The Canberra Raiders delivered a brave second half comeback, but a late try to Brisbane saw them fall short 28-22 against the Broncos on Saturday at Totally Workwear Stadium.
Despite an early onslaught from the Broncos where they scored an early try and dominated possession, the Raiders showed tremendous courage and fightback to almost pull off a remarkable road victory.
The Broncos built off early momentum, with an Alli Brigginshaw bomb to the left hand side of the field seeing Shenae Ciesiolka score the first try of the match to lead 4-0.
Brisbane took advantage of Raiders errors, with a sharp pass to the right hand side of the field seeing Shenae Ciesiolka score a double to take Brisbane to an 8-0 lead.
Canberra hit back through Mackenzie Wiki, with the powerful running centre scoring the Raiders opener. Zahara Temara added the two and it was 8-6 Brisbane.
Quick thinking from Brisbane's Captain Ali Brigginshaw saw a bomb to the right hand side of the field, with Stacey Waaka collecting to push the score out to 12-6 at halftime.
Canberra hit back quickly after the break with a well executed play, which saw Shakiah Tungaii utilising her speed to plant the ball over the line. Temara then nailed a conversion from the side line to make it 12-12.
The Broncos hit back against the run of play with Julia Robinson who dived over to score and then backed it up with an intercept try to extend Brisbane's lead to 22-12.
Canberra’s impressive ball movement on the right hand side of the field led to Kerehitina Matua using her strength to reach the tryline following on from a beautiful pass from Zahara Temara. The try making it 22-16.
The Raiders continued to push the Broncos defence as Emma Barnes tested them with a quick thinking try from dummy half and when Temara converted it was game on at 22-22.
As time was ticking away both sides were searching for the upper hand, but the Broncos sealed the win when Stacey Waaka scored in the dying stages to run out winners 28-22.
The Canberra Raiders look to bounce back with a home clash against North
Queensland Cowboys next Saturday afternoon at GIO Stadium.
