Canberra’s curse of late-match fade outs has been reversed after they came from 20 points behind to beat Parramatta 22-20 in the first NRL trial of the season.
Mitchell Moses gave the Eels reason for hope in a dominant opening half on Friday night, before a Raiders side of fringe first-graders and reserves powered home at St Mary’s Stadium in Penrith.
After trailing 20-0 just before half-time, young flyer Andre Niko crossed for Canberra in the last minute to level the scores before Sam Williams kicked the winning goal from the sidelines.
The comeback was a welcome change for the Raiders who were regularly chased down last season and outgunned in the second half of games.
Round-one hopefuls Williams and Siliva Havili both scored in the win, with the latter getting the Raiders’ first points when he burrowed over from dummy-half just before the main break.
Young forward JJ Collins also touched down before Williams and Niko each crossed in the final five minutes to complete the recovery.
Despite letting their lead slip, there were encouraging signs for the Eels.
Moses was involved in the Eels’ first three tries while young five-eighth Dylan Brown also impressed in their first outing as a halves combination.
Brad Arthur ran out the majority of his top squad for the opening hour with fullback Clint Gutherson also setting up two tries and Reed Mahoney edging closer to the No.9 jersey for round one against Penrith.
Brown looked at his best when he took the ball to the line, in one instance putting Canberra on the back foot in the lead up to a Michael Jennings try from a Gutherson grubber.