The Canberra Raiders have upset Paul Gallen’s farewell after defeating the Cronulla Sharks 15-14 at PointsBet Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Being down 12-0 at half-time, the Raiders fought back thanks to tries from Nicoll-Klokstad and Cotric to even the game up.
The real hero was Raiders halfback Aidan Sezer, who knocked over three successful field goals in three attempts to cement the Canberra victory.
The win sees the Green Machine move back up into third position with only one round remaining.
The Raiders started off on the back foot as Ronaldo Mulitalo dived into the Sharks corner and scored the first try of the match 16 minutes in, despite a valiant effort from Jack Wighton to stop him.
The Sharks were in again to score four minutes later as Bronson Xerri ran through a gap in the Raiders line and got a pass away to Jayden Brailey who dove over to score.
The Raiders thought they were in to score thanks to Corey Horsburgh diving over underneath the posts off a Josh Papalii offload, however was ruled no-try due to an obstruction in the lead-up.
Despite a strong Raiders defence, the Sharks were in again just before half-time as Ronaldo Mulitalo tiptoed down the touchline and got his second try of the match.
One final play in the half fizzled out into nothing as the Green Machine headed into the sheds 12 points down and in need of a massive second half.
The Raiders got the first points of the second half as a bullet pass from Josh Hodgson to Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad saw the fullback burst through a gap five metres out and put the ball down with ease.
The Raiders got scores level ten minutes later after an 80 metre run from Jarrod Croker saw him get tackled not far out from the try line, only for Nic Cotric to go over untouched in the following play.
With 13 minutes to play, Sezer slotted home a field goal ten metres out to give the Raiders the lead for the first time in the match.
Two minutes later Chad Townsend returned the favour and kicked home a field goal for the Sharks to even the scores up with the Green Machine.
With three minutes remaining, Chad Townsend knocked home another field goal to give the Sharks a one-point lead.
It became a field-goal shootout, as Aidan Sezer nailed his second field goal of the match to tie the Raiders up once again, two minutes away from the final siren.
A field-goal attempt on the final siren from Josh Hodgson 40 metres out just fell short, meaning the Raiders and Sharks headed to extra time.
With two minutes remaining in the second half of extra time, Sezer calmly kicked his third field goal and gave the Canberra Raiders a 15-14 victory over the Sharks on Sunday afternoon.
Canberra Raiders 15 (Tries: Nicoll-Klokstad, Cotric. Goals: Croker 2/2. Field Goals: Sezer 3/3) def.
Cronulla Sharks 14 (Tries: 2 Mulitalo, J Brailey. Goals: Flanagan 0/3 Field Goals: Townsend 2/2)
