NRL: Coach still hopeful for Raiders

Canberra Raiders coach David Furner appears composed.

You wouldn't know from talking to him that his side has managed only two wins this year.

Ahead of the clash against the Warriors at Canberra Stadium today, Furner admitted being frustrated by the lacklustre start to the season - but remains optimistic.

"The frustration is knowing what the side is capable of," Furner said, "knowing that the side deserves better and unfortunately we couldn't turn that around."

Following Canberra's humiliating 46-6 drubbing at the hands of Melbourne on Monday night, Furner said the side was keen to put the loss behind them. The Warriors, too, are backing up after being rocked 34-12 at home by North Queensland.

Furner said the Kiwi side, guided by captain Steve Price and veteran halfback Stacey Jones and bolstered by fullback Wade McKinnon and winger Manu Vatuvei, would be a handful.

It won't help that the Raiders are likely to be without captain Alan Tongue (thumb) and young gun Justin Carney (sternum). Furner said while both remained under "a pretty heavy cloud", he was confident the likes of Trevor Thurling, Nigel Plum and Josh Miller would step up off the bench.

Meanwhile, referee Jared Maxwell is calling for the most severe punishment possible after being tackled by a fan following Friday night's match between Wests Tigers and Brisbane.

Maxwell was felled from behind after blowing fulltime in the Broncos' 20-18 win. The man was quickly apprehended and taken away by police.

"I'm shocked but fortunately it did no damage to me," Maxwell said. "On behalf of the refereeing fraternity, I'd like it [the punishment] to be as severe as possible."

NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said a life ban from all NRL matches was likely on top of any criminal charges.

Tensions were high after the game. Tigers coach Tim Sheens was livid with the performance of the two referees, in particular the sin-binning of skipper Benji Marshall with 15 minutes remaining as the home side searched for the match-winning play.

Marshall was binned on the back of five straight penalties against the Tigers, with both captains warned during the first half after the Broncos had conceded four consecutive penalties.

"The crowd booed them and so did I," said Sheens of the referees, the Tigers coach unaware of the incident involving Maxwell.

The match was the third nailbiter in succession for the Tigers, all three ending in narrow defeats.

At ANZ Stadium, South Sydney were forced to settle for a 16-16 draw with struggling Parramatta, the Rabbitohs unable to come up with a repeat of the last second heroics that saw them beat the Tigers last week.

There was controversy at the end of extra time when Souths were denied the opportunity to feed a scrum and try for a field goal. Souths coach Jason Taylor said he had no qualms about the call.