Canberra Raiders stun South Sydney
What might have been.
The Canberra Raiders have again proven how good they can be after claiming a second consecutive win over a top three team in defeating the South Sydney Rabbitohs 24-12 at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.
But the sobering fact is the Green Machine's win was only their second over a top eight team all season, which has long ruled them out of the NRL finals equation.
A week after distancing themselves from a forgettable month with a gritty win over another premiership contender, the Raiders turned around a tough start to send Blake Austin, Shannon Boyd and Junior Paulo out winners in Canberra.
It was a stirring win considering Canberra found themselves 12-0 down in the opening half, but it came with a sense of frustration and disappointment considering how the Raiders' season has panned out.
The Rabbitohs now have to reverse a three-match skid that has dealt a cruel blow to their minor premiership hopes with one game remaining before the finals.
Canberra looked more threatening in the early stages, parrying South Sydney's early jabs and almost landing a pair of devastating blows through departing stars Austin and Boyd.
But the Green Machine's attacks were repelled and instead it was Cody Walker that struck first, dancing his way through the Canberra line to open the account for the visitors.
Then it was Greg Inglis, scoring his 19th try in as many appearances against the Raiders, before the Damien Cook provided a throwback when he won a scrum against the feed.
Canberra centre Michael Oldfield did his best to reverse the trend when he grounded the ball inches inside the dead ball line to get the hosts on the board.
South Sydney were anything but clinical, but they were coming up trumps in the battle of the competition's two best attacking teams as the Rabbitohs exposed Canberra's defence, which ranked in the competition's bottom four before kick-off.
Canberra's showing wasn't pretty either, leading coach Ricky Stuart to spend alone time with Sam Williams at the half-time break following his indifferent opening stanza.
The Raiders had a golden opportunity when Jason Clark was sin-binned in the 52nd minute and again it was Oldfield delivering the goods for Canberra when he crashed over with barely a hand laid on him.
They almost stole the lead with what would have been a freakish try to Brad Abbey. While South Sydney held their lead, a warning shot had been fired.
Then the Raiders went rabbit hunting. Alex Johnston's day turned sour with a string of errors, and Blake Austin put Sia Soliola over to put the Green Machine in the lead.
Nick Cotric scored soon after to send the Green Machine faithful into raptures and secure the win.
The Green Machine's win has ensured their lacklustre showing against the Rabbitohs on the Central Coast this season was a minor hiccup in what has otherwise been a dominant period over "The Pride of the League" since 2015.
AT A GLANCE
NRL round 24 -
CANBERRA RAIDERS 24 (Michael Oldfield 2, Sia Soliola, Nick Cotric tries; Sam Williams 4 goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS 12 (Cody Walker, Greg Inglis tries; Adam Reynolds 2 goals) at Canberra Stadium. Crowd: 15990