BY ROB

The Raiders finally recorded their first victory of this fraught, miserable season. It was a dour, restless affair, marred by two send-offs for the Warriors. In the cold and rain of Hamilton two teams with very different aspirations slugged it out for 70 minutes.

The Raiders had nearly all the running (or at least luck) in the first half. They opened their account through one of the most bizarre plays of the year – Chloe Saunders picking up a loose ball on the last tackle and hefting it into the air. It was a surprisingly good kick from a forward in the rain, and it landed perfectly for Jordan Preston to latch on to it and score.

The Raiders joy was short-lived, however, as Laishon Albert-Jones quickly exploited the greasy conditions by firing the restart low towards the sideline, securing the ball for the Warriors. The hosts pounded the Raiders defence, but with the majority of their first string spine missing they didn’t have the organisation required to run set plays close to the line. Canberra capitalised in the 18th minute, Sereana Naitokatoka deftly deploying the show-and-go before slicing between two defenders to plant the ball.

At this point I was starting to believe.

If things were starting to look shaky for the home side they looked a whole lot worse 4 minutes later, with Matekino Gray sent-off after an awful lifting tackle on Saunders (Chloe luckily escaped unscathed and the two players shook hands as Gray departed). Just 3 minutes later the Raiders personnel advantage doubled, with Tysha Ikenasio sent to join Gray after a blatant hip-drop on Soliola, who herself left the field worse for wear.

The Raiders quickly exploited the overlap, putting Mackenzie Wiki over to ratchet the scoreline up to 16-0.

But then the Warriors rallied.

Just 6 minutes from the break they reached the Raiders line and shifted to the left. Relna Wuruki-Hosea had been doing great work in the first half but suddenly now found herself in a damned-if-do/don’t scenario: jam in to help your inside defender hold up the ball runner, or stay out to drive a potential receiver into touch. She chose A, the Warriors executed one final pass and grabbed their first try.

They scored again after the break, this time on the Raiders left, with Lavinia Tauhalaliku latching onto a beautifully popped offload to score.

Canberra pushed the lead out to 20-8 when Elise Simpson strode between two defenders thirty metres out and then loped around another before crossing for her first NRLW try.

From that moment on momentum belonged almost exclusively to the home side. Their middles aimed up and began punishing Canberra on every set, easily gaining 40-60 metres each time. Some of their carries were so strong they required four or five Raiders to bring them down.

And as is sometimes the case the team with less troops found a way to decompress their attacking line. Their game plan was frustratingly simple – bash their way up field through the middle and then quickly shift to an edge. The Raiders should have been able to contain this. They didn’t.

Payton Takimoana crossed for two more tries, ringing up a hat trick. One came via a well placed kick the other a carbon copy of the first try.

Ultimately it was the match clock that bested the Warriors, the Raiders managing to cling on for dear life. The ref was only halfway through blowing time off when the broadcast cut away to an episode of Keeping up Appearances.

There were positives inside the ugly victory. Holyman, Saunders and Preston got through a truckload of work on both sides of the ball. Sophie in particular was tremendous for a prop – she played the full 70 minutes, racking up 138 metres off 14 carries, with 49 PCM and 45 tackles (90%). Whilst Saunders and Preston were nowhere near those numbers they appeared to at least be in the right place at the right time defensively, often backing up on consecutive tackles.

Hopefully the win helps ease the pressure on the Green Machine. They know they can do it now, even if their opponents were severely hamstrung for this particular match.

For one week, at least, they’re thankfully not coming last.

Do me a favour and like the page on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or share this on social media and I’ll tell you the four words you need to know to be able to beatbox. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.