Jack Wighton’s 200th game and both the Canberra Raiders and Cronulla Sharks eager to start their seasons off right.
In the end, it was the Canberra Raiders who got the win on the back of a late try by Hudson Young.
Wighton, who is just the 13th Raiders player to reach 200 games for the club, was huge for the Raiders.
A Raiders try was brewing as they dominated possession in the opening eight minutes.
It came through Wighton, who combined with Nick Cotric down the left wing, to finish the play he started.
That jubilation was cut short when hooker Josh Hodgson left the field early for the Raiders, with the early prognosis of a possible meniscus injury.
The Raiders did not let that dampen their spirits, however, as they scored a second try.
Some nice play down the right saw Corey Harawira-Naera free his arm, offload, and Valemei ducked inside a couple of defenders to plant the ball down.
Not to be outdone, the Sharks would be the next to score.
Capitalising on the Raiders unpacking the scrum slowly, Blayke Brailey feigned right and ran himself to slice through the middle to score.
Just before the break, the Raiders would extend their lead and assert their dominance.
Tom Starling approached the line, grubbered, and found Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad who was quickest to the ball to score.
Will Kennedy then made his presence felt in attack when he combined with Nicho Hynes and Matt Moylan to score and narrow the deficit.
Moylan and Hynes would combine a second time, this time down the right, for Teig Wilton to power his way over on the edge.
The Sharks put themselves in the box seat to win the game when Moylan, who was as cool as a cucumber, slotted a field goal for a one-point Sharks lead.
The hero of the match then stepped forward as Young jinked his way past defenders before muscling his way over despite the pressure.
At 24-19, the Sharks needed something and it almost came via Matt Ikuvalu but some desperate Raiders defence denied him in the last seconds.
Sharks captain Dale Finucane admits that his side failed to control the game after they had kicked the field goal.
“Given that we kicked that field goal with about five minutes to go we knew we needed to be on high alert whether it was running the ball or kicking a field goal, we just needed to be on red alert there,” said Finucane.
“We just needed to handle that last five minutes a little bit better.”
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart praised his side’s desire and will to win, as well as youngsters Brad Schneider and James Schiller.
“There was a lot of grit and a lot of want from the boys. It was a good game of footy,” said Stuart.
“I thought Brad Schneider was very good kicking four from four and him and James Schiller will never forget that night and the involvement they both had.
“Being pushed into halfback in a very experienced team is a massive job and I thought Brad’s composure was very good.”
NRL News Player of the Game
3. Jack Wighton
2. Corey Harawira-Naera
1. Matt Moylan
