NRL: Raiders too good for Titans

Josh McCrone looks to pass during the Raiders round two match against the Titans. Photo / Getty Images

RAIDERS 24 TITANS 12
David Shillington has staked an early claim for a Queensland Origin spot after leading the Canberra Raiders to a rugged 24-12 win over the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park on Saturday.

The former Maroon missed the 2011 campaign through injury but was unstoppable against the Titans as he barged his way upfield for 196 metres off 21 runs.

His efforts laid the platform for four tries to two win against a patchy Gold Coast outfit brought back to earth following its 18-0 win over an insipid North Queensland in round one.

Raiders centre Jarrod Croker had a personal total of 16 points after bagging a brace of tries and kicking four conversions, while New South Wales hopeful Josh Dugan showed strength to drag two defenders over for a first half try and kicked a 40/20 in the first half.

The Titans were overrun in front of 11,378 home fans in the opening stages of both halves, but managed to level the scores just before halftime through tries to Jordan Rankin and Dominique Peyroux.

The club was then denied two tries in the closing three minutes of the game, with referee Steve Lyons sin-binning Terry Campese for a professional foul on Luke Douglas but not awarding a try and video referee Steve Clark finding an obstruction when Mark Minichiello crossed.

Adding to the club's pain winger David Mead was also forced from the field with a suspected broken jaw.

The Raiders surged to a 12-0 lead by the 20 minute mark when Croker touched down a Jack Wighton bat off a Terry Campese bomb.

The Gold Coast responded by applying plenty of pressure of their own, but three consecutive sets on the Raiders line ended when powerhouse second-rower Josh Papalii put a monster of a hit on Minichiello to knock the ball loose.

The dam wall broke in the 31st minute, though, when Rankin ignored a five-on-two overlap to his outside to dash infield and score under the posts.

Then with the clock winding down before halftime, Peyroux crossed out wide for a converted try to level the scores.

The Raiders had all the possession to start the second half and only some brilliant defence from off-season recruit Nate Myles prevented Shaun Fensom from barging over.

Joel Thompson eventually stole the lead back when he strolled through a yawning gap in the 52nd minute, McCrone adding the extras to open up an 18-12 advantage.

The error and penalty counts continued to soar for the Titans and Croker touched down another Campese bomb in the 68th minute, converting his own try to extend the lead to 24-12.

- AAP