The Raiders NYC side have suffered their third consecutive loss, going down 50-16 against a commanding Wests Tigers outfit this afternoon at GIO Stadium.
The Raiders found themselves on the back foot from the opening whistle, struggling to build any momentum against an enthusiastic Tigers line-up that shot out to a 26-point lead by halftime.
The visitors struck early through centre Moses Suli in the fourth minute, and looked dangerous from the kick off with Taniela Paseka barging his way towards the halfway line on play number one.
A penalty gave Wests another crack at the Raiders’ line, and backrower Bayley Sironen crossed for his side’s second try just moments later. Thomas Bartley added the extras to stretch the Tigers’ lead to ten inside eight minutes.
The Raiders struggled to mount any sustained pressure on the opposition, with the Tigers seemingly carving their way through the Canberra defence at will.
Tigers hooker Jacob Liddle pounced on a Bartley grubber to score his side’s third try, before Roman Ioelu grabbed one of his own just minutes later to give the Tigers a menacing 20-0 lead.
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts, failing to find touch off a penalty, and then conceding one of their on the same play, handing the Tigers another opportunity at the Canberra line.
The Tigers made Canberra pay, with Suli drawing in two defenders before flicking a miracle ball to Samuel DeFiddes to score in the corner to push the deficit to 24 points.
Skipper Zac Woolford lifted the tempo for the hosts in attack, darting twenty metres out of dummy-half to score Canberra’s first four-pointer in the 30th minute.
However, any hopes of a resurgence were quickly dashed when the home side made a meal of the kick off, giving the Tigers a full set inside Raiders territory. The visitors made Canberra pay, scoring a converted try to take a commanding 30-4 lead with just minutes remaining in the first half.
Faced with the imposing task of overcoming a 26-point deficit in the second half, the Raiders made the best possible start with Kody Parsons swooping on a loose ball to score Canberra’s second try. Woolford made no mistakes with the conversion, cutting the margin to twenty in the 45th minute.
The Tigers were next to strike, with winger Obed Karwhin just managing to hold on to the ball as he fell over the line. An unsuccessful conversion left the Raiders within four converted tries with 25 minutes remaining.
Raiders fullback Nic Cotric sliced through the Tigers defence to score his first of the afternoon, capping off his Man of the Match performance. A Bailey Hartwig conversion brought the score to 34-16 with eleven minutes remaining.
The Tigers managed to cross three times in the final seven minutes, taking advantage of a tiring Raiders outfit to rack up over forty points in a game for the third time this season.
The Raiders will look to snap their three-game losing streak next Saturday against the Panthers at Carrington Park in Bathurst.
