The Canberra Raiders have secured a tight 16-12 victory over the Gold Coast Titans to round out their season with a win at Commbank Stadium.
The team farewelled departing players Ash Quinlan and Apii Nicholls in style, with both scoring tries and Nicholls her first in the NRLW.
After a late threat from the Titans, with a try in the last three minutes, the Canberra Raiders have held on to secure their third win of the season and finish the 2024 campaign on a high.
A frantic start to the contest saw the Raiders attacking the Titans line, on the opening set of the afternoon after Karina Brown knocked on off the kick off.
The Green Machine took full advantage of the opportunity, with a raid down the right hand side proving fruitful, with Shakiah Tungai supplying a superb flick pass for Monalisa Soliola to cross in the opening minute.
An ill discipline start from the visitors, combined with an attacking mindset from the home side ensured the Raiders experienced the best of the chances in the opening twenty minutes.
Co Captain Zahara Temara executed a superb set play with Apii Nicholls appearing from nowhere to punch through the gap created and run away for her first try in the NRLW and the Raiders second of the match.
Although unable to challenge the scorers in the opening half an hour, the Titans created opportunities, with the last pass causing them problems on multiple occasions.
On the stroke of half time, the Titans executed the final pass with a shift to the right hand side of the field providing early ball for Sarina Masaga who skipped on the outside of Robins-Reti and slammed the ball down.
A dominant start to the first half ensured the Raiders entered the break with a 10-4 lead, with the opening exchanges of the second stanza key to deciding the outcome of the match.
An end to end start to the second, saw both sides break the line through Simaima Taufa and Lily-Rose Kolc respectively, with desperate scrambling defence preventing any damage on the scoreboard.
The Raiders extended their lead through the halves linking up on the last tackle, Temara providing a well weighted kick into the in goal dived on by Quinlan.
The try extended the home side's lead to twelve points, with the successful conversion seeing Zahara Temara become the first NRLW to cross the 200 point mark.
An error from rep forward Grace Kemp provided the Titans with a golden opportunity attacking the Raiders line, which they took full advantage of through Taliah Fumiano, who tucked the ball under her arm and crossed to reduce the margin to eight.
Gold Coast threatened the try line of the Raiders in the final ten minutes as they looked to reduce the margin, however the green wall held strong until Sienna Lofipo showed the ball and broke the line to score with three minutes remaining and set up a grandstand finish.
The win for the Canberra Raiders sees the side finish with three wins for the 2024 season, finishing seventh on the competition ladder.
