NRL news, scores: Raiders edge Tigers; Storm, Souths claim wins

Michael Maguire got the response he wanted from mass changes but it could not stop the Wests Tigers falling to Canberra.

Nick Cotric scores a try for the Raiders during their win over Wests Tigers. Picture: AAP

Michael Maguire got the response he wanted from mass changes but it could not stop the Wests Tigers falling 14-6 to Canberra at Campbelltown.

Having axed Benji Marshall and four other players after last Sunday’s defeat by Gold Coast, the Tigers appeared to receive the message, controlling the first half to lead 4-0 at the break.

But then the wheels fell off and their 80 per cent completion rate dropped away dramatically.

A disappointed Russell Packer, who had waited 418 days to make his NRL return from a foot injury, was at the centre of most of it.

As the Raiders dominated the ball in the second half, he was one of four Tigers to miss Jack Wighton as the Canberra man stepped his way to the line. That made it 6-4, and moments later Packer found himself in the sin-bin for a professional foul after Alex Twal was called for a late strip on Jordan Rapana. Again, the Raiders were able to capitalise with Nick Cotric running onto a George Williams grubber to cross.

Then on Packer’s return, and after the Tigers kicked a penalty goal to reduce the margin to six, he found himself in the action again.

The former Kiwi international hit Joseph Tapine high, allowing Jarrod Croker to kick the Raiders eight clear and leaving himself facing a possible suspension. The former captain’s madcap 12-minute stint summed up the Tigers’ second half. They completed at just 63 per cent, and trailed the penalty count 6-3.

“I changed the team this week and got a fair response,” Maguire said. “The effort and how the boys worked hard for each other was what we needed. “We’ve just got to learn how to do that for 80 now.”

Meanwhile, Canberra coach Ricky Stuart would have been happier with his team’s effort after he lambasted their schoolyard defending last week in their loss to Newcastle.

Emre Guler and Ryan Sutton both got through a ton of work off the bench, while Jordan Rapana pulled off a crucial try-saver on David Nofoaluma right on half time.

Wighton also looked dangerous in attack but for one ball that sailed over the sideline in Stuart’s 400th game as an NRL coach.

Their line was breached early when Curtis Scott fumbled a Josh Reynolds kick and Luke Brooks scored, but they otherwise withstood the Tigers’ pressure in the first half.

Storm hand Knights their first loss

Melbourne master coach Craig Bellamy taught his former apprentice another lesson on Saturday night, when the Storm handed Adam O’Brien’s Newcastle side their first NRL loss of the season.

O’Brien, a Storm life member, faced his former team for the first time as a head coach but came away with a harsh reality check for his previously undefeated Knights.

In typical Storm fashion, skipper Cameron Smith pulled the strings in the 26-12 victory in Gosford, ratcheting up pressure on the Knights, who eventually crumbled.

Smith set up two of the three first-half tries as Melbourne took an 18-2 lead into the sheds, but it could have been more if not for some defensive resilience from the Knights.

“He was outstanding. They ran hard and our contact wasn’t great so if you’re not getting any positive marker work with your defence Cameron Smith is going to have a good night,” O’Brien said post-match.

“If we don’t get our contact right Cameron is going to do what Cameron does.”

Despite a brave rally from Newcastle in the second half, their poor completion rate in the first 40 minutes was too much to overcome at the back end of the game.

“They were hungrier than us at the start of the game, we dipped a toe. The first try was evident in that, our lack of urgency to get back there to bat it dead,” O’Brien said.

“We haven’t been like that, we’ve scrapped for everything and fought hard. We fought hard in the second half, but we got beaten to the punch straight away by a team that was running harder, playing the ball quicker and sticking their contact a lot hard than what we were.”

The Knights briefly threatened, scoring two tries in six minutes through Bradman Best and Edrick Lee to get within a converted try with 20 minutes on the clock. However, with the Storm on the attack, Knights enforcer David Klemmer was controversially pinged for a late shot on lock Dale Finucane in front of the posts.

Smith easily nailed the penalty from in front to give Storm a 20-12 lead which took the wind out of the Knights’ sails with six minutes remaining. “I’m not going to blame the referees, I’m not that coach, but Klem can’t disappear,” O’Brien said of the call.

A try to Brandon Smith sealed the win for Melbourne in the dying stages when he burrowed over from close to the line.

It was the fourth win of the season for the Storm who take on Penrith in Sydney on Friday, while Newcastle host Brisbane on the Central Coast a night earlier.

Mitchell stars as Souths get back on track

Latrell Mitchell has produced arguably his best game in South Sydney colours to orchestrate a 32-12 win over Gold Coast, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Mitchell scored a try and set up three others to push his team into a 20-point lead on Saturday before the Rabbitohs were forced to withstand a second-half rally from the Titans.

Mitchell sealed the two points with a sublime shimmy and flick pass for Dane Gagai’s second try in the 76th minute at Bankwest Stadium.

The match also marked the anticipated return of Cody Walker following his controversial two-game ban for his role in a street fight in December. The star five-eighth slotted seamlessly back onto South Sydney’s left edge, where he set up a try for Alex Johnston in the first half.

Rabbitohs skipper Adam Reynolds kicked a perfect six of six with the boot. The win lifts the Rabbitohs to within sight of the top eight on four points, while Gold Coast remain rooted near the bottom of the table in 15th spot.

The contest started disastrously for Mitchell, whose kick-off sailed out. But the clanger proved his only blemish, with the player immediately redeeming himself when he crashed over from close range just three minutes later. Gold Coast opposite Phillip Sami got one back soon after, but the Rabbitohs responded quickly when Johnston pounced on a Walker grubber. Wayne Bennett’s side looked set to run away with the game thereafter, with Mitchell putting Gagai over with his hands, then Braidon Burns with his feet. A Reynolds penalty goal gave South Sydney a 26-6 lead at the break. Bryce Cartwright’s try soon after resumption gave the Titans a glimmer of hope, and was the start of an improved showing in the second half from the Queenslanders.

But the visitors failed to convert their rise in possession into points, before Mitchell added the finishing touches late in the contest.

Rabbitohs second-rower Jaydn Su’a was put on report for a shoulder charge on Sam Lisone in the 72nd minute.

AAP