Knights trampled as Raiders charge into top eight

Peter Cassidy & AAP | rugbyleaguelive.com | 17/08/08 | 0

AUDIO - They just blew us apart: Jarrod Mullen

AUDIO - We're starting to get it together: Marc Herbert

Canberra have continued their late season surge, moving into sixth spot on the NRL ladder after a crushing 38-18 victory over fellow finals aspirants Newcastle at Canberra Stadium.

Another impressive performance by Terry Campese helped deliver the win, the pivot ensuring the Raiders made it five wins from their last six games.

Campese was prominent throughout, scoring 14 points through a try and five conversions while having a hand in several of the Raiders' seven tries, including setting up centre Colin Best after just four minutes.

Raiders coach Neil Henry was pleased with the result in what he called a "scrappy" game which saw both sides dogged by handling errors that caused numerous turnovers throughout the match.

"It was good to get up in what was a bit of a pressure game, fairly physical, it was a good hit out," he said.

"They challenged us in the forwards in particular ... so it's pleasing to get that many points against them."

Physical was something of an understatement with Newcastle replacement Matt Hilder go to the blood bin after a punch up with Campese late in the first half.

But the Knights failed to capitalise on the ensuing penalty and several other opportunities late in the first half, two late tries by Canberra's Joe Picker and David Milne allowing the Raiders lead 22-6 at halftime.

The Raiders continued to build their lead in the second stanza with the next two tries coming courtesy of well weighted grubbers from young halfback Marc Herbert, second rower Trevor Thurling and fullback Milne enjoying the spoils as the score blew out to 34-6.

Two late tries to Newcastle saw a little dignity return to the scoreboard before Raiders replacement Neville Costigan put the icing on the cake after yet another line break and good pass from Campese.

It wasn't all positive news for the Raiders however with replacement Tom Learoyd-Lahrs put on report for a dangerous tackle on Newcastle's Ben Cross early in the second half.

The win puts the Raiders in an excellent position to make the finals and potentially even push for the top four with their next three games against the three bottom teams - Souths, Bulldogs and Cowboys.

The Raiders have now amassed 217 points from their last six games while Newcastle's loss sees them slip to 11th.

CANBERRA 38 (D Milne 2 C Best T Campese N Costigan J Picker T Thurling tries T Campese 5 goals)

bt NEWCASTLE 18 (C Paterson J Royal C Vuna tries K Gidley 3 goals)

Crowd: 12,206

No good mate... They blew us away in the middle there... Knights pivot Jarrod Mullen