Round 17 Canberra Raiders v St George Illawarra Dragons

[TITAN PETE]

MONDAY

Canberra Raiders v St George Illawarra Dragons at Canberra Stadium, 7:00pm (local). #NRLCANSTI

RAIDERS: Reece Robinson, Dimitri Pelo, Jarrod Croker, Blake Ferguson, Edrick Lee, Josh Mccrone, Sam Williams, Dane Tilse, Travis Waddell, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Josh Papalii, Joel Thompson, Shaun Fensom. Interchange (from): Bronson Harrison, Sam Mataora, Joe Picker, Mark Nicholls

DRAGONS: Jason Nightingale, Daniel Vidot, Chase Stanley, Matt Cooper, Bronx Goodwin,Jamie Soward, Ben Hornby, Dan Hunt, Mitch Rein, Jack de Belin, Jake Marketo,Leeson Ah Mau, Dean Young. Interchange: Nathan Fien, Jeremy Latimore, MattPrior, Josh Miller

[TITAN PETE]

Dragons hunt hoodoo-breaking win

Crystal Ja AAP Sun, Jul 01, 2012 - 6:56 PM

With a 12-year winning streak to their advantage, Canberra's Tom Learoyd-Lahrs says the Raiders won't have to try anything too flash in their NRL battle with St George Illawarra.

The forward says it will all come down to the basics on Monday, when the struggling Dragons will be out hunting their first win at Canberra Stadium since 2000.

"Over the years I think we've had a pretty good style of playing against the Dragons, but it will come down to just the basics for us," Learoyd-Lahrs said.

"Using the big blokes we've got and the pace we've got on the edges - not trying to over-complicate things."

Canberra have proved to be the hoodoo team for the Dragons, who've lost 12 of the past 13 games against the Green Machine.

They also have to win without Ben Creagh, Brett Morris and Beau Scott, who are all missing through State of Origin duty.

But Learoyd-Lahrs admitted it hadn't been a perfect week for the Raiders either, after losing a handful of players from last week's loss to North Queensland.

Makeshift five-eighth Josh Dugan (ankle), Trevor Thurling (shoulder) and Joel Thompson (hand) were all casualties from that game, although Thompson has since been cleared to play.

Bronson Harrison was on Sunday a late scratching with a dodgy hamstring, which puts Mark Nicholls in line again to make his NRL debut.

Dragons veteran Dean Young retires at the end of the year, meaning Monday's clash is his last chance to notch a victory in the nation's capital.

He said the Dragons were well aware of their poor record against the Raiders, but that they couldn't afford to take notice of it.

"The field's the same size, so you can't come up with any excuses," Young said.

"It hasn't been pretty the last couple of years, but we're sitting at 10th and when you're sitting in that position, you can't worry about other teams."

Having Trent Merrin returned from the NSW squad will be a boost for the Dragons, while the Raiders will miss David Shillington to Queensland ahead of Wednesday's Origin decider.

[TITAN PETE]

Last Time Played: Raiders v Dragons

NRL.com Mon, Jul 02, 2012 - 12:00 PM

The Raiders stunned the Dragons with a dramatic last-seconds play to steal a 24-19 victory at Canberra Stadium in Round 20 last year.

On a freezing Monday night in the nation’s capital the Green Machine overcame an 18-6 deficit at halftime, with Josh Dugan snatching victory with his second try of the evening as the fulltime siren loomed.

It was Dugan who launched their second-half comeback when he bounced out of a brace of would-be Dragons tacklers 20 metres out to power over under the posts in the 53rd minute, before Blake Ferguson’s try in the right corner from a scrum saw the teams draw level with 17 minutes remaining.

Jamie Soward appeared to have sealed victory for the Red V when he piloted over a pressure-cooker field-goal with 98 seconds left on the clock but the Raiders managed to get the ball back from their short restart of play, leaving them one last bite in attack. They worked the ball downfield, then Josh McCrone dabbed a grubber into the in-goal that Dugan somehow managed to pounce on before on-the-spot Dragons Nathan Fien and Brett Morris.

It was a remarkable, against-the-odds victory by the Raiders who were dominated by St George Illawarra everywhere but on the scoreboard. The Dragons completed their sets at a season-best 95 per cent (to Canberra’s 85 per cent), made five line-breaks to three, committed just five errors (to the Raiders’ 10) and missed just 17 tackles (to the Raiders’ 38).

Dugan (two tries, 180 metres and six tackle-breaks) and McCrone (two try assists) were the stars for Canberra, while Trent Merrin was unstoppable for the visitors (19 hit-ups, 177 metres).

[DIEHARD]

Looks like another victory over the Dragons for the Raiders. Such an interesting rivalry between these clubs.

Love that the Dragons are wearing their Steelers jersey!

[DIEHARD]

Dragons get ahead 18-16, Raiders get back ahead 20-18 with a minute to play.

[gotitans101]

lol the Raiders win it in the last 2 minutes of the game. The hoodoo continues.

[Princey's Titanz]

yes that means Titans will hold onto the 10th position on the ladder

[TITAN PETE]

Canberra extend NRL streak over Dragons

Crystal Ja AAP Mon, Jul 02, 2012 - 9:42 PM

A three-try haul to Reece Robinson, including the match-winner, allowed Canberra to extend their NRL hoodoo over St George Illawarra with a come-from-behind 22-18 victory on Monday.

The Raiders were trailing 18-16 with three minutes to go before Robinson found a yawning gap on the left-hand side of the field in the Dragons' quarter, his try dooming the visitors to yet another loss at Canberra Stadium.

The Dragons haven't won in the nation's capital since 2000 - and that was so long ago that even Raiders coach David Furner played in the side.

The jubilation was evident for the Raiders as the final siren sounded, with the ACT squad narrowly escaping with just their sixth win of the season.

The visitors looked all but set for victory after two second-half tries to Mitch Rein got them in front 18-16 with 12 minutes to play.

They'd dominated as soon as the second half got underway.

But the never-say-die Raiders left it to Robinson for a stirring late comeback, adding to his two tries from the first half.

Robinson had scored both those tries in the dying minutes of the first half to turn a deadlocked scoreline into a 16-6 advantage.

It was the Raiders who opened up the scoring after nine minutes, with Edrick Lee scoring out wide from a Jarrod Croker pass.

For the first 20 minutes, the Raiders were relentless in attack, but despite losing Ben Creagh, Beau Scott and Brett Morris to State of Origin duty, the Dragons were up to the task.

They managed to hold the Raiders off and when Bronx Goodwin crossed on the left wing, the Dragons suddenly found themselves on equal footing at 6-6.

That looked to be the scoreline even four minutes to go before the break, before Robinson launched his late two-try burst.

In the first he was helped after being bundled over the line by Matt Cooper's momentum, while the second he managed all on his own motor.

Joel Thompson made an impressive line-break before passing to Robinson, who dashed 40m to the line.

Dragons coach Steve Price refused to buy into the hoodoo talk, having previously called it a "load of crap".

But captain Ben Hornby conceded it rang true for the Raiders at least.

"It's belief," he said.

"When they play us, they believe they can win and you can't underestimate what belief does for a side.

"Until we have a win, and a couple of wins, they're going to have that."

Price rued the loss, arguing the game was in the bag but for one defensive error.

But Furner said afterwards that the points had always been for the Raiders' taking.

"I just thought if we got to a certain position where we'd worked hard on, that we'd get an opportunity to score some points," he said.

"It was very clever."

The Dragons have a bye week to stew over the loss, while the Raiders prepare to meet Melbourne away at AAMI Park on Saturday.