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Josh Hodgson's long-awaited return has ignited Canberra's NRL season, inspiring them to a 48-12 NRL thrashing of the Wests Tigers.
After racking up a series of embarrassing fade outs in the first half of the season, the Raiders recorded their biggest win of 2018 as they ran in nine tries, following Melbourne Storm's earlier win over the Knights in Newcastle.
English hooker Hodgson proved the catalyst, with the Green Machine suddenly looking a vastly-improved outfit when he ran onto Campbelltown Stadium midway through Sunday's first half.
In a 46-minute effort, Hodgson set up three tries and proved the glue that his side has been missing all season while he recuperated from a knee reconstruction.
Even after the bunker dubiously denied tries to Jack Wighton and Shannon Boyd, the Raiders scored eight unanswered tries from the 15th minute onwards.
Heading into the representative round, the Raiders are just four points behind the eighth-placed Broncos and look capable of making a charge for the finals.
The Tigers opened up a 12-4 lead and it looked like things were going to get worse for the Raiders when Blake Austin was sin-binned in the 23rd minute.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart responded by injecting Hodgson into the game.
His impact was immediate as he threw a hard, flat pass to Josh Papalii who backed his way over to reduce the Tigers' lead to 12-10 at the break.
And when he produced a sleight of hand to fool the Tigers defensive line, it created room for Joseph Tapine to crash over and give the Raiders the lead.
After being left out of the NSW extended squad for Origin II, young Raiders winger Nick Cotric responded by hitting and spinning over in the corner.
The Raiders sealed the game when Hodgson flicked the ball for Tapine's second try.
Joseph Leilua also brought up a double in the nine-tries-to-two defeat.
There were worrying signs for Tigers coach Ivan Cleary after his side suffered their seventh loss in ninth starts.
Even with Moses Mbye about to arrive on a mid-season switch and the club being linked to their former skipper Robbie Farah, their season has hit a roadblock.
The Tigers also have concerns over Mahe Fonua (suspected broken arm) and Matt McIlwrick (ankle).
AAP
Storm dominant in win over Knights
Kalyn Ponga showed he was human but still reminded Queensland coach Kevin Walters why the Maroons need him next week during Newcastle's 28-10 loss to Melbourne.
The Storm celebrated Craig Bellamy's re-signing as coach with a comfortable away victory on Sunday to stay fifth on the NRL ladder.
Flyer Josh Addo-Carr twice finished off length-of-the-field tries, while Cameron Munster also starred in his final hit out before Queensland's must-win State of Origin II clash with NSW at the Olympic stadium next Sunday.
But, with Queensland giving Billy Slater until Wednesday to overcome a hamstring strain and Walters admitting Ponga was very much in the hunt for a bench role regardless, all eyes were on the Knights full-back.
Ponga started nervously with three errant passes and endured a difficult afternoon with the boot, but still showcased the kind of X-factor Queensland might need if they are to crack NSW.
Against one of the best attacking sides in the NRL, he scored the Knights' first try when he skipped out of dummy-half and he played a significant role in their only other try as they kept with the Storm for the first 50 minutes.
In a play that has typified the 20-year-old's first full season, Ponga skipped at the line and drew defenders before he found Cory Denniss to put Ken Sio over and get the Knights back in the hunt at 14-10 down.
He finished with eight tackle busts and two line breaks, just a day before he is certain to be called into Queensland camp as a reserve or even bench utility at the very least.
But not even Ponga's brilliance could save the Knights as they completed their sets at just 66 per cent and made more than double the amount of errors as the Storm.
The Melbourne side was as clinical as ever, making just one error in the first half before taking control of the match with 14 points in the final half hour.
AAP
Topics: nrl, rugby-league, sport
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