Three times a Weekes: Raiders rumble desperate Dragons

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Canberra Raiders v St George Illawarra Dragons

Canberra fullback Kaeo Weekes has chalked up a hat-trick in a superb performance which helped his Raiders side to the outright competition lead, downing a spirited St George Illawarra 28-24 at GIO Stadium in front of nearly 16,000 fans.

For a game that finished with both sides scoring 20+, it was a quiet start in Bruce. The scoreboard wasn't troubled until the quarter-mark of the game when Xavier Savage went aerial to score in the corner off a messy lead-up.

The Red V hit back through Tyrell Sloan at the 33rd minute with a right side shift, and despite Kyle Flanagan's missed conversion, scores were levelled two minutes later through a penalty goal.

Either side of halftime Canberra stamped their authority on the contest with Kaeo Weekes nabbing two of his eventual three tries off long-range efforts. The 12-6 halftime lead quickly extended to 18-6 as a result.

By the 50-minute mark it was 24-6 after Morgan Smithies was the man on-the-spot for the Green Machine after a high kick contest that was batted back and landed in front of him, allowing him a swift pick-up and an untouched try.

The Dragons tried to stem the flow and were ultimately successful in clawing back into what seemed like a lost cause contest at the 59th minute, with Jaydn Su'A pouncing on a messy of a play.

24-12 down, the Dragons conceded nearly immediately when Weekes made a long-range line break to give the hosts a 16-point buffer.

Things got interesting as the contest continued into the final 15 minutes, Tyrell Sloan and Kyle Flanagan crossing for the away team to narrow the scoreline to 28-24.

But try as they might - the Dragons couldn't get that final four-pointer to either force extra time or win the contest outright, losing 28-24 and seeing David Klemmer sin-binned for a dangerous tackle late in the contest.

The win sees Canberra rise above Canterbury at the top of the table, now outright first on their own. The Dragons remain in the pack that sits just outside the top eight and will need to record some wins over the coming weeks if they want to feature in September.