The Raiders have survived a comeback from the Dragons to seal a crucial 24-22 win at GIO Stadium to keep their finals hopes alive.
It was a thrilling finish that was almost identical to the controversial Round 16 finish — only this time it was the Raiders who benefited.
Mat Feagai made a break and knocked on as he got up to play the ball. Corey Harawira-Naera made the tackle and the Dragons pleaded with the referee for a penalty but to no avail.
The home team struck first with a try in the opening minute, only for the Dragons to hit back five minutes later through youngster Talatau Amone, who bagged a hat-trick and set up a try in the 75th minute to keep the game alive.
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DEJA VU IN CRAZY FINISH
The finish to Sunday’s game will be spoken about for days to come after the Raiders were saved by the whistle in an “almost identical” situation to how they lost in Round 16.
With less than a minute to go Ben Hunt shifted the ball to Mat Feagai who took off down the field before he was finally pulled down by Corey Harawira-Naera.
Harawira-Naera looked to have tried to hold Feagai down and the Dragons back knocked on as he made his way to his feet for a play the ball.
Dragons players pleaded with referee Adam Gee for a penalty but weren’t so lucky.
“It’s almost identical… Round 16 all over again in reverse,” Fox League commentator Brenton Speed said.
“The Dragons are thinking ‘where is our penalty?’ that the Raiders did not get in Wollongong. But Adam Gee says that it is full time and Canberra’s season is alive.
“The Dragons are done in 2022. They’ll talk about this ending for a little while… nearly the miracle.”
It was only six weeks ago that Raiders coach Ricky Stuart smoked over a controversial call back in Round 16 — the last time these two teams met.
As the clock wound down two Dragons players looked to hold a Raider down to slow the play and as a result the Raiders were awarded a six-again. But there was belief it should have been a ruck penalty — especially because Ben Hunt wasn’t square at marker.
YOUNG DRAGON’S COMING OF AGE
Fresh off inking a contract extension, Dragons youngster Talatau Amone had his best NRL game to date.
Amone bagged a hat-trick and set up a try in the final minutes in a big turnaround from his unhappy performance against the Sharks just over a week ago.
The 20-year-old scored a double in the first 20 minutes to quickly put Round 21 behind him.
“I don’t reckon he ran three or four times last week, but he’s already scored two tries and had about five carries — a big difference in the young man,” Fox League’s Shane Flanagan said.
He then scored his third in the 67th minute to keep the Dragons in the game.
“He had an unhappy week last week but today he’s been dangerous every time he’s touched the ball,” Flanagan said.
“We know what talent he’s got, he’s going to be an NRL player for a long period of time and he’s showing it today.”
But Amone wasn’t done. The rising five-eighth, who inked a one-year extension on Thursday, threw a pinpoint pass with five minutes to go to set up a grandstand finish.
It was that moment in an impressive game from the youngster that Flanagan believes could set him up for the future.
“This young man has had a day out,” he said.
“He’s scored three tries and then on the last tackle he goes down the right-hand side and comes up with a beautiful pass across two of his teammates to hit Tautau Moga on the chest.
“This could be the making of Junior Amone.
“We’ve always know how much talent he’s got but to be put a complete 80-minute performance together like he has today it will give him an enormous amount of confidence moving forward.”
Along with his three tries and one try assist, Amone notched up seven tackle busts, three linebreaks, a linebreak assist and an offload.
‘X-FACTOR’ SAVAGE STARS FOR RAIDERS
The injection of Xavier Savage is exactly what the Raiders needed with the elusive fullback setting up two tries in their crucial win on Sunday.
Savage missed last week with an ankle injury, but was on a mission in his return game.
The 20-year-old’s skill was on show early when he sent veteran winger Jordan Rapana over in the corner in the 27th minute with a slick ball.
“The deft touch of Xavier Savage… He had the Dragons spellbound,” Fox League commentator Brenton Speed said.
Shane Flanagan added: “Xavier’s Savage’s speed gets Tautau Moga in two minds.”
Savage then set up another try in the first minute of the second half with a grubber for Albert Hopoate to score.
He finished the game with 158 running meters, three tackle busts, two linebreak assists and an offload to go with his two try assists.
“Savage has added some real x-factor, as we thought he would, for the Raiders,” Michael Ennis said.
TEAMS
raiders: 1. Xavier Savage 2. Albert Hopoate 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Jack Wighton 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papali’i 9. Zac Woolford 10. Emre Guler 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Adam Elliott 14. Tom Starling 15. Ryan Sutton 16. Corey Horsburgh 17. Corey Harawira-Naera. Replacement player: 18. James Schiller
Dragon’s: 21. Cody Ramsey 2. Mathew Feagai 1. Moses Mbye 4. Zac Lomax 5. Tautau Moga 6. Talatau Amone 7. Ben Hunt 8. Jack de Belin 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Blake Lawrie 11. Josh Mcguire 12. Jaydn Su ‘A 3. Jack Bird 13. Michael Molo 15. Aaron Woods 16. Tyrell Fuimaono 17. Billy Burns. Replacement player: 20. Jayden Hunt
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