Ricky Stuart could not hide his frustrations after witnessing his Raiders side be held scoreless against the Sydney Roosters on Friday night.
On a night where Ethan Strange and Hudson Young were firming their case for State of Origin selection, their representative counterparts made sure to keep them quiet, recording a 26-0 victory on enemy turf.
Mark Nawaqanitawase of the Roosters celebrates scoring a try. Mark Nolan
A lost ball by Hugo Savala was swept up by Xavier Savage, who was eager to put the Raiders back in a favourable position in attack in the early minutes of the game. However, as the Raiders gun looked to move out of his own 20, referee Gerard Sutton pinged him for a strip.
The Roosters made the most of their luck with that call, shifting around the field on the hunt to snatch the first points. A slick ball from James Tedesco to Robert Toia set up the foundations for that try to unfold, with Mark Nawaqanitawase diving over in the corner to score.
“He doesn’t miss them, Marky,” Brad Fittler said in commentary on Nine.
Canberra were then left to adapt to the absence of Savelio Tamale on the edge after he suffered a nasty head knock when attempting to catch a high ball.
Tamale was later ruled out of the game and will adhere to the 11-day stand down.
“He looked in a bad way for a while there,” Billy Slater said.
Ricky Stuart’s men could not find a way to swing momentum back in their favour, with a remarkable kick by Daly Cherry-Evans chased down by Victory Radley to score a try.
“Go Rads! Stop it,” Fittler said as Radley ground the ball over the tryline.
Billy Slater added: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t want to work hard.”
Victor Radley is pinged for being offside when chasing down a kick. Nine
A replay of the try then sparked concern as it became clear that Radley may have been well in front of Cherry-Evans when he made the kick.
“Oh no, he is well in front,” Slater said as the try was reviewed and denied.
Despite being denied four points, the Roosters sent Hugo Savala, Nawaqanitawase and Reece Robson, in his 150th game, over the tryline to hold a 22-0 lead at half-time.
Nawaqanitawase was the only player to get on the board in the final 40 minutes, stepping inside of Matt Timoko before palming off Ethan Sanders to score.
In the final minutes of the game, Roosters fans could be seen mocking the viking clap that is a customary tradition to kick off Raiders games, much to the frustrations of home fans.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart and captain Joe Tapine speak to reporters after a loss to the Roosters. Nine
Stuart had very few words to share with reporters after full-time, simply putting the defeat down to the Roosters having “too much class”.
“They were too good for us,” he said in his brief post-match press conference.
“It is one game. We just have to worry about next week.”
Joe Tapine added: “(Tonight) was the opposite of what we did last week.
“We had the game plan and the boys didn’t do it. We have to counter better … if you make mistakes, you have to defend them.”
It is the first time in three years that the Roosters have held a team scoreless, having last done so against the Warriors in their 14-0 round nine win in 2023.
The Raiders will take on the Parramatta Eels next week, while the Roosters prepare to make the trip up north to face the Dolphins.