Rapana brings up the century in style as Raiders hold off Cowboys

Jordan Rapana's 100th NRL game was always going to be special. Well action packed at the very least. It turned out to be both.

He scored a double, set one up for his best mate Joey Leilua as the Canberra Raiders beat the North Queensland Cowboys 30-12 in Townsville on Saturday.

Jordan Rapana celebrated his 100th NRL game in style - with a mo and a double.Credit: NRL Imagery/Dave Acree

It prompted former NSW half Matthew Johns to label "Leipana" as the deadliest centre-wing pairing in the NRL.

"As an outside backs combination ‘Leipana’ are the best in the competition," Johns said on Fox League.

"Rapana and Leilua just do so much work through the middle with their footwork and test the defence, which hurts those middle forwards."

It's the Raiders' best start to a season since 2005, when the Green Machine won their opening four.

While "Leipana" were back to their exciting best are we seeing a new breed of Canberra Raiders? One that can hold on defensively when the tide has turned?

They withstood a ton of Cowboys pressure in the second half when the score was 18-12 before icing the game with two late tries.

While Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said it wasn't a pretty game, he was impressed with how his team got the job done.

He said that might not have happened in the past.

It's the second week in a row Canberra has withstood second-half pressure to defend their lead.

"We gave them a lot of opportunity to win there in the second half, but they were probably just a little bit worse than us," Stuart said.

"I don't think it was a real high-quality game of footy to watch ... but it was a messy game we didn't play well in and won.

"Last year we lost those games."

Rapana almost scored off the Raiders' opening set, but that was only a taste of what was to come as the Green Machine flew out of the sheds.

Their forwards were immediately rolling down the field seemingly at will.

Canberra lock Ryan Sutton was leading the charge and amassed 100 run metres in the first half alone, finishing with 134m.

He's settled in nicely in the No.13 jersey while John Bateman fills in for Joe Tapine (thumb) in the second row.

The performance caught Stuart's eye as well.

"I thought Ryan Sutton was probably one of our best tonight, he played really well. I was really impressed with Ryan's game," he said.

Raiders centre Joey Leilua was an excitement machine against the Cowboys.Credit: AAP Image/Michael Chambers

"He carried tough and made some really big efforts in defence when he had to."

Raiders winger Nick Cotric opened the scoring, finishing off a sweeping move to the left.

But back to Rapana and scenes that only blokes with his name and that of his partner-in-crime can conjure.

A Sam Williams grubber led to a Leilua grubber, which Rapana was able to run on to to make 8-0 inside the first 10 minutes.

Pure Raiders.

But this Raiders has a bit more defensive starch.

They held off four Cowboys sets in a row during one spell and they withstood more repeat sets on their own line late in the half - only to then turn the ball over and allow the Cowboys to cross with Gavin Cooper getting on the end of a Michael Morgan offload.

But the Cowboys didn't help themselves and took poor options to end their sets, turning the ball over on several occasions with grubbers into the Raiders' defensive line.

Then Leipana struck.

Some nice footwork from fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad allowed him to release Rapana down the right.

Nevermind it was only the third tackle, Rapana unleashed a banana kick back inside for Leilua to cross under the posts.

They took a 16-6 lead into the sheds at the break.

The Cowboys had the momentum for large parts of the second half, with prop John Asiata scoring, but the Raiders withstood it and saw it off with two late tries to Jarrod Croker and then Rapana.

AT A GLANCE

CANBERRA RAIDERS 30 (Jordan Rapana 2, Nick Cotric, Joey Leilua, Jarrod Croker tries; Jarrod Croker 5 goals) bt NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS 12 (Gavin Cooper, John Asiata tries; Jordan Kahu 2 goals) at Townsville. Referees: David Munro, Gavin Badger. Crowd: 11,750.