Canberra Raiders beat Canterbury Bulldogs 34-6 in NRL round 25 match

IN freezing conditions at Canberra Stadium, the Bulldogs' 12-match winning run crashed to a chilling halt amid an avalanche of unforced errors.

THE only thing that dropped faster than Canterbury's cohesion was the temperature.

In freezing conditions at Canberra Stadium, the Bulldogs' 12-match winning run last night crashed to a chilling halt amid an avalanche of unforced errors and dreadful discipline.

There was also a wonderfully slick Raiders outfit that produced its best performance of the season - and also the finals eve blueprint to overcoming the competition leaders.

As a result of their comprehensive upset, Canberra now occupy seventh position and will enter the finals on a five-match winning streak should they overcome New Zealand in Auckland next weekend.

GALLERY: Bulldogs v Raiders

Canterbury might still be prohibitive favourites to claim the minor premiership, but that will count for little should they not recover from this unexpected reality check.

Having shown such incredible fight and composure to remain undefeated for 104 days, the Bulldogs went completely cold as the wind chill reduced the on-field temperature to minus five degrees at kick-off.

Over the ensuing 80 minutes they committed a royal flush of elementary bloopers commonly reserved for trial matches. Players slid over the touchline in their own 20m zone. Kick-offs sailed out on the full. Penalties failed to find touch.

"They happen from time to time and they happened tonight," Bulldogs coach Des Hasler said. "They were pretty fundamental ones."

Bulldogs v Raiders

All this as skipper Michael Ennis watched helplessly from the sidelines on what was considered to be harmless rest.

But even the verbally adroit hooker would have struggled to come up with a pep talk inspirational enough to lift his team from their stupor.

Ennis declined to speak afterwards, but Hasler couldn't disagree. With their season on the line, Canberra simply played with more intensity and did so with ruthless efficiency.

They completed their first 11 sets, which, combined with a 6-1 first-half penalty count, was enough to put the Bulldogs behind 24-6 at the break.

As so often happens, the penalty flow reversed after halftime.

But even with four straight sets on Canberra's line midway through the second half, Canterbury couldn't score again as the hosts crossed two more times.

Having ridden the high for so long, young five-eighth Josh Reynolds was struggling to accept the defeat.

"It's definitely hard to take, especially losing by that much," he said.

See how we covered the game at our match centre

"We came with expectations of putting in a good performance, but they were too good on the night."

Given how well the Raiders contained Ben Barba and Canterbury's freewheeling gang of skilful big men, that's an understatement.

In the mood to expand after positing his first NRL hat-trick, Raiders winger Sandor Earl said the win proved the competition was open.

"We put so much enthusiasm into this game. It was like a grand final for us," he said.

"We're going to be hard to beat if we keep playing like that."

Should results go their way over the next eight days, Canberra could finish as high as sixth and secure a home final.

CANBERRA 34 (S Earl 3 R Robinson 2 M Nicholls tries J Croker 5 goals) CANTERBURY 6 (K Keating try K Inu goal) at Canberra Stadium. Referees: Matt Cecchin, Chris James. Crowd: 13,158