At Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch, the Canberra Raiders were defeated by the New Zealand Warriors 18–10.
The Warriors, who also happened to record their first victory of the season, dealt Canberra their first setback of the 2024 campaign.
The Warriors had the best field position throughout the early exchanges thanks to a combination of tenacious rushing through the middle and excellent defense.
Field position that the Warriors would capitalize on, as Addin Fonua-Blake strolled by unchallenged to start the scoring after Shaun Johnson delivered a well-executed short ball.
After Rocco Berry offloaded to Addin Fonua Blake, who claimed an uncontested bomb, the front rower appeared to have a first-half double, but Xavier Savage made a last-ditch effort to drag him down before the try line.
The Raiders’ finest chance of the first half came after a forward pass from Warriors hooker Freddy Lussick. With a deft right-side shift, Timoko got early ball and took advantage of it by outrunning two defenders to the try line.
Both teams were relieved to have a breather from the intense, end-to-end first half as the Warriors led by just two points at the intermission.
Similar to the first half, the second half would begin with both forward packs producing excellent defense and gaining ground on the offensive end.
The Green Machine emerged victorious in the arm wrestle and scored the first goal of the second half.
Canberra would go into the attacking red zone thanks to a penalty and a mistake made by New Zealand. Jamal Fogarty’s excellent cut-out pass set up a two-on-one chance, which Nick Cotric completed with ease.
After just five minutes, the Warriors would score again to regain their two-point lead at the half. Luke Metcalf and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak combined to penetrate the Canberra defense.
Nick Cotric would be forced to make a mistake by a potent set of after-points, and the Warriors would need just two tackles to grab the lead thanks to Roger Tuivasa Sheck, who scored his first NRL try since 2021.
Metcalf made the conversion to give the home team a commanding 18-10 lead.
With several offensive sets on the Warriors defense, which in the end proved to be too formidable, the Raiders would have chances to close the eight-point lead.
On Sunday, Canberra will try to get back at Pointsbet Stadium against the Cronulla Sharks.
