Raiders Brilliant In Victory Over TigersCANBERRA RAIDERS v WEST TIGERSCanberra Raiders 30J McCrone, J Croker, S Mataora, T Campese, J Croker Tries; J Croker 4/5 Goals; J Croker 1/1 Penalty Goals.
Defeated
Wests Tigers 16G Ellis, J Miller, T Moltzen Tries; B Marshall 2/3 Goals.
The Canberra Raiders have put on a clinical display of attacking rugby league with a 30-16 victory over the Wests Tigers.
The Canberra men dominated the match using the ball wide in a tactic which surprised the Tigers.
Terry Campese was back to his best taking on the line and controlling the game beautifully. Campese's combination with Jarrod Croker and Reece Robinson also showing there's plenty of attacking flair in the Raiders backline without Josh Dugan.
It didn't take long for the Raiders to strike, attacking hard and early with Josh McCrone running a lovely line off Campese to go in next to the posts. Croker converted the the try and the Raiders were leading early.
However, the lead didn't last long with Gareth Ellis barging over in the 12th minute to even up the scores.
The Tigers then looked to take over as Jacob Miller dived on a loose ball to take the lead. Miller seemed to knock the ball on before the try but was rewarded benefit of the doubt after the video referee looked at the footage numerous times.
It looked like the Tigers would take a 12-6 lead to the sheds but some fast hands from Terry Campese grasped a Benji Marshall grubber kick and offloaded to Jarrod Croker. Croker showed some impressive pace to outrun Tim Moltzen over 80 metres to tighten the match. The centre missed the conversion on the siren leaving the score at 12-10.
As the teams ran out in the second half the game was up for grabs and the Raiders men didn't disappoint putting on a terrific display of running football.
The Raiders were breaking the line at will with Mataora and Campese both scoring close to the line before Croker scored his double with a brilliant individual effort.
Croker juggled and side-stepped in one motion before fending off a defender and accelerating scoring the try just to the left of the posts. Croker added the extras to take the score to 30-16 with 11 minutes to play.
Tim Moltzen brought some respect to the scoreline at the end latching on to a lovely inside ball from Chris Heighington, but it was to late as the Raiders ran out 30-16 victors.
The best for the Raiders were Campese, Croker and Robinson whilst Ellis and Heighington were the best for the Tigers.
Canberra Raiders B Ferguson, R Robinson, J Croker, S Berrigan, J Wighton, T Campese ©, J McCrone, D Shillington, G Buttriss, B White, J Thompson, B Harrison, J Papalii
Bench: T Waddell, J Picker, S Mataora, T Learoyd-Lahrs.
Wests Tigers T Moltzen, B Ryan, B Ayshford, C Lawrence, J Reddy, B Marshall ©, J Miller, A Woods, L Fulton, M Groat, A Blair, G Ellis, C Heighington
Bench: S Meaney, B Murdoch-Masila, M Bell, T Humble.
The Raiders return home for their Round 5 clash against the Cowboys next Monday with kickoff at 7:30.Source: Raiders
Topic: Raiders Have Brilliant Victory Over Tigers
