It was a tough pill to swallow for the green machine on Sunday afternoon as they were edged out by the Sydney Roosters in front of 29,686 fans at Suncorp Stadium.
Despite a slow start, the Raiders managed to end up with 48% possession.
Ricky Stuart’s side was able to conjure up a completion rate of 84% as they completed 31/37 sets.
Trent Robinson’s side didn’t fare much better as could only complete 30/38 of their sets for a rate of 79%.
Overall, the Eastern Suburbs outfit ran for over 1647 metres from 170 runs while the men from the nation’s capital contributed with 1459 metres from 155 runs.
Canberra completed 11 offloads and four line breaks in attack while Sydney made six offloads and six line breaks.
The Raiders were the busier team in defence as they mustered up a total of 324 tackles while the Roosters made 306. Canberra will be looking to improve on their 34 missed tackles while Sydney only made 18.
The home side conceded just eight penalties throughout the contest while Canberra conceded nine.
The ladder leaders made a total of 10 errors with the ball in hand while the Raiders made only seven.
Match Highlights: Roosters v Raiders
Individual statistics:
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad continues to be the metre maker for the green machine as he made a total of 172. The Cook Islands international currently sits 7th overall in the NRL for metres made. Nicoll-Klokstad also made six tackle breaks as well as one line break.
Josh Papalii continued his fine form in 2019 with 148 metres from 62 minutes. From those metres 46 were post contact. Papalii also contributed with two offloads, two tackle breaks, and 36 tackles.
England internationals Josh Hodgson and Elliot Whitehead lead the way for tackles made with 39 and 38 tackles respectively.
In his first full 80 minutes at NRL level, Hudson Young made 36 tackles as he continues to impress in 2019.
