Raiders 24
The old adage goes that 'offence sells tickets but defence wins championships'. But once again in 2011 the Tigers will attempt to disprove the greatest truism in sport.
With their breathtaking attack, Tim Sheens' are still the best team to watch in the competition, and gave an exquisite, clinical display in taking care of the Raiders last night.
No one has a bigger play book in his back pocket than Sheens, and nobody is better at bringing the chalkboard to life on the field than Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah.
After a quiet game against the Warriors last week, Farah was back to his effective, creative self last night. Farah was at the fulcrum of most Tigers' moves alongside partner in crime Marshall.
The duo managed 48 try assists between them last year (Farah 25, Marshall 23 - third and fourth in the NRL respectively) and have hit the ground running so far in 2011. Marshall had a hand in almost every Tigers try, and continued to confound NRL defences every week.
The Raiders struggled all night to deal with constant waves of decoy runners, backed up by support runners hitting the ball at great angles.
After a strong finish to 2010 and some astute recruiting in the off season, many experts were tipping Canberra to bring back the glory days of the 'Green Machine'. The season will bear these views out. They do have a impressive forward pack, and their relatively young team should mature over the year, but they still seem to lack a genuine playmaker.
Matt Orford has his moments, but the 32-year-old was exposed on defence and lacked punch in his kicking game. The return of Terry Campese, earmarked for round 13, can't come soon enough.
The usual dose of Marshall magic, with a feint, dodge, weave saw him send over Chris Lawrence in the corner in the 10th minute. The other side of Marshall's game - flimsy defence was exposed later, when he rushed out of the line to allow Orford to set up Daniel Vidot for Canberra's reply.
Marshall atoned in the 26th minute, where he threw four dummies before delivering a perfect pass for Matt Utai to score his first try in Tiger colours, then Peter Louis scored a fine individual try just before halftime.
A length of the field effort from Blake Ferguson threatened a Raiders' comeback, before tries either side of the hour mark killed off the game. Ferguson would complete a hat-trick, though they were just consolation tries. The only black mark on the night for the Tigers were injuries to Lawrence and Lote Tuqiri (a suspected broken arm).
Tigers 34 (C. Lawrence, M. Utai, P. Louis, C. Hetherington, B. Ayshford, A Fifita tries; B. Marshall 5 goals) Raiders 24 (D. Vidot, B. Ferguson 3, J. Dugan tries, J. Crocker 2 goals). Halftime: 16-4.
