The Toyota Forklifts Canberra Raiders have secured a fantastic 40-18 win against the Gold Coast Titans at GIO Stadium Canberra.
It was a cold and chilly afternoon in the Nation's Capital, but the Raiders were in red-hot form and a terrific performance from Xavier Savage, who scored three spectacular tries.
It was the Titans' first on the board as they marched down the field with AJ Brimson running through a gap and offloading to Jojo Fifita to put the Titans up 6-0.
With multiple set restarts on the Titans' line, Canberra played it out left for Hudson Young who put a grubber in which looked to be too big, but Sebastian Kris’ never die attitude batted it back to Savelio Tamale who jumped on the loose ball to score, making it 6-4.
The Raiders, with more possession went out to the right-hand side with some stellar ball playing which saw Matt Timoko burst through a hole and score to make it 8-4.
Jamal Fogarty launched a kick on the last which saw Zac Hosking contest for the ball and throw it back to Josh Papalii, who threw a cut-out to Xavier Savage, diving into the corner to push Canberra's lead out to 12-6.
The Titans responded quickly with Sam Verrills hitting Tino Fa’asuamaleaui short, offloading to Josiah Pahulu who crossed the line to put the scores level at 12 apiece.
The Green Machine struck back just before half-time with Fogarty hitting Kaeo Weekes who burst straight through a hole and drew in the fullback, giving it off to a flying Hosking who put the Raiders up 18-12 at the break.
The Raiders started the second half superbly, with Fogarty launching a kick up in the air which saw Savage sprint through and take the ball and power his way to the line to make it 24-12.
Canberra were on fire to start the second half with Ethan Strange putting a cross-field kick over to the right, finding Tony Francis who dropped the ball which saw Young pick it up and go over to score the Raiders’ sixth try to make it 28-12.
The Green Machine were raiding the try-line with a spread to the left-hand side which saw quick hands from Weekes and Timoko giving it off to Savage who ran down the line and give it back to Timoko to score his second, putting the Raiders ahead 34-12.
The Titans had to hit back, and they did with a short ball from Keiran Foran to Jojo Fifita who went over untouched to score his second, cutting the deficit to 34-18.
The Raiders sealed the game with some superb offloads and passes, and a terrific kick from Starling out to Savage who crossed for his third try to make it 40-18.
Too little, too late for the Titans as Moeaki Fotuaika crashed his way over the line to put the final score at 40-24.
The Raiders will look to carry this momentum heading into round 12 when they face the New Zealand Warriors at Go Media Stadium in Auckland next Sunday.
