The Raiders NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg sides saw two hard-fought games, with the NSW Cup squad coming out with an important win as finals draw near.
NSW Cup
The NSW Cup Raiders took down the Newtown Jets 36 – 12 on Saturday at Henson Park, Sydney.
With the win the Raiders climb to fifth on the table, tied on points with the fourth-placed Bulldogs, with two rounds remaining in the regular season.
The Green Machine was quick to score with five-eighth Joshua James crossing over three minutes into the contest.
The Jets’ forward Kyle Pickering crashed over in response in the tenth minute to equal the score.
The Raiders closed out the first half by scoring three consecutive tries through Jed Stuart, Trey Mooney and Chevy Stewart to have a 20 – 6 lead going into the break.
Newtown was the first side to crack the scoreboard in the second half with prop Caleb Uele scoring a try in the 54th minute.
The Raiders extended their lead with Hohepa Puru, Harley Smith-Shields, and Shaun Packer all crossing over to give Canberra a 36 – 12 win.
Hohepa Puru had a strong showing on the day leading the Raiders in tackles and run metres, capping his afternoon off with a try.
The Raiders will host the fourth-placed Bulldogs at 3pm on Saturday 19th of August at Raiders Belconnen, Canberra.
Match: Jets v Raiders
Round 24 -
home Team
Jets
8th Position
away Team
Raiders
5th Position
Venue: Henson Park, Sydney
Jersey Flegg
The Jersey Flegg Raiders came up short against the Sharks as they were defeated 34 – 16 at PointsBet Stadium, Sydney on Saturday.
The Raiders fall to ninth on the ladder but are only two points behind sixth on the competition ladder.
The Raiders got off to a slow start, conceding three tries in the first 15 minutes of the match.
Canberra struck back in the 24th minute with a strong run by second-rower Josh Billing to score.
The Sharks added to their lead with Siteni Taukamo's try in the 34th minute.
Raiders’ Owen Pattie came off the interchange to score the Green Machine’s second try of the afternoon to reduce the deficit.
Cronulla winger Kristian Dixon joined the scoreboard to extend his side’s lead in the 45th minute.
Raiders’ captain Toby Thorburn took advantage of a Cronulla penalty to score in the 52nd minute.
The Sharks closed out the game with Kristian Dixon scoring two more tries to finish the game with a hat-trick.
The Raiders will face off against the second-place Bulldogs at 1:15pm on Saturday the 19th at Raiders Belconnen, Canberra.
Match: Sharks v Raiders
Round 24 -
home Team
Sharks
4th Position
away Team
Raiders
10th Position
Venue: PointsBet Stadium, Sydney