It had been almost a year since a home game in the nation’s capital, but midway through the second half, Canberra fans must have felt like nothing had changed.
In 2021, the Raiders threw away a double-digit lead on seven separate occasions. They looked like they were going to pick up where they left off when Matt Moylan dotted a field goal to give Cronulla their first lead of the night with six minutes left.
But instead, Jack Wighton, in a milestone 200th game, chanced his arm on the fifth tackle, spreading it out to Matt Timoko who turned it back on the inside for Hudson Young to score and give Ricky Stuart’s men a 24-19 win.
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But that wasn’t the end of the drama. Cronulla kept coming and it wasn’t until the final play of their final set when Matt Ikuvalu was denied by some desperate defence
Why do the Raiders become the Faders? Nobody can really answer that, or even nail down if it’s mental or physical.
“I thought last year it was because of some of the off-field issues creeping into chemistry and camaraderie and the ability to dig in when it got tough,” Cooper Cronk said after Teig Wilton had crashed over to level it at 18-18.
“And right here in a big night for one of their champion players in Jack Wighton, they started electric and they’ve just fallen into some bad habits.”
A sloppy back half of the game was littered with mistakes from both teams, but it was a Sharks outside back who committed the costliest of mistakes.
After Cronulla had gotten through their first set after taking the lead, Jesse Ramien was a bit too eager to put a shot on Nick Cotric as the returning Raider stood under a kick. The early contact was a clear penalty, and that extra field position was key.
Both sides will be back in action next Saturday as the Sharks host the Eels, while the Raiders. travel to North Queensland.
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