The Canberra Raiders have held off the Newcastle Knights 36-22 on a bitter winter's night in the Australian capital.
In near-freezing conditions it was the Raiders who came out of the gate red hot, five-eighth Blake Austin wreaking havoc on the Knights defense on his way to a hat-trick of tries within the first quarter of play.
Jarrod Croker added one more for the home side to see the Raiders into halftime with a 24-4 advantage, James McManus eventually breaking the duck for the visiting Knights.
Out of the break it was business as usual for the Raiders, Josh Papalii grabbing a brace of tries in just ten minutes to give his side a 32 point buffer.
However the Knights refused to lie down, finally coming to life in the final 30 minutes of the contest and showing some real grit as they fought back to within 14 points on the back of an Akuila Uate double.
Ultimately it would be a case of too little, too late, the Raiders securing themselves the two competition points.
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