NRL: New Zealand Warriors' Shaun Johnson's field goals floor Canberra Raiders
If you didn't see it, you wouldn't believe it. An Issac Luke try and back-to-back Shaun Johnson field goals have handed the Canberra Raiders their worst start in a decade.
The Raiders seemed to be cruising, leading 19-12 with just three minutes remaining, but Luke and Johnson turned that in the blink of an eye to give the New Zealand Warriors an incredible 20-19 win at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.
Shaun Johnson celebrates his match-winning field goal against the Raiders on Saturday.
Photo: AAPIt means the Raiders have lost their first three games of an NRL season since 2009 — all at the death — while the Warriors have won their first three for the first time in their history.
Luke shot out of dummy-half with three minutes remaining to give the Warriors some hope an then Johnson nailed long-range field goals in the 79th and 80th minutes to put a dagger through green hearts.
The talk all week had been about the Raiders' defence, and most of the game it held firm.
Again the early signs were promising as their attack kicked them into gear early.
After the Warriors caught the kick-off, the Raiders had eight straight sets as the visitors gave away penalty after penalty, with Canberra halfback Sam Williams forcing a goal-line dropout in for good measure.
While the Warriors' defence did well to hold the home side out for so long, losing prop Adam Blair to the sin bin for repeated infringements.
Blair was also put on report for a shoulder charge in a late hit on Raiders five-eighth Aidan Sezer.
The Green Machine middles came with plenty of enthusiasm, with Shannon Boyd, Sia Soliola and Luke Bateman all rolling up their sleaves in the opening exchanges.
But it was Siliva Havili who opened the scoring, with the Raiders hooker taking advantage of a tiring Warriors pack to dart out of dummy-half and cross.
That ball possession continued with Canberra having 10 of the first 11 sets of the game and the opening two tries. Raiders second-rower Elliott Whitehead continued his try scoring start to the season with his fourth of the campaign.
But the Warriors exposed the Raiders' defensive frailties with their first venture into the home team's defensive 10-metre area.
Halfback Shaun Johnson and captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck combined to slice open the Raiders' left edge.
It was the same problem Mitchell Pearce and his Newcastle Knights exposed last week.
To the Raiders' credit, they did show some starch late in the first half when they were able to hold off several phases of ad-lib Warriors play on their goal line to eventually force an error.
Off the back of that and a big Nick Cotric break, the Raiders were able to add some breathing room at the break with Williams knocking over a field goal.
It was the start of a purple patch for the 19-year-old winger.
He showed his brute force to score a brilliant, burrowing try with three Warriors trying to hold him.
Cotric showed his aerial prowess at both ends of the field and produced a try saving tackle when the Warriors had and overlap and the try line beckoning.
NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler has already floated him as a State of Origin bolter. This performance only enhanced that.
But it wouldn't be a Raiders game without a nervous final 20 minutes and that came courtesy of a right-foot step from ex-Storm second-rower Tohu Harris, bursting straight through a Blake Austin tackle to make it 19-12.
Canberra prop Sia Soliola turned back the clock to his days as a winger with a brilliant try-saving tackle on Tuivasa-Sheck with 10 to go, but it wasn't enough with the Warriors producing their miraculous finish.
The winless Raiders now travel to Manly, while the undefeated Warriors face the Sydney Roosters.
NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS 20 (Peta Hiku, Tohu Harris, Issac Luke tries; Shaun Johnson 3 goals, 2 field goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 19 (Siliva Havili, Elliott Whitehead, Nick Cotric tries; Jarrod Croker 3 goals; Sam Williams field goal) at Canberra Stadium. Referees: Grant Atkins, Jon Stone. Crowd: 11,963.