Canberra has reignited its top four hopes but Sunday's 30-22 road win over Gold Coast could come at a cost after both teams were left to count their walking wounded.
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Raiders win brutal clash
The Canberra Raiders are on the brink of the top four after a hard-won victory over the Gold Coast Titans.
The Raiders lost both their hookers in Josh Hodgson and Kurt Baptiste to concussion either side of half-time, while forward Sia Soliola bravely played on after suffering an apparent rib injury in the first half.
Fullback Jack Wighton also finished the game clutching his chest as the Raiders climbed to sixth spot — just a point outside the top four.
The Titans' outside back injury woes worsened when Nathan Davis was taken to hospital after dislocating and fracturing his right ankle attempting to tackle Jarrod Croker in the first half.
The Raiders can launch a top-four assault with three straight home games to come against struggling Newcastle next Sunday, North Queensland without its Origin stars and New Zealand Warriors.
But coach Ricky Stuart deflected any hype when asked what his side was capable of.
"Hopefully winning next week and I don't see that being disrespectful, we've got a young team without many games with each other under their belt," he said.
"We're just looking toward next week and we're not experienced enough as a team to look any further down the track."
Davis' injury and the late withdrawal of fullback William Zillman forced the Titans to shift back-rowers Chris McQueen and Zeb Taia to the outside backs.
Centre Croker took full advantage with 18 points, including a double, while fellow centre Joey Leilua showed why Stuart believed he should be playing State of Origin for NSW.
The Raiders had all the ball in the first half but led just 18-10 at the break, but two quick tries to winger Brenko Lee after the break knocked the stuffing out of the Titans.
His first came from a cut-out pass from Jack Wighton, the fullback's second try assist for the day, but it was his second which turned the game on its head.
Despite trailing 24-10 the Titans had momentum and looked destined to score when Hodgson was down receiving attention.
But Lee gambled and won to run 90 metres and seal the win on the back of an intercept.
"I lost my two hookers and you lose a lot of continuity when you don't have that in your attacking game," Stuart said.
"I had a lot of wounded bodies out there. Talking to Neil [Henry, Titans coach] he has, too.
"We were playing with blokes who probably should have been sitting on the sidelines but couldn't."
Stuart didn't give much away when asked about Soliola and Wighton's knocks, but was confident Hodgson and Baptiste would be fine to play the Knights.
"I've got some injury problems," he said.
"They [hookers] are OK. We do the right thing in listening to what the doctor has to say. He has the first and final call on concussion and it wasn't safe for them to come back on, but they're fine."
Gold Coast forward Greg Bird's short fuse again got the best of him when he was sin-binned after two separate clashes with young Raiders forwards Shannon Boyd and Joseph Tapine.
Bird exchanged sledges with Boyd while sitting on the bench, prompting Stuart to defend his prop.
Bird and Stuart are close friends and the pair shared a joke immediately after the game.
"Birdy got them back into it, he's a wonderful competitor," Stuart said.
"It's no secret I love Birdy and he's a very fierce and competitive fellow and his aggression probably got his team fired up a bit and got them back in the contest. I was proud my couple of blokes didn't take a backward step, and nor they will."
Henry was baffled by Bird's sin-binning. "I think the [Raiders] guy carrying the ball is being protected there because he's the guy lashing out. If you get 10 minutes for that, I don't know," Henry said.
"The game wasn't out of control but ... our defensive lapses contributed to the end result, not one or two decisions. Most of the people watching the game would be going 'please'. When do you give a penalty try? Not give a penalty try? We've seen that on the weekend. When do you put 10 in the bin and not 10 in the bin?"
CANBERRA RAIDERS 30 (Jarrod Croker 2, Brenko Lee 2, Paul Vaughan, tries; Croker 5 goals) bt GOLD COAST TITANS 22 (Nene Macdonald 2, Chris McQueen, Ryan James tries; Tyrone Roberts 3 goals) at Gold Coast on Sunday. Crowd: 12,645. Referees: Gerard Sutton and Chris James.