Ricky Stuart had some frank words for Jordan Rapana before his golden point heroics: "I can't take you off, the only way you're going to come off is in a coffin."
The Raiders winger justified his bravery to return from a shoulder injury by pulling off the most bizarre match-winning try of the year in Sunday's golden point thriller against Newcastle.
With Newcastle up 22-0 after just 25 minutes searching for a second win of the season, the Raiders found a way to get out of jail in a 29-25 heart-stopper at Canberra Stadium.
Rapana swooped on a wicked bounce in the in-goal when the ball appeared destined to go dead after Blake Austin sprayed a field goal attempt.
It puts Canberra just a point outside the top four and the final play encapsulated Rapana's desire to never give up.
He had to have his shoulder needled up after copping a knock in the first half and got back on the field late in the second half.
It was agony for Newcastle who ambushed the Raiders early, clearly out-enthusing the hosts.
"Ricky said 'if I put you on I can't take you off, the only way you're going to come off is in a coffin'," Rapana said.
"I knew it was the risk. I knew it popped out, it was more a pain thing and I knew once I got it strapped and needled it would feel a lot better.
Rapana said he learned a lesson after he failed to chase down a field goal attempt earlier this year in a golden point loss.
"There was a game against the Dragons or the Panthers I think where the ball came off the post and for some reason I switched off, it could have been a good opportunity for me," he said.
"I set myself a goal if we're ever in that situation again to make sure I push through every kick. I'm fortunate that last one did a backspin and landed in my hands."
Unfortunately for Stuart he missed the freak ending — he was too busy "abusing somebody" after Austin's missed field goal.
"They're the little pieces of play which make or break teams and results," Stuart said.
"I missed it to be quite honest. After we missed the field goal I was abusing somebody but it was wonderful to get that feeling."
The loss could come at a cost with forwards Josh Papalii (hip) and Shannon Boyd (knee) picking up injuries, although the latter's is not considered serious.
Stuart emphatically quashed the notion the Raiders' slow start to the match was a result of underestimating Newcastle.
"I've had media talk to me all week about complacency. It's not in the joint," Stuart said.
"If we didn't prepare with professionalism, we'd get beaten today. If we didn't prepare the way we did we wouldn't have come back in the second half. It's very hard playing against teams where everyone thinks you only have to turn up to win and Newcastle deserve more credit than that, and we gave it to them in our preparation.
"If you saw the body language and look in their eye [at half-time] you'd be comfortable in the fact we were still in the fight. But give Newcastle some credit for how they got there."
Knights coach Nathan Brown said his players were disappointed but he was proud of their tenacity after such a tough season.
"Our effort was really, really good. We should feel disappointed because our effort was good," Brown said.
"We haven't really been in a situation where we led by a bit of a score before. In the second half we probably didn't play the footy we played in the first half. We probably played a bit too safe.
"We probably stopped playing a bit because we're not used to being in that situation. It probably had a bit of a negative impact on us."
Just before half-time the Raiders gave themselves a sniff when a trademark left-foot step from Blake Austin close to the tryline allowed him to cross and reduce the gap to 22-6.
With a minute remaining a wobbly Austin field goal gave the hosts the lead but Newcastle regained possession off a short kick-off, with Hodkinson levelling scores.
CANBERRA RAIDERS 29 (Jarrod Croker 2, Blake Austin, Jack Wighton Jordan Rapana tries; Croker 3, Aidan Sezer goals; Austin field goal) bt NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS 25 ( Sione Mata'utia, Korbin Sims, Jake Mamo, Peter Mata'utia tries; Trent Hodkinson 4 goals; Hodkinson field goal) in golden point extra-time at Canberra Stadium on Sunday. Crowd: 9731. Referees: Jared Maxwell, Chris Sutton.