Canberra Raiders slump to defeat against high-flying Dragons
The Canberra Raiders have crashed to another defeat, but that is only the start of the bad news.
The Raiders slumped to another tight defeat in a 25-18 loss to the St. George Illawarra Dragons in front of 8962 at Glen Willow Stadium in Mudgee on Sunday.
The loss leaves the Raiders two games outside the top eight, with the ladder-leading Dragons still setting the pace after 11 rounds.
To make matters worse, the Raiders could be without Joe Tapine for a week after he was put on report for a shoulder charge on Dragons fullback Matt Dufty.
Tapine already has 90 carry-over points from a dangerous throw in round nine and his latest charge will almost certainly rub him out of a date with Manly Warringah on Friday night.
The contest played out like an 80-minute game of connect four. Both sides managed to connect three counters, but nobody could strike the killer blow.
NSW Blues bolter Nick Cotric powered his way over the line to open the scoring before the Dragons returned fire through lock Jack De Belin midway through the first half.
The Raiders took back the advantage when Leilua walked over the line to score perhaps the easiest and most bizarre try of his career.
Tariq Sims committed to trying to shut down Austin, Leilua came back on the inside and gave himself up to the defence for fear of being penalised for obstruction.
The only problem was the Dragons stopped dead in their tracks, so Leilua darted over and the bunker awarded a try.
Exploitation of the head injury assessment has sparked widespread concern in the game but in this contest it was a different sort of misuse raising eyebrows.
Siliva Havili and Dragons forward Tyson Frizell both passed head injury assessments, but perhaps the most telling blow was deemed unworthy of a test.
The Raiders looked almost certain to lose Joe Tapine when he was involved in a sickening head clash as he and Austin tried to take down Sims, but he stayed on the field despite a lengthy break in play.
Matt Dufty has emerged as one of the competition's most lethal fullbacks in open pasture and he had a target on his back against the Green Machine.
Josh Papalii was put on report for a high shot and Tapine suffered the same fate for a shoulder charge on the stroke of half-time, which allowed Widdop to nail a penalty goal from the sideline to tie up the contest.
The Dragons sent the Mudgee crowd into raptures with a Harlem Globetrotter-esque try in the second stanza, with Widdop finding himself on the end of a Dufty kick to cap off a stellar 55-metre effort.
While it wasn't as spectacular, Jordan Rapana's reply was just as memorable. Rapana took a quick tap inside his own half and turned the defence - those who were paying attention at least - inside out to go through almost untouched.
The New Zealand international quickly went from hero to villain when he was sin-binned for a professional foul on Nene MacDonald to leave Canberra under-manned with scores locked.
Elliott Whitehead went within a whisker of stealing the advantage but Dufty was the man to break the deadlock, burning four Raiders defenders on his way to the line.
Widdop added a field goal in the dying stages to put Canberra to bed.
ST. GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 25 (Jack De Belin, Gareth Widdop tries; Gareth Widdop 5 goals, Gareth Widdop field goal) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 18 (Nick Cotric, Joey Leilua, Jordan Rapana tries; Jarrod Croker 3 goals) at Glen Willow Stadium, Mudgee. Crowd: 8962.