Raiders 22 Dragons 14
St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennett is confident his side can stay at the top of the NRL ladder despite ongoing State of Origin commitments and the loss for the rest of the season of front rower Dan Hunt.
While warming up before yesterday's defeat at the hands of Canberra, Hunt managed to rupture his Achilles tendon, despite having no prior signs that the area was weak.
With absent New South Wales big man Michael Weyman now the club's only experienced starting prop, the Dragons front row depth will be tested, with the likes of Jon Green, Trent Merrin and Michael Greenfield now required to step up.
However Bennett said his side had the staff to cover Hunt's loss and wasn't worried about losing such an important player.
"If it starts raining I'll have a rain jacket with me - you just get on with it don't you," said Bennett, who is missing another six players to Origin.
"We had 10 players missing [yesterday] so our depth's not at question, we managed to fill up 10 places and they are all starters.
"We're going to miss him [Hunt], but at the moment he's the only player we've got on the roster that won't come back this year."
The Dragons were brave in defeat, with two players making their debuts, and under-20s prop Alex McKinnon sitting on the bench after playing a full Toyota Cup match, just in case he was needed following Hunt's withdrawal.
They even looked like they could rustle up a win after tries to Jason Nightingale and Kyle Stanley gave them an 8-6 lead after 43 minutes.
But a golden nine minute run with tries to Joel Thompson (51st), Jarrod Croker (55th) and Josh Dugan (57th) set the Dragons back on their heels.
For the Raiders it was another highly commendable performance away from home and continues their recent good run against the merger side.
After struggling for so long on the road, three out of their four wins for this season have now been away from Canberra Stadium.
"It wasn't a massive focus for this year, but I think some of those games [lost on the road last year] we were in them until the 75th minute and it's about starting to learn from mistakes," said coach, David Furner.
- AAP
