Jordan Rapana try seals Raiders’ golden-point victory against Knights

WHEN Jordan Rapana went down clutching a dis­located shoulder early in the game, he had no right to be walking off the field at the end of the game the hero.

Peter Mata'utia takes on the Raiders defence at GIO Stadium.

WHEN Canberra’s Jordan Rapana went down clutching a dis­located shoulder early in Sunday’s 29-25 golden-point victory over Newcastle, he had no right to be walking off the field at the end of the game the hero.

In a match that was almost a carbon copy of the 24-all draw the same teams played in round three, the scores were locked at 24-all and then 25-all before the sudden-death shootout that broke the Knights’ hearts.

The NRL’s last-placed team slumped to its 10th straight defeat, but you could hardly accuse Newcastle of giving up.

It was just they were up against a team that plays with the mentality “we are never dead”, as skipper Jarrod Croker put it.

Jordan Rapana scores the matchwinning try.

Newcastle had stunned the home team to lead 22-0 after just 23 minutes and went to halftime ahead 22-6.

But after another remarkable Raiders fightback, Rapana sealed the victory when he latched onto a bouncing ball while chasing through a wobbly Blake Austin field goal attempt on the last play of the first half of extra time.

Asked later who chases through on a field goal after 85 minutes of football, Rapana laughed: “Me, all the time. If you watched the other three (field goal attempts) I chased through too.

“I did get a good bounce but my main goal is to never give up on the play. At this level anything can happen, so you just have to make sure you are on your game the whole 80 minutes.”

Rapana knows that better than most, having not so long ago been ready to give up on his NRL dream to become a police officer.

But what made his effort even more inspiring was the fact he popped his shoulder in the very first tackle he attempted — and then didn’t return until 15 minutes into the second half when Canberra were down 24-12 and desperately short on fit players.

“She wasn’t too good,” Rapana said. “I popped it back in when I was on the field. But once I got it back in it was just throbbing and it felt weak and it was no good.

“So I came off and got it strapped up and needled up.”

And that attitude right there is what drove the Raiders home, and what has been driving them pretty much since Ricky Stuart returned to Canberra.

“We are never dead and that is what the jersey is about,” said Croker, who was rewarded with a try-scoring double after two earlier chances slipped through his grasp.

“We talk about never being dead and getting back in the grind. We know we have points in us.

“But we talk about having pride in the jersey and wearing that green jersey. We showed that again today.”

Stuart added: “If you had seen the body language and look in their eyes at halftime you would have been comfortable with the fact knowing we are still in the fight.

Jordan Rapana celebrates his try.

“And I will say it again, give Newcastle credit in regards to how they got there.

“They played some good football, had a lot of momentum, got a lot of field position and turned it into points quickly.

“It gives me a lot of pride in ­regards to how those blokes bounced back from that.

“We had a decision to make at halftime. We had a lot of adversity and challenges ahead of us. We had players busted.

“We had Toots off (Croker with concussion). We had (Shannon) Boydy (out with an ankle).

“We had a front-rower in the centres and I also had a hooker in the centres.

“They are a very, very tough and resilient bunch of players that I am very fortunate to be the coach of.”

CANBERRA 29 (J Croker 2 B Austin J Rapana J Wighton tries J Croker 3 A Sezer goals B Austin field goal) bt NEWCASTLE 25 (J Mamo P Mata’utia S Mata’utia K Sims tries T Hodkinson 4 goals T Hodkinson field goal) in golden-point extra time at GIO Stadium. Referee: Jared Maxwell, Chris Sutton. Crowd: 9,731.

Originally published as Jordan Rapana try seals Raiders’ golden-point victory against Knights