The Toyota Forklifts Canberra Raiders have claimed their seventh win on the trot with a gripping 28-24 win over the St George-Illawarra Dragons in front of a fired-up home crowd at GIO Stadium.
The Raiders were up for the occasion tonight as strong defensive efforts and a standout performance from Kaeo Weekes provided enough points to keep Illawarra at bay.
Starting the match strong, a kick from Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty penetrated the Dragons’ line with prop Corey Horsburgh in hot pursuit, but big red would fall just short as the ball went into touch.
The Raiders found themselves holding the reins of momentum early on in the match as a handy one-on-one strip from hooker Tom Starling kept Dragons from posing a threat to the line.
After 20 minutes of set-for-set plays, Raiders winger Xavier Savage took to the skies for the first try of the evening, contorting his body sideways in a pinpoint dive for the right corner. Fogarty’s kick from out wide was straight as an arrow, giving the Raiders a 6-0 lead.
With eight minutes to go in the half, Jamal Fogarty lobbed up a torpedo for Dragons fullback Clint Gutherson who failed to diffuse what looked like a certain try – but an offside call on interchange prop Trey Mooney threw the Dragons a lifeline.
Off the back of the penalty, the door opened for the Dragons to put some points on the board as Sloan crossed over untouched in the left-hand corner. Halfback Kyle Flanagan missed the kick, and the Raiders stayed two points ahead.
The two-point lead quickly evaporated as the Dragons were offered a shot on goal and a chance to level the scores due to a penalty on Raiders fullback Kaeo Weekes.
But with two minutes to go, Weekes lit GIO Stadium on fire, running 90 metres up the right edge to score off the back of a misfired Dragons kick. Fogarty added the extras to put the Raiders ahead 12-6 as they headed into the sheds.
Closing the scoring for the first half and opening it for the second, Kaeo Weekes crossed for his second try of the evening less than four minutes into the half thanks to a textbook draw and pass from Fogarty. The veteran halfback then slotted his third conversion of the game to put the Raiders up 18-6.
Keeping the momentum going, Canberra lock Morgan Smithies picked up his first try in the NRL after an aerial contest from centre Sebastian Kris popped the ball backwards into his arms.
Down but not out, the Dragons clawed their way to a double digit scoreline as an awkward kick saw Dragons’ second rower Jayden Su’a come up with the four points. Flanagan would put it through the sticks for a 24-12 score.
With 20 minutes to go Kaeo Weekes crossed the line for a hattrick in another blazing length-of-the-field effort after bumping off Dragons’ hooker Damien Cook and waltzing straight through.
Tyrell Sloan fired back quickly with another Dragons try after a daring sprint up the left edge which saw him chasing a kick that sat up nicely. A Flanagan conversion saw the Dragons down by only ten coming into the final minutes of the game.
Terrell Sloan continued his strong game, as he sprinted down the right edge, and put a kick in-field which sat up for Kyle Flanagan who scored next to the posts. Flanagan converted his four-pointer to make it a four-point game, with the Raiders ahead 28-24 with five minutes to go.
But ultimately, the Green Machine came out on top, holding out the Dragons as they claimed their seventh win in a row and marched onwards to the bye round.
