Warriors 16 Raiders 23
An enormous chequered flag fluttered forlornly in the stand but there was little to celebrate for the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium last night.
Instead it was a scene of futility as the number of empty yellow seats swelled drastically even before the fulltime whistle.
The loss to Canberra signals three defeats in a row for the Warriors, not to mention a trio of losses at home. What makes it worse is that it was caused by the same mistakes that have plagued the side recently.
The home side were guilty of failing to complete enough sets or getting far enough into the tackle count.
That put them on the back foot from the outset and they missed vital tackles through the ruck, which allowed the Raiders to then stretch a scrambling defence out wide.
The Warriors trailed 16-0 at halftime, the fourth match in five that they have been held scoreless in the opening spell.
They reduced the gap to 16-10 with tries to Ukuma Ta'ai and Patrick Ah Van but they failed to maintain their momentum and succumbed to a side that hadn't won at Mt Smart Stadium since 2001.
The evidence backs it up. The Warriors completed 76 per cent (29 of 38) compared to the Raiders' 92 per cent (36 out of 39) - a triumph for the visitors in greasy conditions - and made too many errors (12 to Canberra's three) and missed too many tackles (24 to 12).
Only Sam Rapira could boast over 100m for the Warriors forwards, whereas Raiders prop David Shillington had a storming game with 217m.
The Raiders were then able to call on the silky skills of five-eighth Terry Campese, halfback Marc Herbert (a late replacement for Adam Mogg) and fullback Josh Dugan who regularly lasered through gaps.
The Warriors will be non-plussed by the fact it is now their bye week. A win could have given them impetus and momentum into the middle part of the season, a loss gives them more uncertainty about how they right the wrongs.
Key players like Manu Vatuvei, Simon Mannering and Brett Seymour should be back by then but it will be of little consequence knowing they are slipping down the table. Steve Price remains out indefinitely.
Warriors coach Ivan Cleary tried to remain upbeat.
"A lot goes back to the start of the game," he said. "We have a couple of good moments then the errors start and, before you know it, we're handing the opposition a try. When teams get a roll-on it knocks our confidence, especially seeing it has happened before.
"From the last 10 minutes of the first half, we controlled things well but couldn't get the points when it was crucial.
"It was similar to the previous two losses. We couldn't lay a foundation and opened the door to the opposition, who end up camping out [in Warriors' territory]."
Centre Brent Tate said the concern for the Warriors is that there is too much expectation on those returning from the casualty ward.
"Hopefully guys will feel good again but we can't rely on that. But we were in this position in 2008 and came back."
Raiders coach David Furner was thrilled with how their strategy played out, especially in the squally conditions.
"Our completion rate reflected some subtle changes at training. The control in the halves was excellent, too. That was helped by us going forward and kicking for the corners. Then to top that off we executed a field goal later on to take control of the game."
The Warriors did have a couple of highlights. Ta'ai rolled his tank-like frame across the tryline in the third minute of the second half and Ah Van showed a spectacular set of hands to dive and catch a cross-field kick from James Maloney that brought the fans to their feet.
But the punishment suffered going down 16-0 in the first 20 minutes through a bullocking try to Shillington and a brace to New Zealand debutant Drury Low on the wing was enough to keep all applause stifled.
Warriors 16 (U. Ta'ai, P. Ah Van, B. Tate tries, J. Maloney 2 gls) Raiders 23 (D. Low 2, D. Shillington, J. Thompson tries; T. Campese 3 gls, M. Herbert fg). HT: 0-16.
* Back row forward Steve Rapira will leave North Queensland at the end of the NRL season to rejoin the Warriors in 2011.
The 21-year-old younger brother of Warriors and Kiwi prop Sam Rapira has been signed on a two-year contract with an option for the 2013 season.
