Brave Raiders climb off canvas to beat Bulldogs

Canterbury lost to Canberra – but at least they did not lose Viliame Kikau who was on the end of two tackles that will attract the attention of the match review committee.

The Bulldogs fell short against a Raiders team who did their best to channel their ‘Class of 1994’, who were in town for a 30-year premiership reunion. A 24-20 win summed up the night well.

Josh Papalii’s dangerous tackle.Credit: Fox League

Rookie five-eighth Ethan Strange set up a couple of second-half tries for Hudson Young, and is already looking a future NSW Origin player.

This year’s hopeful, Matt Burton, had a shocking final few minutes, throwing an ugly pass off the ground that was knocked on, and spilling the ball on the final play of the game.

The four-point win could come at a cost for the Green Machine who risk losing skipper Joe Tapine and senior prop Josh Papalii. They were placed on report for separate shots on Kikau.

Kikau was collected in the head by Tapine’s left shoulder approaching the half hour. He stayed down, but the moment was only picked up by the bunker a few plays later.

Kikau then yelled out in pain when Papalii came down on the back of his legs. It looked a classic hip-drop tackle, although the bulk of Papalii’s weight appeared to land on the ground.

Either way, referee Ashley Klein ruled it was “careless” and put Papalii in the bin.

Kikau missed the start of the second half as he worked on his ankle. He returned and was kept quiet from that point on.

The Dogs remain winless at Magic Round.

Burton was busy early, but just when you wanted him to own the game and win it for the Dogs, he struggled to make an impact.

If Burton was an outside chance to return to the Origin arena, his odds looked to have drifted further. He is a class player, but the topline halves would have iced that result.

Canterbury scored 14 points while the Raiders had two men in the bin. Jordan Rapana was also binned for a professional foul.

Rapana was lucky to avoid being sent to the bin a second time when he tripped Mahoney late in the game. It would have given the Dogs another chance to attack against 12 men.

1. There is some real resilience developing in Canberra. Young halves Ethan Strange and Kaeo Weekes could both turn into something special.
2. The Bulldogs are quickly learning that close enough isn’t good enough. Is a slide down the ladder on the way?
3. Jordan Rapana is probably the greatest “rocks or diamonds” player in the NRL.
4. Josh Papalii’s first half tackle of Kikau will be closely looked at by the match review committee.
5. Hopefully, the standard of play at Magic Round gets better from here.

We are minutes away from a start in tonight’s main event - Manly taking on the Broncos. 

The star fullback from each side are missing, but there is still plenty to be interested about.

Try explaining those 80 minutes in fewer than 60 seconds. Crazy tries, sin-bins and errors galore were the hallmarks of this one. Even in the last 50 seconds we had a mix-up and a scrap after the worst scrum you will ever see. This game will never appear in a “Best of 2024” compilation. Raiders win 24-20

Jordan Rapana is back in the sin-bin after using his leg to prevent Reed Mahoney from chasing a kick while the last man in defence. Somehow he avoids another visit to the bin. That looked every bit a professional foul. Canberra lead 24-20 after 76 minutes.

Time will soon be against the Bulldogs. They are probably going to get five-or-six more chances to retake the lead. As for the Raiders, getting to their kick, kicking well and tackling strongly may just get the job done.

The Raiders rejoice after a Hudson Young try.Credit: Getty

Canberra now look like the match is their’s to lose. They’re playing better than the Bulldogs. It’s that simple. And to be fair, they have all night apart from when they were down on numbers. Raiders lead 24-20 after 63 minutes