The Raiders suffered a narrow 18-16 loss to the Cowboys in Wagga Wagga.
The Canberra Raiders battled the North Queensland Cowboys to close out an electric day of Magic Round in Wagga Wagga. The Raiders were set to bounce back from their defeat at home last week, and the Viking clap travelled over to kickstart the action. Meanwhile, the Cowboys continued to hunt for their first win of the season.
The Cowboys kicked off the highly anticipated match, with fierce defence showcased across both teams early on.
After 10 minutes of play, the Raiders had a chance a metre out from the line against a weakened Cowboys defence, but a dropped ball stopped them in their tracks, and Canberra were back on the defence.
The excitement grew once again when an intercept by Elise Simpson in a crucial try-saving moment gifted the Raiders the ball, followed by a penalty their way to keep pushing their momentum. Raiders halfback Zahara Temara booted the ball, and a wall of green swarmed Charlize Lloyd-Phillips as the winger battled to regain the ball. The Raiders held the Queenslanders in their own half for the following set and continued to build pressure.
The Cowboys were in with a chance, but a no-try call accelerated the Canberra side. Leianne Tufuga pushed through the defenders and offloaded to Mackenzie Wiki, who sprinted down the field and the Raiders were over halfway by the first tackle. Temara was 20m out from the line in the next tackle, and a penalty in front gifted the Raiders another set of six. Finally, Simpson was over the line for the first try of the game, and the Raiders went into the break with a close 4-0 lead.
The Raiders kicked off the second half action firing. Off the back of an early scrum from halfway, Grace Kukutai gathered the ball cleanly off the bounce, pushed aside the Queensland defenders, and slipped through a gap to score her first NRLW try. Zahara Temara converted from in front, and the Raiders were up 10-0 to start the second-half action.
Canberra’s points continued to stack up, with the next four-pointer going to Sheridan Gallagher. The fullback sprinted through the Cowboys line and grounded the ball between the posts. The try was converted, and the Raiders had a 16-point lead.
The Cowboys were next to make an impact on the scoreboard. Lloyd-Phillips received the ball and grounded it in the corner for the first Queensland try, but a high tackle during the grounding resulted in a potential eight points for the trailing side. Rosie Kelly missed the conversion, but a successful penalty goal gifted the Cowboys their first six points.
North Queensland continued to apply pressure to the Raiders before they forced an error that resulted in another set of six inside Canberra’s half. They sent the ball long down to the left edge once again for Margot Vella to run around the wall of green and score a try.
The Raiders were determined to hold the Cowboys there and performed a fierce try-saving tackle over the line in the dangerous left corner. But North Queensland possession only grew, and Vella slipped through the line to score a try and make it 16-all. Kelly converted, and the Raiders needed to dig deep for a final push as they trailed 18-16.
With a minute left to play, the Raiders produced a gallant effort to find points but fell just short.
The Canberra Raiders fell to the Cowboys in a narrow 18-16 defeat at Magic Round. The Raiders return home next week to face the Broncos.
