Match Details
Match Date	7th Sep, 2008
Opponent	Canberra
Result	Loss 34-52
Coach	Steven Folkes
Captain	Andrew Ryan
Venue	Canberra (Stadium)
Crowd	15,411
Referee	Sean Hampstead

The Raiders emerged as a semi-finals wildcard with an emphatic 52-34 victory over the Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium on Sunday afternoon in a thrilling fixture featuring 16 tries and two hat-tricks.

Joel Monaghan and David Milne scored three tries apiece for the Raiders who sealed sixth spot on the ladder with a fourth win from their final five matches, while the Bulldogs' deplorable 5-18 season record left them with the wooden spoon.

Creative linchpin Terry Campese produced another impressive performance at the core of Canberra's attack, the ever-improving pivot contributing numerous assists, a try and eight conversion from nine attempts.

Hazem El Masri squandered an opportunity to eclipse the all-time points record held by Andrew Johns since 2006, as uncharacteristically poor goal kicking yielded just two conversions and left him six points shy of the milestone.

With the scores locked at 16-16 at the break, the Raiders seized control of the contest with three converted tries to open the second half and leave the visitors shell-shocked.

Bulldogs half-back Daniel Holdsworth scored in the 60th minute to stem the tide, but three Raiders tries in the final quarter ensured they leapfrogged the Dragons into sixth with the requisite winning margin of 17 points.

Milne was almost untouchable at times, looming from full-back on set attacking plays to give Campese and skipper Alan Tongue options going forward.

Tongue enhanced his reputation as one of the most versatile and valuable utility players in the NRL with a measured performance in the unfamiliar half-back role.

The Raiders' talisman turned in a composed short kicking performance and broke the line on numerous occasions, providing coach Neil Henry with an ideal foil for the more creative-minded Campese.

But the Raiders will not walk away entirely satisfied with a performance that conceded seven tries a week out from the semi-finals and exposed major flaws in their left-edge defence.

"It was pretty poor defensively to start off and we knew they were going to come out and throw everything at us," Tongue told ABC Grandstand.

"It was a little disappointing and we've got a lot to work on, but in the end we showed we can score points... and we just move on now."

Corey Hughes marked his Bulldogs farewell with a four-pointer underneath the posts and a late sideline conversion in the second half that proved little more than academic in the context of the match.

Monaghan put his hand up for Test selection with a mercurial performance at right centre, imposing himself as much in defence as he did with his three-try attacking display.

The representative three-quarter has clearly savoured his return to Canberra after a three-year stint at the Roosters, and pulled out all the tricks including a key intercept and a knockdown to send Neville Costigan in to score.

"We threw the ball around a bit and that's why we scored 52 points," Monaghan said after the match.

"We struggled a bit in attack last week and we fixed it up."

Source: ABC 

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