'One hell of a win': Raiders pull off unbelievable upset over Manly

The Green Machine pulled off one of their greatest, and most unlikely of comebacks against the Manly Sea Eagles, winning 26-24 in a round nine NRL encounter that was the definition of a Friday night thriller.

A week after being thrashed 40-0 on their home turf, the Raiders travelled to Brookvale and were down 20-0 after 28 minutes and 24-6 after 50 minutes against a top-four side. But they fought back and came away with a stunning upset.

"What we performed last week wasn't us. We had to show what our real DNA was and that was one hell of a win," coach Ricky Stuart said in his press conference.

"When I walked out of that shed at half-time I knew we were still a chance."

Few fingernails would be left on Sea Eagles or Raiders fans with a finish that went down to the very last minute as Daly Cherry-Evans' two-point field goal attempt failed to deny Hudson Young's 76th minute try as the match-defining moment.

As the old saying goes, it was a tale of two halves for the Raiders. A rain-affected first 40 saw nothing but one-way traffic for Manly, before a gutsy Raiders performance in the second term delivered a sensational victory going into a bye.

Multiple mistakes and poor discipline from the Raiders had them staring down the barrel of another drubbing, but a heroic performance from captain Elliott Whitehead in his return from a calf injury sparked life into Canberra before half-time, and led to a much-improved second 40.

The game was just the fourth time the Raiders have ever come back from 20 points down or more to win.

Stuart said post-game it was one of Whitehead's best matches of his career, and Young agreed.

"He was huge," Young said of the skipper. "He's our captain and leader and we all bounce off him. To have his experience back on the edge to help the younger boys out was clearly evident in the performance.

"You see the way he played tonight, he really took it upon himself and I think he was one of our best."

Young also praised the efforts of young halves duo Kaeo Weekes and Ethan Strange who kept their heads up despite the rough first half.

Strange put in the perfect grubber for Young's decisive try and Weekes' kicking game was a highlight in the second half.

"It's really important to give the younger boys a taste of what it's like to be in the NRL when there's ups and downs," Young said.

"To turn things around against Manly - they're a tough team and to do it at their home - I thought it was really gutsy performance."

Gifted repeated sets in the red zone, Sea Eagles star Tom Trbojevic opened the home team's account inside 10 minutes. Then a mistimed pass by Matt Timoko allowed Tommy Talau to prance away for an easy try to extend Manly's lead.

Errors were a major issue for the Raiders in the previous round and again they had the opposition lining up.

A horror 10-minute period saw the Raiders concede two more tries through sloppy defending in addition to a sin bin to winger Albert Hopoate with referee Grant Atkins seemingly fed up with the Raiders' ill discipline.

Down to 12 men, the Raiders showed some fight through Whitehead, who lived up to his pre-game vow to bring energy around the ball to create opportunities. The veteran's highlight-reel intercept and flick pass put Weekes in for his first Raiders try - and against his former club, no less.

It was also Canberra's first try in 125 minutes of footy.

To start the second half, again penalties killed momentum for the Raiders with a crusher tackle penalty against Morgan Smithies on the last tackle - also put on report - leading to Garrick crossing for his double.

Whitehead's pure muscle try from close range helped keep the Raiders in touch, crashing over as Manly were on their heels.

The captain also pounced on another half-chance around the ball, bolting onto a knock-on by Corey Waddell to slide under the uprights.

As Weekes' confidence grew, he was able to showcase his kicking skills, which gave more chances for the Raiders to wrestle back control in the game.

His neatly-placed kick to the corner teed up a delightful finish from Nick Cotric, tip-toeing beside the sideline to score. Though Weekes couldn't nail his conversion, the Raiders had victory within their sights just two points behind the Sea Eagles.

Luck looked to finally fall Canberra's way when Manly's towering winger Jason Saab had a try disallowed by the Bunker and another Saab error trying to defuse a Raiders bomb put the visitors in the driver's seat to make a decisive blow.

Strange took his chance for a grubber behind Manly's defence and found Young for the game-winner.

Josh Papali'i's ankle niggle from a Nathan Brown hip drop tackle put on report was the lone injury concern from the night for Canberra, but they'll enjoy a week off on a bye before preparing for Magic Round in Brisbane against Canterbury.

AT A GLANCE

CANBERRA RAIDERS 26 (E Whitehead 2, K Weekes, N Cotric, H Young tries; K.Weekes 3 goals) bt MANLY SEA EAGLES 24 (R Garrick 2, T Trbojevic, T Talau, D Cherry-Evans tries; R.Garrick 2 goals)