BY ROB

The Raiders travelled to Brisbane full of optimism and left with their second and worst loss in their six game history. They remain in the top 4, but they’re going to have to scrap for every win over the next three rounds.

The Raiders were first to strike. Set-up in the Broncos red-zone they spread to the right, with stand-in fullback Shak Tungai throwing a perfect cutout pass to Jess Gentle who turned on the afterburners to beat the defence to the corner of the in-goal. Canberra scored again in the 11th minute, after the Broncos failed to defuse a chip-bomb hybrid off the boot of Quinlan, with Robins-Reti grounding the loose scraps for another try.

Things were mostly going according to plan for the visitors, right up until the 19th minute. The Raiders left side defence was caught napping when the GOAT, Ali Brigginshaw, spotted a hole, stepped through it and offloaded to Ciesiolka who dived over to score. After that the Raiders never got another look in at the scoreboard. The Broncos scored again just 8 minutes out from halftime, taking the lead, and after the break they completely dominated the Green Machine.

Canberra were somewhat responsible for what happened to them. On the rare occasions they had either possession, position or both they routinely mucked things up. An exceptional Jess Gentle break reached the halfway mark, only for Robins-Reti to make an absolute meal of the play-the-ball. Holyman lost control of the Steeden as she stood to play it five out from the Broncos line. Passes were consistently wayward, often thrown behind their intended recipient.

The penalties didn’t help either. Time and again Canberra were pinged for being too slow to clear the ruck, victims of the incredible speed in which the Broncos paved a highway up the middle corridor. The Raiders plight was hastened by an off day with the boot for Zahara Temara. Usually an astute kicker, her efforts were either too long or too short, particularly when trying to find field position.

Adding injury to insult was the distressing sight of Sophie Holyman leaving the field in significant pain (she was on her back receiving treatment the moment she crossed the sideline).

It wasn’t all doom and gloom. Jess Gentle demonstrated her excellent finishing abilities, and was unlucky to be held up on her second try attempt. Shak Tungai was solid in the custodial position, although her presence was missed out on the right edge.

Canberra tried their best, in a hostile environment, with an augmented lineup, but at the end of the day the Broncos forwards and the Brisbane heat simply proved too much to handle. The good news is much of what went wrong today can be fixed, although time is of the essence.

Rob loves the Canberra Raiders and also you. You can follow Rob on Twitter here. For other great takes you can follow Viv here, or you can do us a solid and like our page on Facebook, or share this on social media. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.