Knights defeat Raiders in wet contest

The Newcastle Knights have defeated the Canberra Raiders 22-18 in wet conditions at Energy Australia Stadium this evening.

In a game where the scoreline flattered the Raiders, the Knights, led superbly by Danny Buderus in his 200th first grade game, put the Raiders to the sword and it was only two late tries to the Raiders that gave the scoreline some respectability.

The game was played in the wet and the conditions and a short ten metres from Shayne Hayne helped the Knights forward pack dominate the Raiders and force silly errors, which gave the Knights good field position and they made the most of it.

Buderus was the standout but he was supported well by Steve Simpson, Kurt Gidley and Adam Macdougall. For the Raiders, only Alan Tongue and Scott Logan were the best on field.

The Knights halves also played well while their counterparts Michael Dobson and Terry Campese were pedestrian at best. If Canberra want to make the top eight, they must bring back Todd Carney ASAP. He can give them spark and direction and away from home, they need exactly that.

The back three from Newcastle were also excellent whereas the Raiders back three didn