighton of the Raiders. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images

But in a stunning shift in momentum, Canberra flew off the blocks in the second half with centre Matthew Timoko scoring twice immediately after the break.

The hosts were suddenly within touching distance of completing the comeback when winger Sebastian Kris dived over in the 60th minute, reducing the deficit to just four points.

And the Raiders finished the job with less than six minutes remaining on the clock, with fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad scoring a classy try inches before the deadfall line.

It equalled the all-time biggest comeback in club history.

“Very proud of the boys. It would’ve been easy for us to roll over,” Nicoll-Klokstad said after the victory.

“But it’s good to see a bit of backbone and the boys come out and get the job done.”

Marshall said at full-time: “That is one of the biggest turnarounds at halftime I’ve ever seen.”

It was a milestone night for Raiders coach Ricky Stuart, who became the second person to coach the club in 200 games, the other being Tim Sheens.

Stuart presumably gave his players an almighty spray during the interval, but his stern words certainly made a difference.

“I believe he said what everybody was thinking — complete sets, finish in corners and stop being our own worst enemy,” Raiders playmaker Jack Wighton told Fox League post-game.

“We had high energy in attack but we were just causing too much trouble for ourselves. And that’s exactly what we did, just try to get better field position and it paid off for us.”

Wow. Just wow. @RaidersCanberra 👏🏻👏🏻⭐️✊🏻 #NRLRaidersTitans

— Craig Norenbergs (@CraigNorenbergs) March 26, 2022

Titans went and done forgot about the second half of the footy game again didn’t they? #NRLraiderstitans

— James Smith (@JamesSmith1001) March 26, 2022

The @GCTitans - how do you lose that!!! #NRLRaidersTitans

— Adam Houda (@LawyerAdamHouda) March 26, 2022

Speaking to reporters in the post-match press conference, Titans coach Justin Holbrook described the outcome as “really disappointing”.

“We knew we were going to be in for a real tough game and I thought we weathered the storm in the first-half and put on some good tries,” he said.

“We leaked that one right on half-time, and at the end of the game it came back and hurt.

“In the second-half, we just weren’t willing to do what we did in the first-half. They played the exact same way and we didn’t continue to play the way we played.

“We panicked and started to look for some shortcuts and came unstuck at the end.

“We’ve got to learn – they are the sort of games we need to win and learn a lot out of. We need to hold on and win those games when we are in control.

“We’re not the side that can put 80 good minutes together yet. We’ve got to learn how to manage the back-end of games.”

Canberra will next face the Sea Eagles at Mudgee’s Glen Willow Oval on Saturday, April 2, with kick-off scheduled for 5.30pm AEDT.

Originally published as ‘Terrible’ Canberra Raiders pull off miracle comeback against Gold Coast Titans