Ricky rages before Raiders show bottle and send top four down to wire
Frustrated Canberra coach Ricky Stuart launched a water bottle from his coaching box before the Raiders sent the top four race down to the wire with a stirring comeback win over the Warriors at GIO Stadium.
Canberra, who will travel to Sydney to take on the wounded Sharks next Saturday, will secure a double chance in the finals if they win that match and Parramatta lose to the Tigers in Benji Marshall's farewell a couple of hours later.
Stuart went through the full gamut of emotions as the Raiders scored twice with Jack Wighton in the sin bin to roar back from an early eight-point deficit and send the battle for fourth into the final round of the regular season.
It will mean the blowtorch will be firmly applied to Brad Arthur's Eels, who have held down a top-four spot all season and need to navigate an emotion-charged finale to punch their ticket for a week-one trip to minor premiers Penrith.
Fijian Semi Valemei scored twice for the Raiders - one a 90-metre intercept and another one play after Elliott Whitehead had similarly scooped up a ball and charged downfield - to mask Stuart's anger with a slow start in the 26-14 victory on Sunday.
At one point he flung a water bottle from his vantage point in the grandstand during a match in which they lost halfback George Williams due a head knock inside the opening few minutes.
The Raiders celebrate a try from Hudson Young which helped keep their top-four hopes alive.Credit:Getty
Warriors captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has played his last match for the season after limping from the field with a hamstring complaint in the second half.
The Warriors captain is the only Kiwi player who has been without his family for all of the last five months while the side has been in a biosecurity bubble at Terrigal.
A week after being dumped from finals contention, Peta Hiku's double gave the Warriors a 14-6 lead before the Raiders launched their fightback as Wighton spent 10 minutes on the sideline.
Canberra brute Josh Papalii was bizarrely penalised for a hair pull on Tohu Harris during a wild first half, which also saw try-scorer Jarrod Croker leave the field for a head injury assessment. He would later return to the field.
John Bateman soldiered through a painful elbow injury, which came as a result of a hyperextension after friendly fire with Jordan Rapana.
CANBERRA RAIDERS 26 (Semi Valemei 2, Jarrod Croker, Hudson Young, Nick Cotric tries; Croker 3 goals) defeated NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS 14 (Peta Hiku 2 tries; Chanel Harris-Tavita 3 goals) at GIO Stadium. Referee: Chris Sutton.
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Adam Pengilly is a Sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.