The Raiders handed the Tigers their seventh loss of the season on Friday night.
MATCH DETAILS
The Wests Tigers and the Canberra Raiders met at Bankwest Stadium. The Tigers have lost four of their last five matches to the Green Machine and were expected to be fired up after having the week off for the bye. The Raiders looked to continue their good season so far.
The Raiders opened the scoring in the third minute as Bailey Simonsson completed a freakish try. The weather didn’t allow either side to play expansive football, but it was the Raiders who controlled the game in the first half. They worked hard to keep the Tigers in their own half, and their forwards and outside backs showed the Tigers how it’s done – averaging 10 more metres per set at half time. It looked set to be 6-0 at the break before the Raiders scored two tries in the final five minutes through Jordan Rapana and John Bateman; the latter being a piece of brilliance from the Englishman as the Raiders led 18-0 at the break.
The second half started much the same as the Raiders continued to dominate with the Tigers not looking threatening. Jarrod Croker scored the first try of the second half in the 64th minute to take his personal points tally to 10 for the match, but missed the conversion. A 22-0 lead with 15 minutes left gave the Raiders the two points. Canberra poured further salt into the Tigers’ wounds as Aidan Sezer intercepted a pass from Tiger rake Jacob Liddle to score under the posts. The Raiders go to 8-5 (facing the the Sharks next week) and the Tigers slump to 5-7, taking on the Cowboys in Townsville next week.
FOUR POINTERS
Rapana loves the Tigers
When Jordan Rapana scored for the Raiders in the first half, it was his tenth try against the Tigers in just seven matches. He has now scored in five of his seven matches against the Tigers, including a haul of four tries in 2016.
John Bateman the English Sensation
John Bateman continued his brilliant first season in the NRL, producing a try, 124 run metres, 3 tackles breaks and 35 tackles. The Englishman continues to be a handful for opposition defences and is a big reason behind the Raiders’ success.
Dominance of the Raiders Metre Eaters
The Raiders’ forwards and outside backs dominated their opposites as they averaged eight more metres per set tonight. The Tigers only had Ryan Matterson and Michael Chee Kam registering 100 metres tonight, whilst the Raiders had Ryan Sutton, John Bateman, Josh Papalii and Dunamis Lui hitting 100-plus metres.
Raiders’ Brilliant Defence
The Raiders kept the Tigers scoreless tonight, the third time they have achieved it this season: the other sides were the Gold Coast Titans and the Parramatta Eels. The Raiders have the second best defensive record this season, conceding 180 points in 13 matches.
THE RESULT
Wests Tigers 0
Tries: N/A
Goals: N/A
Drop Goals: N/A
Canberra Raiders 28
Tries: Bailey Simonssen, Jordan Rapana, John Bateman, Jarrod Croker, Aidan Sezer
Goals: Croker 4/5
Drop Goals: N/A
SQUADS
Wests Tigers: 1. Moses Mbye (c) 18. David Nofoaluma 21. Mahe Fonua 4. Esan Marsters 5. Corey Thompson 6. Benji Marshall 7. Luke Brooks 8. Ben Matulino 9. Robbie Farah 10. Alex Twal 11. Ryan Matterson 17. Michael Chee Kam 13. Matthew Eisenhuth. Interchange: 14. Jacob Liddle 15. Thomas Mikaele 16. Josh Aloiai 20. Chris Lawrence
Canberra Raiders: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Bailey Simonsson 3. Jarrod Croker (c) 4. Nick Cotric 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Jack Wighton 18. Aidan Sezer 17. Ryan Sutton 9. Siliva Havili 16. Iosia Soliola 11. John Bateman 12. Elliot Whitehead 13. Joseph Tapine. Interchange: 8. Josh Papalii 10. Dunamis Lui 14. Tom Starling 15. Emre Guler
