Sometimes you can outrun your demons.
The Canberra Raiders beat the Cronulla Sharks 24-20, overcoming an opposition limited by losing a key offensive weapon. They lost key passages of the game, kicked poorly, and just decided to work harder than the problems it created. And in this game, it worked.
You have to admire the persistence. Sometimes it’s all you have.
You can teach structure. You can teach skills. But you can’t teach a man to keep moving early in a shift because he’ll end up running halfway across the field to make a try-saving cover tackle. Joe Roddy doesn’t need to be taught it. Neither does Zac Hosking, or Ethan Strange. The dog in the fight? More like the Rodd in the dog (I don’t think that’s dirty but you might. That’s on you).
Canberra won this game because they played with an insane spirit; one that saw them turn up again and again in defence. But they didn’t do that in a vacuum. This victory was built from the ground up, and the starting middle rotation had a lot of bearing on that.
Canberra won because they prioritised winning the middle, which they did when they had their best troops on the park. When their second-rotation came through they struggled, and that turned to just hanging on and making more efforts than they should have been able to.
The starting work from Ata Mariota (13 for 124m, 51 post contact) continued to show he’s ready for the starting rotation. Joe Tapine (20 for 167, 49 post contact, four offloads and a try) was dominant – we should never take what he does, week in week out, for granted. Shoutout also to Sav Tamale and Matty Timoko, who both had big metres (171 and 133) built on dirty work and difficult carries.
While this quartet was on the field the Raiders were making metres, and could play from the advantage. Each try they scored came on the back of a dominant run. Joe Roddy took fifteen and a quick ruck before the opener. Tapine ran wide and created a quick ruck and a disorganised defence for Pattie’s try. Big Papa and Matty Nicholson had back-to-back line-benders before the Jed Stuart try. And Tapine did it himself for the last. It was a telling reminder for what it takes to win footy matches. For Canberra to win footy matches.
There was plenty to like playing off the back of this. Kaeo Weekes chiming in on the right as the second creator (sometimes as the second man, sometimes just as a straight five-eighth positioning) is an ongoing threat. He created one try with a gorgeous cut-out ball that Xavier Savage hit at pace, highlighting not just how aggressive Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo is, but also that the Raiders do watch game tape and make decisions accordingly. It was one of those moments that made you wonder what would have happened if they hadn’t flipped the offensive structure to start the season.
Ethan Strange created another with a gorgeous harbour bridge pass to Jed Stuart for a try, but I was more impressed to see him popping up on both sides of the ruck, usually outside Sanders but also alone. There’s plenty of variability in his work, and while he didn’t have any highlight runs in this game, getting him into different points on the field will only open up options in future games. Alas, it’s too late for a meaningful impact this year.
That’s not to say it was without deficiency. When they couldn’t win the middle they were splayed, a spineless mess unable to do much of anything. Particularly in the non-starter minutes they were routinely kicking from their own half, poorly. When they did get into good positions the attacking kicking game was similarly ineffective.
Roddy was incredible, and Daine Laurie always tries hard, but both of these players are best when they’re the third ‘big’ in a line-up. Only the Raiders had to play two of them for a long time, and just hope it worked out. That rotation felt like Stuart was stealing minutes until Taps and Ata could come back. It’s amazing they stole so many.
But it did mean the Sharks got to attack. They aimed their ferocity at two places. Firstly at Matty Nicholson, who after about fifteen minutes would have liked a big rest, only there was no one else to do his job because his nominal backup – Joe Roddy – was already doing Morgan Smithies’ job (and much better). Then through the middle minutes they just ran up the guts as Canberra scrambled to hold them.
The response in defence wasn’t perfect but it was admirable. The Sharks scored early on an excellent individual play by Brayden Trindall. They scored later when Kaeo Weekes dropped a pass from Jed Stuart. The only other try came because Nicholson made a tackle, and was prostrate on the ground as Teig Wilton ran at the two smallest Raiders, Sanders, and Owen Pattie who filled across into the second-rower’s vacated position.
Around that Canberra just kept turning up. Roddy, Nicholson and Hosking all made 40 plus tackles. Laurie, Taps and Mariota all made 30 plus. Sav Tamale made 24, which is a huge amount for a centre to make, and proof of the Sharks intensive targeting of the Raiders’ right side. But Sav was up to the task, as were the others.
Inches are big in these games, such as the blades of grass between Mulitalo and a game winning try late. On that occasion it was Sav Tamale with the critical effort. But most men in green made a try saver. More impressive was how many were on the back of defensive errors.
Case in point. With about 17 minutes to go the Sharks pushed at the Raiders left side defence. Ethan Strange tied in on Tom Hazleton running outside Nicho Hynes. Will Kennedy put Brenton Nikora through the gap behind him. Zac Hosking’s inside-out cover tackle was the only thing between the Sharks and a try. Then on the next tackle Kennedy went at a recovering defensive line from dummy-half. Strange, fresh from his error on the previous play, took Kennedy one-on-one, giving him about two steps and all the momentum, and simply refused to let him score.
It was that kind of day. Canberra didn’t do everything right, but they refused to let those things define them. When they did something bad they didn’t cower or bow their heads. They simply dusted themselves off and got back to work, treating those imposters of triumph and disaster with the same equanimity. You can’t win premierships with that courage and diligence alone. But you can’t win them without it. Alas, that’s a problem for another season.
The adjectives tend to flow when you talk about the 2026 Canberra Raiders. Disappointing. Frustrating. Infuriating. They’ve spent the best part of an entire season punching themselves in the face just to see if there’s gold on the other side. They are so riddled with flaws that they gave away a try throwing an unnecessary pass (though a worse drop), and they went right back to that well after scrambling to survive for the 800th time in their red zone.
But behind their struggles is a side genuinely trying hard. Like Bart trying to pass fourth grade and laying one on Edna Krabapple, these guys are putting in their all and just scraping through. It’s both a mile from being good but at least opening the possibility of that idea being fulfilled. Not so much embracing the duality of man, but the idea that things will work out for Beavis and Butthead after all.
Think about it like this. Canberra won despite their ‘preferred’ 13 going down in the opening minutes, forcing a rotation through the middle to include 60 minutes of rookie Joe Roddy (who should be preferred to Morgan Smithies going forward) and 42 of Daine Laurie, who’s enthusiasm covers for the fact he weighs less than a wet napkin.
Matty Nicholson played 80 minutes despite looking like he might die after 15. If they got a well-placed kick away in this game I must have missed it, because none of the four people that put boot to ball will be happy with how that worked out. They defended more than thirty redzone tackles, and only conceded two actual tries (although gifted another, just for the vibes).
People will talk about Brayden Trindall, which is fair. He may not be their most athletically gifted player, but he’s certainly their smartest. But they don’t give you points for beating people who aren’t on the field. Canberra took on who got through the game, and were deserved winners.
Is it evidence of a platform for success in coming years? There was plenty to like in what Joe Roddy, Nicholson as well as the young spine and outside backs we already know well. But as we all know projecting trajectories of players in Canberra jerseys assumes a certainty and stability that the Raiders will never know. They just have too many demons chasing them.
It’s just sometimes they outrun them.
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