By Alex Mitchell
Canberra are inside the NRL’s top eight for the first time since round three after taking care of business against Manly in a rampaging 48-6 win on Saturday afternoon.
Making the most of Brisbane’s capitulation against Parramatta, the Raiders cruised to their biggest win of the campaign against the lacklustre Sea Eagles, building a comfortable buffer on the Broncos in the race for the finals.
It means they’ll head to their clash next Sunday with Wests Tigers with a 43-point superior for-and-against record over Brisbane who play St George Illawarra next Saturday.
It’s been a wild swing for the Raiders, who are effectively one win away from making the finals despite having been two victories and 100 points of differential in arrears of the Broncos a fortnight ago.
Sensing the opportunity that had presented itself with Brisbane’s heavy defeat, the Raiders came to play at GIO Stadium and piled on five tries in the first half, slicing through a brittle Manly defence at will.
It continued the Sea Eagles’ woeful end to 2022, now having lost six straight games including their past four by a combined 112 points as speculation increases about coach Des Hasler’s future.
Canberra’s Corey Harawira-Naera dives over for a second-half try.Credit:Getty
They narrowly avoided being held scoreless for a second time this season with Ethan Bullemor sneaking over to score a try on 64 minutes.
Veteran Canberra winger Jordan Rapana wound back the clock with a prolific outing, finishing with 175m, three try-assists, four tackle-busts and three linebreaks to go with a try
Second-rower Hudson Young continued to press his case for Kangaroos selection with a double, now with 11 tries for the season in his career-best campaign.
A precise Jack Wighton pass created Rapana’s opening try in the corner before fullback Xavier Savage finally got his chance to show his speed in the open field, dashing 40m to give the Raiders a 10-point buffer.
By then the Raiders were humming and found tries for Young, Tom Starling and Jamal Fogarty in racing to a 28-0 halftime lead.
Young doubled up early in the second stanza with a dummy-half barge exposing the soft Manly line, before Albert Hopoate, Seb Kris and Corey Harawira-Naera each scored after Bullemor’s try as the Raiders showed no mercy.
