Canberra Raiders lay down marker with impressive win over New Zealand Warriors

CANBERRA RAIDERS 30 NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS 8
STEPHEN IBBETSON, Allegiant Stadium, Sunday

CANBERRA laid down their credentials with a comprehensive season-opening victory over New Zealand Warriors in Las Vegas.

Both sides endured disappointing 2024 campaigns with neither making the finals, but on this evidence the Raiders should be back among the challengers this year.

Jamal Fogarty and Ethan Strange impressed at halfback while Sebastian Kris and Xavier Savage scored two tries apiece against a Warriors side who failed to contain the opposition out wide.

Canberra – who fielded Morgan Smithies but opted not to hand fellow England international Matty Nicholson his NRL debut – needed only six minutes to take the lead, with Kris the man to score the first try of the new season.

After creating a small chink in the defence with a dummy, the centre pushed towards the line and reached out to – just – plant the ball down on the try-line.

Further chances quickly came the way of the Green Machine with Savelio Tamale touching down after an obstruction had been called and Kris unable to grab a second try as Tamale’s kick inside slipped out of his grasp.

They finally extended their lead in the 26th minute on the back of a stunning Tom Starling break, with the next and last play being switched wide where a numerical advantage was exploited through a Savage touchdown.

And Savage made it two in six minutes with a length-of-the-field interception try, picking off a Luke Metcalf pass ironically after Savage himself gave away the penalty that presented the Warriors a rare attack.

Fogarty added the goal to his conversion of the opener and although the New Zealand side finished the half strongly, registering their first points with a Kurt Capewell try off a nice Adam Pompey dummy and offload, Canberra took a healthy 16-4 lead into the break.

That was improved by a further six points in the opening five minutes of the second half, as Kris again scored an early try.

For his second of the game he benefitted from fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad’s failure to catch a kick under pressure from Hudson Young, picking up the pieces for a simple run-in.

When the Warriors finally built some pressure, Tuivasa-Sheck failed to touch down a Harris-Tavita grubber to the corner.

At the other end, Matthew Timoko was denied a try by a Zac Hosking obstruction on Harris-Tavita, but the centre was celebrating moments later.

Slick passing movement created space for Savage to release Timoko, who then beat Harris-Tavita one-on-one to finish.

Two Fogarty goals made it 28-4 and the only late concern for the Raiders was self-inflicted, when skipper Joseph Tapine was sent to the sin bin for a shoulder charge on Mitchell Barnett.

But they were only breached once while a man down, Tuivasa-Sheck muscling into the corner, and in any case Canberra had the last word with a final Fogarty penalty goal.

GAMESTAR: Xavier Savage was a big threat throughout and his second try, going the length, was a pivotal moment.

GAMEBREAKER: Sebastian Kris’ second try sealed the deal with little more than half the match played.

MATCHFACTS
RAIDERS
1 Kaeo Weekes
2 Savelio Tamale
3 Matthew Timoko
4 Sebastian Kris
5 Xavier Savage
6 Ethan Strange
7 Jamal Fogarty
8 Corey Horsburgh
9 Tom Starling
10 Joseph Tapine
11 Hudson Young
12 Zac Hosking
16 Josh Papalii
Subs (all used)
13 Morgan Smithies
14 Owen Pattie
15 Simi Sasagi
17 Ata Mariota

Tries: Kris (6, 45), Savage (26, 32), Timoko (56)
Goals: Fogarty 5/6
Sin bin: Tapine (65) – shoulder charge

WARRIORS
1 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
2 Taine Tuaupiki
3 Ali Leiataua
4 Adam Pompey
5 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
6 Chanel Harris-Tavita
7 Luke Metcalf
8 James Fisher-Harris
9 Wayde Egan
15 Jackson Ford
11 Kurt Capewell
12 Marata Niukore
10 Mitchell Barnett
Subs (all used)
13 Erin Clark
14 Dylan Walker
16 Demitric Vaimauga
17 Leka Halasima