BY DAN

The Canberra Raiders loss last weekend was disheartening.

The victory over the Storm put the bright lights and attention of the league on them. They were *the* talking point, if only for the minute. Social media feeds filled up with apologies for tipping them to finish last, and “the Raiders are my dark horse” quickly became the least original hot take floating around.

The collapse against the Dogs popped that balloon. Woooah the dizzying heights of fame. Now Canterbury are the team strutting the red carpet to the flashing bulbs, and the Raiders are just left to pick up the pieces of what might have been. Part of the reason that Coach Stuart was so keen to keep a lid on the hype is he knows that when it breaks it can be detrimental, the stench of failure permeating every thing you do until you find the sweet smell of winning again.

The siliver lining is that bright lights aren’t worth much in May and the chances for redemption are bountiful. Canberra have a right and ready opportunity to do just that this weekend when they come up against the Titans. Time to get to work. Time to cleanse.

It’s only been a few weeks since they last played, and with diverging fortunes you might be forgiven chalking it up in the fun column. But marking down a victory is a fools errand in this NRL. Just as the Broncos, who lost comically to the Bunnies. Or Knights, who lost comically the Titans, a week after torching the Bunnies. You get the picture. Winning on the day only happens on the day.

It’s unlikely the Raiders will be taking anything lightly. Last weekend put paid to that. Any loss has the capacity to make you ask uncomfortable questions. But the scale of the collapse, the disorder of that second half. The helplessness. Canberra won’t want to feel that again. Ever. Getting back on the horse (and getting the Horse in the team) to prove that it was a moment not a trait will be the order of the day. This is a chance to prove that what they’ve achieved so far is sustainable and real. It’s a chance to prove their work and take care of business. They’ve shown both the yin and the yang in recent times. The good and the bad.

Finding some sort of consistent football across the 80 minutes would be start. A tendency that first emerged the first time they played the Titans must be ended. Proving that their edges aren’t the discombobulated mess they appeared in the second half of Saturday’s epic would be another goal. They’ll have Jayden Campbell to contend with now, when they didn’t before. That he spends most weekends tormenting other teams’ edges will raise the interest of the Canberra coaching staff.

This a chance to get right. No matter than impressiveness of members of the Titans roster, no matter the trouble they gave the Canberra a few rounds back, it’s unequivocal they’ve been disappointing this season. In a right mind they should be no match for the Milk. They’ve scored 30 points once this season, the Raiders five. They’ve conceded 30 six times, the Raiders 3. If Canberra are to be serious this year they can’t mess around losing games like this.

And it’s something they should be trying to do because they have a chance to pile on wins if they do fix what ails them. On the other side of this game is a trip to NZ. Then Canberra don’t play another current top 8 side until round 23 (Manly). Getting their house in order in this game could set them up to something more. While lunatics like us can start playing ladder predictor the Raiders have to start with a single step.

It’s a different test. In the past it was so often about proving our eyes were lying. That what we’d seen for so long could be turned around. Last week it was turned around and now we’re asking them to show us that the previous five weeks, the majority of the season is the true character of the side.

Last week was a step back. Time to move forward. Time to get right.

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