Despite leading at the half-way mark, Canberra has succumbed to a 42-22 loss to St George Illawarra after the Dragons blew the Raiders off the park in the second half.
The Raiders started the match well against the fifth placed Dragons with hooker Dylan McGrath diving over from dummy half in just the third minute of play.
Centre Ricky Garard was then able to extend Green Machine's lead six minutes later when he sensationally collected a towering Lachlan Lewis bomb.
Both tries were successfully converted by fullback Jono Kent.
Canberra's good start was somehow undone when they invited St George Illawarra back into the contest with a series of unforced errors and penalties whilst defending their line.
As a result, the Dragons were able to cross for two tries however five-eighth Shannon Crook was unable to convert either try ensuring that the Raiders went into the sheds with a 12-8 lead.
Momentum swung back and forth in the opening ten minutes of the second half until the Dragons took the wind out of the Raiders' sails by scoring four tries between the 51st minute and the 58th.
Crook was able to convert all four tries.
The Raiders hit back with a try to winger Lachlan Hurst after centre Jack Creith made an 80 metre intercept followed by quick hands through the backline.
St George Illawarra scored once more before hard-working lock forward Jules Webley barged over for the Raiders second try of the final forty minutes.
Unfortunately the Raiders were unable to contend with the pace and power of the Dragons outside backs, particularly on the left defensive edge.
A try on full-time, followed by another sideline conversion from Crook entailed that the final scoreline read 42-22 in favour of the Dragons.
A silver lining to come out of the match was the fact that Hurst's try, his 24th for the year, now sees him placed at equal first on the Holden Cup's try scorer's list.
