The Raiders fall to Tigers in ANZAC Round

The Canberra Raiders and West Tigers kicked off the NRL ANZAC Round on Thursday night in what was a sell-out event as fans continued to stream into Leichhardt Oval.

Raiders backrower Noah Martin started the game off with a bang. He powered over the line in the opening two minutes, but it was ruled a no-try due to obstruction by Joseph Tapine.

Shortly after the Tigers sent the ball across the line to Apisai Koroisau, who kicked into the far-left corner for Luke Laulilii to scoop up and ground in a tight battle for the ball. A successful conversion by Adam Doueihi gave the Tigers an early 6-0 lead.

Dominant possession for the Tigers allowed them to work their way through the Raiders’ line for halfback Doueihi to score. Doueihi failed to convert his own try, leaving the Tigers 10-0 in front.

After putting up multiple defensive sets, it was time for the Raiders to turn the game around. Koroisau was handed 10 minutes in the bin for a hip drop on Noah Martin.

With the home side down to 12 men, Matt Timoko was able to accelerate straight through the centre of the Tigers' line and ground the ball between the posts. It was an easy conversion for Ethan Sanders, who set the score 10-6.

The Raiders continued this momentum off a scrum, with Kaeo Weekes pushing through four Tigers defenders to land the Raiders’ second try and even the score. Another successful conversion by Sanders set the Raiders in front 12-10.

With less than five minutes left in the first half, the Tigers dropped the ball to gift the Raiders another scrum feed. The set applied enough pressure on the Tigers to cause an escort and deliver a penalty to the Raiders. Sanders kicked for two and sent the Raiders into halftime up 14-10.

The Raiders kicked off the second half action. Sanders gave away an early penalty, which resulted in Taylan May finding the try line and giving the Tigers the first points of the second half. The score remained 14-all as Doueihi failed to find the posts once again.

Samuela Fainu offloaded the ball to Doueihi, who came back to redeem himself with six more points in a try and conversion. Laulilii was next to score for the Tigers with some quick footwork down the left wing. The try was converted to push the Tigers score up 26-10.

A near-certain try for the Tigers off a line break was saved with an incredible tackle by Kaeo Weekes. With ten minutes left of the game, the Raiders’ resilience was most notable. Defending set after set until Jed Stuart came millimetres away from grounding an impossible try.

Doueihi saw an opportunity to secure the Tigers a win with five minutes to go, kicking a field goal for a 13-point lead. Royce Hunt broke through the line to score one final try for the Tigers, and the conversion provided the Tigers with a 33-14 win.

It was a disappointing loss for the Raiders despite their spirited efforts throughout the entire 80 minutes. The Canberra side travels up to the Gold Coast next week as they look to bounce back against the Titans.