The Canberra Raiders second half struggles have continued with a 22-20 loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons at a blustery WIN Stadium.
The Raiders lead 20-8 during the second half before yet another collapse saw the Dragons score the final three tries to claim a two-point win.
Running with the advantage of a strong breeze, Canberra made a typically fast start with Corey Harawira-Naera slicing straight through the Dragons goal line defence to score.
Some nice lead up work from Elliott Whitehead set up Seb Kris for the Raiders second to give them a 12-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The Dragons hit back through Billy Burns before a late penalty goal to Sam Williams gave Canberra a 14-6 lead at the break.
Controversy struck at half time with Kris ruled out of the rest of the match after a head knock and the Raiders incorrectly using their 18th man Xavier Savage who played 12 minutes in his NRL debut before being taken off.
Raiders fans have become too familiar with their side blowing leads and with the Dragons now playing with the wind at their backs, there was a sense of inevitability about what was to come.
Ben Hunt did what Canberra couldn’t and made use of the wind with a 40-20 in the Dragons first set of the second half which ultimately led to a penalty goal.
The Raiders then produced a wonderful attacking set which allowed Joe Tapine to score easily next to the post to set up a 20-8 lead.
Two quick tries to the Dragons brought them back to within four points with 28 minutes remaining.
It felt like a matter of time before the Dragons hit the front and another beautiful 40-20 kick from Hunt gave them the perfect chance.
A well-timed offload from Paul Vaughan allowed Corey Norman to score a try and his conversion gave the Dragons the lead.
The Raiders were denied a late penalty after Semi Valemei was dragged into touch, but they simply weren’t good enough to come away with the victory.
Canberra would’ve jumped into the top eight with a win but instead find themselves in 10th spot having lost eight of their last ten matches. Their next match is against the Gold Coast Titans at GIO Stadium on Saturday 3 July.
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