Canberra Raiders have booked a Grand Final showdown with the South Sydney Rabbitohs after scoring a convincing 22-12 win over the Sydney Roosters in a Preliminary Final at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Saturday night.
The Raiders came out roaring and impressed early after scoring in the opening minutes, through second rower Kai O’Donnell.
A close opportunity was created by the Roosters but they were held up by a strong defensive Raiders outfit. They came back firing through Freddy Lussick who powered over the line in the 28th minute for their first try of the game. The conversion from Coby Thomas had the scores locked up at 6-all.
Raiders five-eighth Joe Roberts was next amongst the action after crossing for their second try of the night. The conversion was unsuccessful but they still took a four-point lead heading into half time.
The Raiders picked up where they left off in the second half with fullback Manase Kaho scoring a try and Tobias Westcott nailing the conversion to extend the lead to 16-6.
They were in again five minutes later with backrower Lachlan Lewis barging his way over on the left-hand side and Westcott landing his third goal of the night to put them in control at 22-6.
The pressure continued to build for the Roosters as they conceded two penalties but with two minutes remaining they grabbed consolation try through Egan Butcher. Thomas added the extras to put some respectability back in the score line at 22-12.
The Raiders will now face Souths on Sunday 29 September in the Jersey Flegg Cup Grand Final at Bankwest Stadium.
Written by Hannah McGrory of NSWRL.COM.AU
