Canberra keep finals dream alive

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Canberra Raiders v South Sydney Rabbitohs

The Canberra Raiders sit on the cusp of the top eight after a dominant 32-12 victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs to close out the round.

Moving to ninth on the ladder after extending their record against the Rabbitohs to 10 wins from 14 matches during Ricky Stuart's tenure, the victory was a fitting result for Canberra captain Elliott Whitehead who became only the 15th player to play 200 first grade matches for the club.

The Raiders made their intentions known from the opening moments with a blockbusting run by Hudson Young setting up Jordan Rapana (5th minute) and Xavier Savage (9th minute) juggling a towering bomb to give the hosts a 12-0 lead in as many minutes.

Things continued to go from bad to worse for the Rabbitohs as Alex Johnston was assisted from the field with a suspected season-ending Achilles injury followed by an error inside their own half that allowed Sebastian Kris (19th minute) to extend the lead.

With their slim top eight hopes fading by the minute, the Rabbitohs managed to stem the one-way flow of points with a kick bouncing fortuitously for Taane Milne (31st minute) to get the visitors on the board.

A spectacular passage of play featuring two kicks from Jamal Fogarty saw Rapana (36th minute) collect his second four-pointer, while a contentious try to Cody Walker (40th minute) as the halftime siren sounded saw the margin narrowed to 24-8.

The Raiders began the second half as they started the first with an early try to Ata Mariota (44th minute), who ran through some feeble defence to touch down underneath the black dot.

Tallis Duncan (60th minute) barged over from close range after sustained pressure on the Raiders line, however Damien Cook's inability to convert from close range put the result out of reach for the visitors.

A penalty goal to Fogarty secured the Raiders ninth win of the season as the match ended with the Canberra faithful making their displeasure known when Whitehead was sent to the sin bin on fulltime for a flop.

Next week, the Raiders will face the Bulldogs at Belmore on Sunday afternoon, while the Rabbitohs will travel to Cronulla to take on the Sharks on Saturday evening.