Raiders rampage stuns bored Bulldogs

v BYE

Canberra produced their best performance of the season thus far, coming into Belmore and knocking the Bulldogs off 22-8 in front of 13, 463 fans on a soggy Monday night.

It was a welcome return to form for the Raiders after the Titans heroics last weekend who put a marker down for their best performance of the season - running out to a 14 point lead early.

They welcomed back both Blake Austin and Aidan Sezer in the halves and the pair helped guide the team around in a strong effort which stunned the Belmore crowd into silence.

Captain Jarrod Croker had a point-scoring night out, with two tries and five conversions to lead from the front. His try-scoring efforts bookended the Raiders performance as he backed up well to finish off a Josh Papalii break in the sixth minute and again, was on the end of a sweeping back-line movement in the 56th minute while the Bulldogs were down to twelve men.

English hooker Josh Hodgson continued to earn admirers with his kicking and tackling through the opening half. His deft grubber for Jack Wighton in the 13th minute, caught the Dogs unaware for the first of many times throughout the contest.

The Bulldogs had several opportunities themselves but had an unhappy night with their hands unable to pile on much pressure on the Raiders line with a flat attacking effort allowed the Raiders to dominate.

Particularly was a unhappy night for Tony Williams, with the former NSW representative put on report twice for a crusher tackle alongside Sam Kasiano and a dangerous tackle effort. His second-row partner Josh Jackson was also sin-binned for a deliberate professional foul after the Raiders counter-attacked from their own line.

For Canterbury though, Josh Reynolds played a lone hand on a soggy Belmore night, as the five-eighth created line-breaks and scored the Bulldogs first try with some nous down the short-side to reduce the deficit to ten.

William Hopoate in the news all week for his stance to not play on Sunday afternoons because of his faith gave the Bulldogs some brief hope when he broke the line after a lovely inside ball from Curtis Rona to make it 22-8.

Next weekend - Canberra head to the soon-to-be demolished Parramatta Stadium to face the Eels on Saturday, while the Bulldogs have to lick their wounds and go face a chastened Storm in Melbourne.