Matty Nicholson, the latest Englishman to roll off the Canberra production line, has scored a brace on debut to lift the Raiders to a 32-22 NRL win over fancied Brisbane.
In front of a boisterous Canberra crowd on Saturday night, the Raiders were convincing against a Broncos side that had looked unstoppable in their round-one drubbing of the Sydney Roosters.
With their team now 2-0 following their opening big win over the Warriors in Vegas, the 18,000-plus Raiders fans in attendance will be brimming with optimism about the young side’s chances this season after claiming one of the biggest scalps in the competition.
Despite a Jesse Arthars hat-trick keeping the score relatively respectable, the home side looked assured against Brisbane’s attacking guns.
Following the departure of the experienced Elliott Whitehead and Jordan Rapana over the off-season, it was unclear who would step up for the Green Machine, with coach Ricky Stuart opting to promote from within rather than target big-name signings.
But he would be more than pleased with the performances of his two new recruits: Nicholson and Savelio Tamale.
It took Nicholson just eight minutes of NRL football to notch his first, shrugging off Broncos enforcer Pat Carrigan en route to the opening try of the game.
The former Wigan man scored his second to push the Raiders out to a six-point lead into the interval, as he follows the likes of Whitehead, John Bateman, Josh Hodgson and current teammate Morgan Smithies on the Super League-to-Canberra pipeline.
Rookie winger Tamale also impressed on his home Raiders debut.
The former Dragon pushed the margin beyond three tries in the second half, beating three defenders to score his maiden NRL try on the left edge.
While Canberra’s recruits made their mark, so did some stalwarts.
After Nicholson’s opener, veteran prop Josh Papalii notched his 65th career try, latching onto Sebastian Kris’ bat-back off a Jamal Fogarty bomb, ensuring he has scored in every NRL season since 2011.
He led a masterful performance from the Raiders’ forward pack in the absence of captain Joe Tapine.
Reece Walsh, Ben Hunt and Adam Reynolds were kept unusually quiet by the Raiders’ muscular defence.
Tom Starling continued his impressive form in the Raiders’ No.9 jersey, dislodging the ball from Jordan Riki’s grasp early on with a powerful hit on the larger man.
The diminutive hooker extended his side’s lead after halftime, picking up the crumbs after his dummy-half kick was blocked by a Broncos defender and scampering under the outstretched arms of Selwyn Cobbo to the line.
Corey Horsburgh again showed how much of a loss his absence was for the Raiders last season.
The fiery Queenslander soaked up three defenders before offloading five metres from the tryline to Matt Timoko, who finished with aplomb.
Cobbo gave the Broncos some hope with 15 minutes to go, pulling off a smart one-handed catch and put-down to finish off a Reynolds cross-field kick.