BY ROB

The NRLW Raiders started their season in the worst way possible. The Dragons put forth one of the weirdest kick-offs ever seen, a possible miskick that only just cleared 20 metres before bouncing awkwardly into and out of the hands of Chante Temara.

In less than 90 seconds the Dragons had scored, Tegan Berry crashing over like a forward rather than a fullback. It was not an auspicious start for the women in green.

Canberra then had to weather both the Dragons metre-eating up the middle, as well as their own lack of rhythm and attention to detail. Zahara Temara charged down a Dragons kick, and then regathered it, only for her teammates to get bundled into touch on the next tackle. Sheridan Gallagher was proving competent at fullback, but the Raiders just couldn’t make it work in the Dragons half.

With seven minutes before the break Canberra put on a left-side sweep, with Zehara Temara running what can only be described as a languid sideways jaunt, threw a dummy pump so casual it was half asleep and then linked with Gallagher, who in turn got outside the staggered Dragons defenders and found former St George player Bobbi Law, who duly angled over for Canberra’s first try of the season.

It should have been deadlocked at 4 all going into halftime, but Grace Kemp had other ideas. In a set play so devious I had to slow it down to 0.25 speed on YouTube, the Raiders managed to feed their star bench forward the perfect crash-ball. They were exceedingly lucky that Taufa didn’t get pulled up obstruction, as she ran an angle towards the left upright while Kemp ducked back inside her and onto the Steeden that Chante had deftly placed in her path. With the try being awarded under the black dot Zahara iced the conversion to give the Raiders the lead at the break.

Canberra got a lot better in the second half. Both teams had been plagued by errors in the first 35 minutes, but the Raiders really tightened things up. The Dragons struggled to get out of their own end, and Gallagher was more often than not starting kick returns from the 30 metre mark.

Canberra’s next try came courtesy of Mackenzie Wiki, who was served a brilliant short-side pass by Emma Barnes. The score was now 14-4, the Raiders still not quite comfortably in front.

With just under 13 minutes left Hannah Southwell caught Taufa late and from the side, momentarily winding the woman of the hour. In a testament to Maima’s toughness she was quickly back on her feet, with Gallagher potting a 30 metre penalty goal to put the Raiders two tries ahead.

With 3 minutes left Tahlia O’Brien was binned for a hip drop on Gallagher in the previous set (a fair call once we’d seen the replay).

But the Raiders still weren’t done. Because she’s the granite goddess who embodies the engine room of this team Taufa decided to seal her 50th game with a barnstorming 15 metre run to score between the posts. Met by two defenders 10 metres out she simply spun out of the attempted tackle and strolled in to plant the ball, engulfed by joyous teammates a second later.

Across their first 70 minutes this team went from a diabolical first touch mishap to a strong 20-4 win. They completely nullified Tegan Berry, who has terrorised them in previous encounters. Gallagher practically ran her legs off – 28 carries for 213 metres (63 post-contact metres). She was duly supported by Leianne Tufuga – 169 from 17 runs with 72 post contact – and Bobbi Law, who racked up 134 from 15, with 40 PCM.

Up front Holyman (13 for 126m, 59 post contact) and Preston (10 for 100m, 39 post contact) laid the platform. Kukutai had a quiet start, but the other newcomers in Basham, Law and Blackwell made themselves known throughout proceedings. Collectively the Raiders crushed the Dragons, even if it didn’t feel that way during the game. They outran their opponents 1449 metres to 978, with 539 post-contact metres to the Dragons 360.

The Dragons had the faster ruck speed (because they were all over the Raiders in tackles) but were less effective when it came to tackling, probably because they had to make 329 compared to Canberra’s 261.

Canberra have given themselves the best start possible. They identified and fixed problems mid-game, and if they can tighten things a bit more during training they’ll be in good stead to host the Wahs next Sunday at Bruce.

The Raiders are really in that transitional phase right now. Of the 17 players that won today only 8 of them were here for the inaugural season in 2023. Perhaps their new look is a winning one.

The Sportress is transitioning away from Facebook and Twitter for distribution so sign up to the email below because Rob’s takes heal your soul pains. Don’t hesitate to send us feedback (dan@sportress.org) or comment below if you think we are stupid. Or if we’re not.