The Raiders withstood a withering comeback by Wests Tigers to come away with a 20-19 win at Campbelltown Stadium on Friday night.
After leading 18-0 with 12 minutes to play the Raiders conceded three tries in four minutes and a field goal to fall behind 19-18 before a Jamal Fogarty penalty goal put them back in front.
The sin binning of Raiders hooker Tom Starling in the 68th minute proved pivotal, the Tigers going into overdrive with tries to Jahream Bula, John Bateman and Brandon Wakeham in the space of four minutes levelling the scores at 18-18.
Luke Brooks then calmly potted a field goal from 30 metres out to put the Tigers ahead 19-18 before Fogarty was collected late by Isaiah Papali'i as the Raiders No.7 launched a field goal attempt to try and level the scores.
Papali'i made contact with Fogarty's legs as he tried to put pressure on the kick and the ensuing penalty goal put Canberra back in front 20-19 and that's how it finished.
Brooks slots it
Fogarty was the star for Canberra with two tries from pinpoint kicks aimed at the goalposts and a try assist as the Green Machine made it 10 wins in their past 11 clashes with the Tigers.
The Raiders got the scoring going in the seventh minute when Fogarty produced a pinpoint grubber into the goalpost pad and collected the rebound to score for an early 6-0 lead.
The home side threatened to hit back in the 16th minute when Bula exploded into the back field and found Fonua Pole in support but Raiders centre Matt Timoko ran him down and the ball split free in the tackle.
Fogarty's got that footwork
The Tigers created another opportunity in the 29th minute on the back of a sharp run by Api Koroisau and a string of offloads but back-rower Papali'i was bundled into touch just short of the line as the Raiders scrambled well.
A towering bomb by Fogarty seven minutes before half-time led to the Raiders' second try when Bula put the ball down and Jordan Rapana pounced for his 100th career try. Fogarty's conversion made it 12-0.
Back-to-back six again calls in the opening minutes of the second term gave the Tigers a chance to hit back but a poor pass by Koroisau saw them come up empty.
The Raiders then stretched their lead to 18-0 after Fogarty again grubbered the ball into the goalpost and regained to complete just the second try double of his career.
Deja vu for Fogarty
The Tigers continued to mount pressure but some poor last-tackle options from Brooks and Wakeham meant they were unable to crack the resolute Raiders defence.
On the back of the Raiders giving away their eighth set restart of the night, Starling was sent to the bin with 12 minutes to play and the Tigers pounced, Tommy Talau creating space for Bula to score.
The Tigers then made it two tries in two minutes when Bateman surged over from dummy half after a Brooks line break put them on the front foot. Wakeham converted the try to close the gap to six points.
The Tigers are coming
Wakeham then grabbed a four-pointer of his own from a grubber kick in the 73rd minute and the Tigers had remarkably drawn level at 18-18.
A frantic final four minutes then unfolded as Brooks put the Tigers in front and Fogarty guided the winning penalty goal through the sticks to wrap up Canberra's eighth win of the season.
The Tigers have now lost their past six games at Campbelltown Stadium but they can be proud of their effort to come back from 18 points down when it seemed the Raiders were cruising to an easy win.
This article contains content that is only available on pan66.com
Match Snapshot
- The Tigers lost their captain's challenge in the sixth minute when Stefano Utoikamanu was penalised for a strip and they unsuccessfully challenged the decision.
- Raider Jack Wighton's first-half 40-20 kick was the 10th of his career.
- NSW hooker Api Koroisau started the game on the bench and was sent on by Tim Sheens in the 23rd minute.
- Young fullback Jahream Bula again racked up plenty of running metres for the Tigers with 236 metres from 28 runs.
- Hudson Young backed up from Origin to get through plenty of work for Canberra with 15 runs and 36 tackles.
- Luke Brooks was a constant threat for the Tigers with 25 runs for 210 metres and three tackle breaks.
Wighton nails the 40/20
- Raiders hooker Zac Woolford was placed on report in the 41st minute for a lifting tackle on John Bateman.
- Wests Tigers were held scoreless in the first half for the third time this season (v Broncos in Round 5, v Rabbitohs in Round 11, v Raiders in Round 14).
- The Raiders won their first captain's challenge of the season in the 60th minute of the match after six previous unsuccessful challenges this year.
- Corey Horsburgh and Joe Tapine got through a mountain of defence for Canberra with 88 tackles between them.
- Raiders hooker Tom Starling was put on report in the 67th minute for a crusher tackle. He was then sent to the bin 60 seconds later after repeated infringements by the Raiders.
- Tigers winger David Nofoaluma had a game high 12 tackle breaks.
Wighton muscles up
Play of the Game
Raiders veteran Jordan Rapana celebrated a career milestone in the 33rd minute when he notched his 100th try. The first five of those tries came in five games for Gold Coast as a teenager in 2008 before a six-year absence while he undertook a Mormon mission and played rugby union before returning to the NRL in 2014 with Canberra. Since then Rapana has been a prolific tryscorer for the Green Machine and he brought up the century when he swooped on a loose ball after Jahream Bula had spilled a bomb. Rapana's try was his sixth of the season and on current form there is plenty more to come for the 33-year-old.
Rapana pounces
What They Said
"When we had Tommy sent [to the sin bin] the boys ran out of legs. The Tigers are a very good attacking team but they didn't look like scoring a try for 70 minutes and then we had a player go and their attack sparked up and they got some momentum and they should have won the game. When you get eight ruck infringements to zero in a game of football, that opposition should have won the game, I can't believe how brave our blokes are. The Tigers can't be that clean at the ruck, when it's 8-0 like that... if we're infringing at the ruck we'll cop our medicine, but you can't tell me that they are a zero, that clean at the ruck tonight. So what our boys were up against was unbelievable the way they stayed composed, I'm so proud of them." - Raiders coach Ricky Stuart
Raiders: Round 14
"Tough way to lose a game but that's what we call experience, for kids like Jahream [Bula] and Fonua [Pole] and young Toops [Junior Tupou] who have had less than 20 games, you win one [against the Cowboys] and then you lose one like that, that's called experience and they'll learn from that. We always looked like we needed to score to get our rhythm and once we did we got the confidence back into the group. Halfway through the season when you're playing busted and tough these wins are huge and your losses hurt you big time." - Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens
Wests Tigers: Round 14
What's Next
The Tigers travel to Cbus Super Stadium to open Round 15 with a Thursday night clash against the Titans. Tim Sheens' men will be out to avenge a 22-10 loss to the Titans in the opening round of the season.
The Raiders are at home on Friday night against the Warriors with a massive crowd expected for Jarrod Croker's 300th game.