The Canberra Raiders held off a valiant second half fightback from the St George Illawarra Dragons to record a crucial 36-26 win.
Result
Canberra Raiders 36
Tries: Jordan Rapana (9), Joseph Tapine (17), Matthew Timoko (27, 48), Matt Frawley (40), Sebastian Kris (72)
Goals: Jarrod Croker (11, 19, 28, 40, 49, 73)
St George Illawarra Dragons 26
Tries: Mikaele Ravalawa (34, 56, 66), Zac Lomax (43, 62)
Goals: Zac Lomax (35, 58, 64)
Report
WIN Stadium welcomed the Raiders and Dragons in a Round 19 clash, with stars Corey Horsburgh and Ben Hunt out on Origin duty. A late change for the Raiders saw Nic Cotric drop off the bench. Matt Frawley came into the starting side and Wighton moved to lock. The opening 10 minutes saw the Raiders get the upper hand. Off the back of a linebreak from Matthew Timoko, Jordan Rapana got the scoring started when he barged over for a try from close range.
Taking the early lead, the Raiders piled on more points when Joseph Tapine busted through several tackles to score a barnstorming try. With the Dragons defence reeling, Timoko broke through the line again, but the Dragons scrambled to shut down the attack. Just minutes later, Timoko had his third linebreak, and converted that into a try of his own.
The Dragons searched for a counterpunch, and they found one. After an error from the Raiders, Mikaele Ravalawa powered his way over for a try from dummy-half. However, the momentum was short-lived for the Dragons. The Raiders added one more try to Matt Frawley on the stroke of halftime, to go up 24-6 at the break.
The second half started with an uncharacteristic error from Jarrod Croker on his own line, which led to a simple try for Zac Lomax. In response, the Raiders added another try when a swirling bomb from Jamal Fogarty was allowed to bounce. A second kick from Matt Frawley found Timoko, who strolled over for his second try.
The see-saw nature of the half continued, as the Dragons fired back. Ravalawa finished off a backline shift to grab his second try. Another two tries in quick succession to Lomax and Ravalawa had the crowd rocking, and the Dragons only trailed by four. However, the Dragons comeback was snuffed out as quickly as it had started. Sebastian Kris sliced through an attempted tackle to score the match sealing try, handing the Raiders a tough 36-26 win on the road.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Matthew Timoko (Canberra Raiders)
2 – Joseph Tapine (Canberra Raiders)
1 – Zac Lomax (St George Illawarra Dragons)
