Stephen Crichton has orchestrated one of the greatest comebacks in NRL history as the Bulldogs delivered a second half performance for the ages.
Big game players win big games and so it was in Canberra on Saturday afternoon when Bulldogs captain Crichton and strike backrower Viliame Kikau led the ladder leaders to a stunning come from behind victory over the Raiders.
Talk about a game of two halves. Out paced, out muscled and outclassed in the first 40 minutes, the Bulldogs overcame a 20-0 halftime deficit with a brilliant second half display that cemented their claims for a first premiership since 2004.
The match had been billed as final’s footy in May between the ladder topping Canterbury and the second placed Canberra and it delivered in the most remarkable of ways, the visitors making a statement with a mystical 32-20 win.
The last time these two met when they were first and second on the ladder was way back in 1994, the same year they battled out the grand final, won by the Raiders in immortal Mal Meninga’s last game.
In the first half it looked like it was Canberra who could emulate the feats of Meninga’s side. By the end of the match, it was the Bulldogs who showed they are a genuine chance of ending their more than two decade title drought.
Crichton put in one of the more dominant 40 minute performances in the second stanza – scoring a classy individual try to kick start the comeback before cutting the Raiders’ left edge to threads, helping set up four-pointers to Jaeman Salmon, Marcelo Montoya and Jacob Kiraz.
After the game Crichton revealed a half time serve from coach Cameron Ciraldo led to the massive resurgence.
“It’s a rollercoaster. We didn’t start the way we wanted to in the first half, and kind of just gifted them field position and possession of the ball as well,” Crichton said.
“We went into halftime, it was seventy-thirty percent their way and you can’t in a footy game, if you’re dropping the ball and giving away penalties.
“So, we just wanted to change our mindset there, come out with a little bit of an edge as well and coach gave us a bit of a spray in there too.
“So, the reaction that the boys to come out and stay process driven there as well, is a big thing for us.”
On the opposite side of the field, Kikau was frightening, terrorising the Raiders on both sides of the ball.
More than 25,000 fans packed GIO Stadium – the first sold out regular season game in Canberra for 30 years – and it took just three minutes to bring them to their feet when Zac Hosking plunged over to open the scoring.
Tries followed for Kaeo Weekes, Xavier Savage and Hudson Young to send the Raiders into the sheds at halftime up 20-0.
Young’s try was his eighth of the season and seventh in his last five games at GIO Stadium.
BIG HITS
DOGS’ RECORDS TUMBLE
The victory was the first for Canterbury in Canberra since 2015 and the first time they have won after trailing by 20 since they overran the Northern Eagles in 2001.
It is the first time in 31 years the Bulldogs have opened a season with an 8-1 record.
ORIGIN WATCH
Jacob Kiraz showed flashes of class and Daley could do worse than picking the Bulldogs’ winger to play on NSW’s right edge outside his club captain Crichton.
In recent weeks there has been no more damaging centre-wing combination.
For the Raiders, Hudson Young again showed why he is the form backrower in the competition and an almost certain selection for Laurie Daley and the NSW Blues for Origin 1 on May 28.
Young gave the Bulldogs nightmares every time he handled the ball, punctuated by a typically barnstorming first half try.
TOM STARRING
Tom Starling has enjoyed a breakout season in 2025 and the Raiders’ hooker continued in his role as Canberra’s unsung hero with another classy display littered with bone jarring defence and scything running.
Despite the impending arrival of Newcastle’s Jayden Brailey on a two year deal and the emergence of 21-year-old Owen Pattie, the energetic rake this week signalled his intention to remain in Canberra, also on a two year contract.
Starling and Pattie have formed a brilliant one-two punch for Canberra this season, giving the Raiders an 80 minute threat out of dummy half, revelling off the back of the momentum gained by their powerful forward pack.