BY ROB

The Canberra Raiders remain a chance in 2023. They’re still stuck in fifth spot, with a negative points differential. But they’ve done enough to make sure they have some input into their destiny in round 9.

The Raiders needed to win big, and while they certainly laid on their biggest margin of the season there was still a weird feeling that it may not have been enough.

Sunday’s match saw them lay the points on, but it took thirteen minutes of tussle before Canberra found the line. They came awfully close with efforts from Kelly-Sines and Taufa, but also had a moment of panic when a Cowboys kick bounced into the arms of one of the women in blue, only for Nicholls to wrap her up for a turnover.

Disaster struck in the opening period when Hollie Mae Dodd went down after her knee buckled as she put on some footwork close to the line. Dodd has been an integral part of the Raiders go-forward this season and we hope she’s on a good prognosis. Anytime it’s non-contact the dreaded acronym A C L comes out and it’s rarely good news.

With thirteen minutes gone Canberra had a crack on the right, Mackenzie Wiki just held up. From there they went left, a Zehara Temara pass finding a rampaging Sophie Holyman who bustled her way past multiple defenders to crash over and score.

The Raiders came down the right edge minutes later, Apii Nicholls carving her way through disjointed defence (seriously she was so good in this game) before being brought down just five metres short. The Cowboys left edge was in ribbons, Shak Tungai providing quick service from dummy half to a waiting Zahara Temara who simply waltzed over to score.

The Cowboys tried to turn the tide but came unstuck when Tungai picked off the first of two interceptions and raced the opposite direction before being dragged down well into Cowboys territory. The Raiders took the attack to their left before executing a field-wide shift that culminated with Matua brushing off several defenders and offloading the ball to Nicholls, who in turn popped it into the waiting arms of Shak who bagged a much-deserved try in the corner.

With halftime looming the Raiders upped the razzle, Zahara putting on a double-grubber through the middle before regathering and passing to Emma Barnes pushing up in support.

Then, as is so often the way for this team, second half syndrome set in. Canberra really needed to go on with it after the break, but the Cowboys rallied. The home side finally managed to cross the stripe 48 minutes gone, using a crash ball play to split some tiring Canberra defence.

The Raiders returned serve, broken field play causing havoc for the Cowboys. From thirty metres out Canberra went left through the hands of Chante to Zahara, who found Monalisa Soliola running straight into a gap at full steam. Soliola had support aplenty, but needed none of it, dragging three opposition players with her as she crashed over the line.

The Cowboys managed one more try, but the Raiders extended the lead again after Matua bagged her first try with a powerful short range run to cross on the right side.

Nicholls, Wiki, Chante and Tungai all deserve big wraps for their performances. Nicholls is foundationally sound at the back, and her attack is key to finding those edge gaps. Wiki was tremendous with her carries and persistent defence. Chante threw a clunker of a forward pass early on but recovered with some excellent dummy half runs that had the Cowboys backpedalling. Tungai was everything, everywhere, all at once.

The Raiders may not have achieved the massive points haul they wanted, but they at least now have a clear plan for round 9: beat the Titans by 12 or more.

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.