It was the Canberra Raiders involved in a frustrating second-half capitulation – but not as you know it.
After trailing 14-0 at halftime to the New Zealand Warriors, Ricky Stuart’s men produced their best second half of the year, rattling off 26 unanswered points to claim their ninth win of the season.
It was telling that the majority of Canberra fans were more confident going into last week’s road trip to Melbourne than they were about a home kick-off against a team that’s won one game since April.
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And after ten minutes, it seemed like the script was playing out exactly as the most pessimistic among them had thought it would.
The Warriors had 12 points before Canberra had possession, their only touch of the footy coming as the Steeden smacked Xavier Savage in the head for a phenomenal ‘Falcon’ after he misjudged a kick.
But instead, Canberra steadied – and although their attack was clunky every time they got near the Warriors’ line, they managed to get into the sheds with only a penalty goal added to the damage of those opening minutes.
They’ve been on the wrong end of so many heart-breaking losses, but today it was Canberra’s turn to be on the right side of a comeback.
They got on the board through Albert Hopoate’s first NRL try, before Seb Kris got them within four points.
A Corey Harawira-Naera double and a pair of late penalty goals later, it was mission accomplished.
“The spine was the main thing letting us down in the first half, it was very frustrating,” Jack Wighton said afterwards.
“It wasn’t a lack of effort – and when everybody’s trying, we can always fix those little things.”
The five-eighth had two superb 40/20 kicks and nearly a third, as everything started to go right for him after the interval.
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“I was one of the main ones that had to bring my head back – I was dropping balls and just overplaying,” he said.
“We all took a deep breath in there and calmed it down, went back to what we know.”
The win catapults the Raiders into that logjam for eighth place on the ladder, joining three other teams – the Sea Eagles, Roosters and Dragons – with nine wins.
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