Without first-choice halves Aidan Sezer and Blake Austin, someone needed to step up for the Canberra Raiders. Enter Sam Williams and Josh Hodgson.
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Raiders snatch late win against Roosters
Canberra has condemned the Sydney Roosters to its second straight loss to start the 2016 NRL season after coming from behind to snatch a 21-20 victory in the nation's capital.
The pair combined to put the icing on a 21-20 win over the Sydney Roosters on Saturday which Raiders coach Ricky Stuart described as the toughest win he's seen.
Having finished the game with just 15 fit players, English hooker Josh Hodgson pulled off a brilliant 40-20 kick with scores locked at 20-all and three minutes left.
Williams finished the job with the decisive field goal to secure the Raiders' second win to start the season, the first time they've done so since 2005.
Canberra lost the hard-working Shaun Fensom (concussion) in the first minute and debutant five-eighth Lachlan Croker (shoulder) in the first half, although Stuart later said he would have been fine to play on.
The hosts had just a third of possession in the first half and looked ripe for the picking several times.
Although they improved markedly from last week's loss to Souths, the inexperience of Roosters halves Jackson Hastings and Jayden Nikorima showed when they failed to get off a field goal attempt in two late sets on Canberra's line.
The Raiders seized their opportunity and the demons of losing close matches at home from last year appear buried after backing up last week's Penrith win.
Sam Burgess is generally regarded as the best English player in the NRL, but surely Hodgson is closing fast.
For the second straight week he moved to No.6 after Croker's injury, and had several fine touches to help guide the Raiders home.
The Roosters had two thirds of possession in the first half as the Raiders delivered an error-riddled first 40 to take a 16-6 lead at the break.
But two tries to Canberra back-rower Josh Papalii early in the second half, the first an athletic effort in the corner any winger would be proud of, gave the Raiders belief.
Raiders skipper Jarrod Croker scored a try out with eight minutes left to close the Roosters' lead to 20-18.
He nailed the pressure sideline conversion to level scores. It evoked memories of his 100th NRL game in 2013, also against the Roosters at Canberra, where he scored a late try and goal to seal a win.
"It was a good feeling mate," Croker said.
"I was a bit dirty on myself. I thought I should be kicking for 24-20 at that stage instead of 20-all, but I'd kick none from 10 as long as we won."
Williams was full of praise for Hodgson's opportunism.
"It's just a bit of experience there. Hodgso has played a lot of games and knew what was needed. He executed it and did it brilliantly," Williams said.
"We've said for a long time we'd learn from those game and although there was a few times we could have been better today, we've learned again."
Hodgson revealed attempting a 40-20 was spoken about after Croker's try.
"I thought the kick from Toots [Croker] under pressure at 20-18 was a fantastic one. A lot of credit needs to go to the skip," Hodgson said.
"We saw the fullback [Mitchell] wasn't biting off too much to the sideline. That's why you practice it, for when the moment arises."
The Raiders have a great chance to get off to a flyer with Newcastle (away) and Gold Coast (home) to come.
On top of Fensom and Croker's injuries, the Raiders also played with 10 men late in the game in hot conditions after centre Joey Leilua was sin-binned for an alleged hit on Dylan Napa, after the Roosters forward was placed on report for hitting Leilua high.
The Raiders were perplexed Roosters fullback Latrell Mitchell escaped punishment for a similar incident with Canberra back-rower Elliott Whitehead.
"I've witnessed a lot of tough wins under challenging moments and adversity, but I haven't seen one tougher than that," Stuart said.
"We just had so much desire. Desire and want equals success, and today they proved me right. The amount of errors we made today we didn't deserve to win. We won on character."
It meant Blake Ferguson, sacked by the Raiders in 2013, went home empty-handed in his first game in Canberra since leaving the club in controversial circumstances in 2013.
Napa was also booked for a swinging arm on Jordan Rapana early in the first half, while Leilua was reported for a lifting tackle on Kenny-Dowall.
Roosters winger Daniel Tupou also suffered a leg injury with 25 minutes left, and played no further part.
Canberra's bench was outstanding. Paul Vaughan, Jeff Lima and Sia Soliola ran for over 400 metres combined, while bench hooker Kurt Baptiste had a strong impact deputising for Hodgson.
Rooster coach Trent Robinson admitted confusion when looking to get into position for a field goal let them down.
He also expressed his frustration at the schedule, which sees them face a five-day turnaround before playing North Queensland in Townsville on Thursday.
"Yeah, well organised," he said.
"That's our draw and we've known it for a few months now. We'll look forward to the challenge against the premiers up there. Do they [want to reduce five-day turnarounds], I'm not sure they do. I don't think there was a reduction this year.
"Not well-planned, but looking forward to the challenge."
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