League: Warriors suffer another Byrne out

Raiders 18 Warriors 14

Last night proved that history does indeed repeat itself.

Much to Todd Byrne's chagrin, memories of Scott Sattler's try-saving tackle in the 2003 Grand Final re-emerged after he was chased down by Craig Frawley in the second half when Byrne looked certain to score. Sattler's tackle had been a turning point in the Panthers' win - and the tackle seemed to inspire the Raiders, who ran in two late tries to claim the points and break Warriors' hearts.

It was supposed to have been Ruben Wiki's day - after all, it was his 250th first-grade match and his first game back in Canberra after 12 long years in the Australian capital.

But the Raiders spoiled the party to claim their third win of the season, leaving the visitors stuck on zero points and thinking about what might have been. They certainly had enough chances to win the match.

The opening spell was a throwback to yesteryear as defence was the order of the day. Tony Martin landed a penalty midway though the half but it took until the 37th minute for the Warriors to breach the Raiders' defence when Brent Webb was put in by Nathan Fien.

The other significant event was the sight of winger Patrick Ah Van walking gingerly to the sideline with what looked like a serious shoulder injury.

Coach Ivan Cleary reshuffled his back line for the match with Grant Rovelli starting at five-eighths, meaning Sione Faumuina was relegated to the bench. Rovelli brought a long kicking game to the table, which took some pressure off the impressive Fien.

They suffered a hiccup soon after the break when Alan Tongue burrowed over from dummy half but Wairangi Koopu hit back in the 53rd minute after Faumuina set Martin free down the right wing.

And then came that tackle.

Rovelli broke from his own line and put Byrne clear only for Frawley to chase him down and deny him at the line.

As the Warriors tried to hang on, the Raiders scored through Lincoln Withers, but only after the video ref had a look at a possible knock on.

The green machine constantly bombarded the Warriors' line.

Eventually they broke through as Tongue toed ahead and dived on the ball with only four minutes to go.

Last season the Warriors suffered a number of heartbreaking late defeats. Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself with that as well.

Raiders 18 (A. Tongue 2, L. Withers tries, C. Schifcofske 3 gls).
Warriors 14 (B. Webb, W. Koopu tries, T. Martin 3 gls).