Canberra have shrugged off an uninspired first half and a plucky St George Illawarra outfit to overcome the NRL’s cellar-dwellers 24-16 at a bleak GIO Stadium.
Raiders' slow start
Languishing in 16th place with their finals hopes on life support, the Raiders knew only a win on Sunday could help save their disappointing minor premiership defence. They couldn’t have made a poorer start as St George dominated the opening 40 minutes, although they struggled to seriously punish the home team and took only a four-point lead into the break.
To make matters worse, Canberra winger Savelio Tamale looked to have caught a serious case of the yips as he made a sea of errors, before being taken off by coach Ricky Stuart in the 32nd minute after his opposing winger Setu Tu soared above him to score. It’s the second time the 21-year-old has struggled with game confidence, having produced a similar performance in April, which relegated him to the NSW Cup squad.
Second-half turnaround
Canberra emerged from the break firing, and two runaway tries for winger Xavier Savage laid the platform for victory. Savage’s second try will be heavily criticised after it looked like centre Simi Sasagi had knocked the ball on while trying to intercept a lofty pass before it fell into the hands of the winger. But the bunker gave Savage the try, leaving the Raiders bemused.
Tyrell Sloan gave St George hope when centre Valentine Holmes broke through the Raiders’ defence and handed it off to the winger in the 70th minute. But minutes later Sloan dropped a booming kick from halfback Ethan Sanders, which led to interchange Tom Starling scurrying over to seal the victory.
Dragons' missed opportunities
The Dragons had been looking to win for the first time in the nation’s capital since 2015. However, they will rue not capitalising on their blistering start, when they crossed three times, but errors, either metres from the line or in the in-goal, kept the contest scoreless.
Other than his crucial last-minute drop, Sloan was a shining light, scoring a double and chalking up 143 metres, while back-rower Hamish Stewart had a game-high 46 tackles. Canberra’s Sasagi returned from a shoulder injury and made 198 metres, while back-rower Hudson Young strengthened his NSW selection hopes by pouncing on a grubber from Sanders in the first half.
