But that's precisely what North Queensland coach Neil Henry did after his team lost at the hands of the Canberra Raiders last night.

Raiders coach David Furner finally broke through for the first win of his career at Canberra Stadium last night, as the Raiders clung on for a 23-18 victory over the Cowboys.

It came at the expense of Henry, the man Furner replaced following his defection to Townsville at the end of last season.

And while the loss now has Henry under pressure, having won just one of his first four games in charge of the Cowboys, he couldn't help but be happy for the man he worked alongside during his two years at Canberra.

''In a weird way I'm happy for Dave Furner, he's got his first win at the expense of me,'' Henry said.

''That's good, I've got an affinity with the players here, they're a great bunch of blokes and they're happy and they're singing their song.

''We're dejected, we lost the game, that's the roller coaster.''

The roller coaster wasn't restricted to the coaches' boxes last night.

The Raiders had to desperately defend in the dying minutes to clinch the win, having gone into the half-time break with a healthy 14-point lead.

They conceded the final two tries of the game and were out on their legs, having lost two forwards before half-time.

Only some quick thinking by five-eighth Terry Campese whose field goal with less than two minutes remaining won the Raiders the breathing space with the ball they desperately needed put the game out of the Cowboys' reach.

Furner admitted it wasn't the second half he had been hoping for, but praised his team's desperation in the dying minutes.

Last night's win was set up with some enterprising play in the opening half.

The Raiders piled on 14 points in the first 14 minutes, went to the break with a 20-6 lead, and finally showed the expansive football they made their name with last season.

Props Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Scott Logan and David Shillington were virtually unstoppable through the middle of the field.

Teenage centre Jarrod Croker scored a try, set up another and backed his elusiveness in attack with some outstanding defence.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times