Full Time
80:00
3:00pm Sat March 5, 2016
Round 1 - GIO Stadium Canberra, Bruce / Ngunnawal - Crowd: 11297
80

UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANBERRA RAIDERS: Conversion attempt by Jarrod Croker unsuccessful.

Croker with the final touch of the game, misses the conversion.

Canberra Raiders 30-22

80

TRY CANBERRA RAIDERS: Scored by Shaun Fensom. Kick to come.

That'll do it! Fensom pushed through the line and just bulldozed the fullback to seal the victory!

Canberra Raiders 30-22

56

SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL CANBERRA RAIDERS: Penalty goal attempt by Jarrod Croker successful.

Croker smashes it through. Tied up again.

Canberra Raiders 26-22

79

UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS: Peta Hiku makes an unforced error.

Hiku was taken ball and all. Dropped it. Raiders should hold on.

Canberra Raiders 24-22

78

UNFORCED ERROR CANBERRA RAIDERS: Jack Wighton makes an unforced error.

Wighton goes for the speccy catch but spilled it. He won't make a ruckman.

Canberra Raiders 24-22

76

UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS: Jeremy Latimore makes an unforced error.

Penrith were pouring on the pressure but go the power play on last. Latimore couldn't hold it.

Canberra Raiders 24-22

71

SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL CANBERRA RAIDERS: Penalty goal attempt by Jarrod Croker successful.

Croker once again, pilots it through to make it four points the lead.

Canberra Raiders 24-22

70

UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS: Josh Mansour makes an unforced error.

Mansour spills it in his own twenty. They point to the sticks again.

22 all

68

SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL CANBERRA RAIDERS: Penalty goal attempt by Jarrod Croker successful.

Raiders earn another PENALTY. They opt for the sticks. Croker takes his time and puts it through.

22 all

66

UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS: Jamie Soward makes an unforced error.

Soward tried to jam the attacker but knocked the ball down. Six more incoming.

Penrith Panthers 22-20

63

Sensible work from the Badger there. There was a frackas after the slipped pass from Sezer but no one actually threw anything, so just a scrum, to Penrith.

Penrith Panthers 22-20

61

PENALTY Raiders! The crowd loves it as well.

Penrith Panthers 22-20

61

UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS: Josh Mansour makes an unforced error.

A chip kick from Soward almost fell right onto Mansour's chest but spilled.

Penrith Panthers 22-20

57

UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS: Peter Wallace makes an unforced error.

Peter Wallace sanwiched between defenders and it jarred loose. Followed by Soward conceding a PENALTY for a high shot.

Penrith Panthers 22-20

53

TRY CANBERRA RAIDERS: Scored by Aidan Sezer. Kick to come.

GREEN LIGHTS..TRY! Nothing wrong with it and the half has a double.

Penrith Panthers 22-20

53

BUNKER! Sezer with a determined effort but we're checking if Vaughan obstructed anyone.

Penrith Panthers 22-16

53

Waqa Blake with some good covering work there. He was able to recover the ball before the chasing pack. Dropout.

Penrith Panthers 22-16

52

PENALTY Raiders. A second dig from the Panthers.

Penrith Panthers 22-16

52

UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS: Dallin Watene Zelezniak makes an unforced error.

Heady play from Watene-Zelezniak there. Croker tried to position Lee for the try but the Panthers wing bunted it away. Six more tackles incoming.

Penrith Panthers 22-16

50

PENALTY Raiders! Finally some relief for the green machine, who have been under the kosh all half thus far.

Penrith Panthers 22-16

49

Soward once again took on the line but he couldn't direct the pass. Forward.

Penrith Panthers 22-16

45

SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION PENRITH PANTHERS: Conversion attempt by Jamie Soward successful.

Soward from the touchline, fades it inside.

Penrith Panthers 22-16

45

TRY PENRITH PANTHERS: Scored by Josh Mansour. Kick to come.

The dam wall breaks. Soward took on the line, could almost smell the line, tossed it backwards for Blake to scoop it for Mansour to walk it in.

Penrith Panthers 20-16

43

Austin! Austin! Austin! A huuuuge 70 metre dropkick to put Panthers on their heels.

16 all

43

Wallace tried to chip one to the winger but Edrick Lee was there to Mutumbo it dead.

16 all

42

Offside PENALTY. Panthers with another full set at the line.

16 all

41

PENALTY Panthers! Edrick Lee with the blocking penalty.

16 all

40

Raiders kick-off and here we go!

16 all

40

After the pulsating first half, what does the second half in store for us. The weather has cooled down slightly so we'll see if the two teams start to tire.

16 all

40

SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL PENRITH PANTHERS: Penalty goal attempt by Jamie Soward successful.

.. the five-eighth pilots it through to send us to halftime all locked up at 16! A frantic half ends with both teams flexing their attacking muscle but not so keen on defense.

16 all

40

Two in the tackle strip. The siren sounds and they point to the sticks..

Canberra Raiders 16-14

39

PENALTY Panthers! Fensom with a second effort. Panthers with one final shot.

Canberra Raiders 16-14

39

SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION PENRITH PANTHERS: Conversion attempt by Jamie Soward successful.

Soward puts it through to reduce the Raiders lead to two.

Canberra Raiders 16-14

37

TRY PENRITH PANTHERS: Scored by Peta Hiku. Kick to come.

Panthers with some great play through the hands down the left to send Hiku in.

Canberra Raiders 16-12

36

Clear strip from the Raiders and Panthers have a chance to reduce the deficit.

Canberra Raiders 16-8

34

Strong run from Soliola gifts the Raiders a PENALTY.

Canberra Raiders 16-8

28

UNFORCED ERROR CANBERRA RAIDERS: Joseph Leilua makes an unforced error.

Almost an Inspector Gadget-like play from Leilua but he lost it going to ground it.

Canberra Raiders 16-8

28

VIDEO BUNKER x3! but referee calls NO TRY. We're checking grounding.

Canberra Raiders 16-8

28

Now the Panthers have kicked it OUT ON THE FULL. Raiders are in the mood currently.

Canberra Raiders 16-8

28

UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANBERRA RAIDERS: Conversion attempt by Jarrod Croker unsuccessful.

First unsuccessful kick from Croker today. Faded too much.

Canberra Raiders 16-8

26

TRY CANBERRA RAIDERS: Scored by Aidan Sezer. Kick to come.

Raiders continue to link up well. Now it's the other half with a TRY! Papalii opened up the space, linked with Croker who found Sezer to finish it off.

Canberra Raiders 16-8

24

After a lovely kick which caught the winger off guard. Silly penalty from Bryce Cartwright.

Canberra Raiders 12-8

22

SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION PENRITH PANTHERS: Conversion attempt by Jamie Soward successful.

Besides the sticks, Soward reduces the deficit to four.

Canberra Raiders 12-8

22

TRY PENRITH PANTHERS: Scored by Trent Merrin. Kick to come.

GREEN LIGHTS..TRY! All good and a lovely spin move from Merrin to get into space.

Canberra Raiders 12-6

22

BUNKER TIME! Another simple check, Merrin spun and looked to crash over.

Canberra Raiders 12-2

21

Brilliant counter-attacking run from Will Smith has the Panthers on the attack.. and a PENALTY.

Canberra Raiders 12-2

20

SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANBERRA RAIDERS: Conversion attempt by Jarrod Croker successful.

Croker slightly inside the touchline this time. Same result, with an assist from the post.

Canberra Raiders 12-2

18

TRY CANBERRA RAIDERS: Scored by Blake Austin. Kick to come.

He set up the first one, now does it himself! Austin showed it-and went himself for four more points!

Canberra Raiders 10-2

17

PENALTY Raiders! Austin sliced through and Merrin double-dipped for the penalty. Can't do that.

Canberra Raiders 6-2

16

UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS: Regan Campbell-Gillard makes an unforced error.

Been an error strewn opening 15. Campbell-Gillard couldn't play it correctly. Raiders to work it out from their own ten now.

Canberra Raiders 6-2

15

UNFORCED ERROR CANBERRA RAIDERS: Edrick Lee makes an unforced error.

Battle of the tall timber on last here. Lee and Blake go up for it and judged that the former touched it. Scrum Panthers.

Canberra Raiders 6-2

13

UNFORCED ERROR CANBERRA RAIDERS: Shannon Boyd makes an unforced error.

Hodgson tried the power play to Boyd but it rebounded off him. Relief for the Panthers.

Canberra Raiders 6-2

12

UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS: William Smith makes an unforced error.

Will Smith was hammered on the kick return and fumbled it playing the ball. Big chance for the Raiders to compound the misery.

Canberra Raiders 6-2

10

SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANBERRA RAIDERS: Conversion attempt by Jarrod Croker successful.

Sideline attempt for the first time in 2016 for Jarrod Croker. He steps in and fades it over the black dot.

Canberra Raiders 6-2

9

TRY CANBERRA RAIDERS: Scored by Edrick Lee. Kick to come.

GREEN LIGHTS..TRY! Some quick thinking from Papalii to pop it back to Austin who flipped it to Lee to touch down.

Canberra Raiders 4-2

9

BUNKER TIME! For the first time today we're off to Rugby League Central. Just checking if Lee got it down inside the line.

Penrith Panthers 2-0

7

PENALTY Raiders, a good reliever for them after being stuck down their own end.

Penrith Panthers 2-0

3

SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL PENRITH PANTHERS: Penalty goal attempt by Jamie Soward successful.

Soward from in front, makes no mistake.

Penrith Panthers 2-0

3

PENALTY Panthers! Whitehead just knocked it out of Segeyaro's hands.. they opt for goal.

0 all

2

Early chance for the Panthers after a drop from the Raiders.

0 all

HERE WE GO! Super Saturday underway!

Before the sides head out to this hot Canberra Stadium, just word that there will be NO drinks breaks for the teams. Penrith first out in their pink panther jersey cheered on by a small contingent of fans. Soon after is my favourite theme in the NRL, the Green Machine song which of course signals the arrival of the Raiders! They take residence in the southern end of the stadium ready to receive the kick-off.

TEAM CHANGES:

CAN: Two changes for the home side, Blake Austin has usurped Sam Williams for the five-eighth spot which allows Kurt Baptiste to slide onto the bench.

PEN: Penrith's only change is on the bench. Elijah Taylor has been dropped from the bench replaced by James Fisher-Harris.

Kick-off in twenty minutes!

Canberra are looking to start the season with a gameday clean sweep. Both their Holden Cup and NSW Cup teams secured close victories earlier and now hope the First Grade side can do the same.

Welcome to a hot and humid Canberra Stadium! We have the first of our triple header kicking off in half-an-hour with the Raiders hosting the now, Anthony Griffin coached Panthers. The Raiders disappointed last year after their blistering start which saw them fade away and miss out on the finals. They have some new recruitments headlined by Aidan Sezer and Elliot Whitehead to get them back to the finals.

For Penrith - some early injury concerns for Griffin with Matt Moylan missing today's contest but William Smith will be getting dancing the jig today at fullback. The big change for the Panthers is the addition of ball-playing lock Trent Merrin to add some further flair to an already impressive pack.

Join us at 3pm AEST for kick-off on a scorching Super Saturday!

Referees & scorers:

Referee: Gavin Badger, Dave Munro

Touch Judges: Brett Suttor, Dave Ryan

Video Referee: Ben Galea, Jason Robinson, Bernard Sutton

CANBERRA RAIDERS (30)
Tries: Edrick Lee, Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer (2), Shaun Fensom
Field Goals:
Conversions: Jarrod Croker (2/4)
Penalty Goals: Jarrod Croker (3/3)

PENRITH PANTHERS (22)
Tries: Trent Merrin, Peta Hiku, Josh Mansour
Field Goals:
Conversions: Jamie Soward (3/3)
Penalty Goals: Jamie Soward (2/2)