It left Raiders coach Ricky Stuart scratching his about the injury toll across the NRL, but he was unsure what Cotric had done to his ankle.

There was talk of a possible syndesmosis injury as Cotric races the clock to be fit for Origin II in Perth on Sunday week.

"I don't know anything at the moment, but I've never seen a season like it in regards to key players being injured, Stuart said.

"It's frustrating, but we've had to put up with it from round five or so when it all started to happen to us. I just hope we get a little bit of fortunate luck and it's not too bad.

"My hopes are that it's not too bad. We've got a week off, we've got a bye this week, we've got the rep round. Let's hope it's a sprain and nothing too much more than that."

But it wasn't the only drama in a game the referees lost control of in the final 10 minutes.

Canberra won a thriller 22-20 against the Cronulla Sharks at Canberra Stadium on Thursday night, ending a run of six consecutive wins for the Sharks in the capital.

It sees the Raiders climb to third until at least Sunday when the Sydney Roosters play Canterbury.

The 10,021 fans were baying for blood when a melee erupted after Sharks prop Andrew Fifita's swinging arm on a prone Aidan Sezer.

Bizarrely the Sharks got the penalty, but the Raiders held on to win.

Fifita was also put on report for a crusher tackle on Ryan Sutton, while Cronulla lost centre Bronson Xerri to a head knock.

The Green Machine were cruising and shot out to a 20-0 lead, with Jack Wighton showing his State of Origin credentials with some beautiful passing in front of NSW coach Brad Fittler.

He set up two tries - the first with a cut-out pass to captain Jarrod Croker, who tipped on for Bailey Simonsson to score, and then a short one for Croker to get one of his own.

It was a big one too - Croker's 120th in the NRL drawing him level with Jason Croker as the Green Machine's all-time leading try scorer.

Raiders halfback Aidan Sezer continued his eyes-up football, stepping off his right for the Raiders' first of the night.

But then they found themselves under the pump in a bizarre game.

By the 54th minute the scores were level and the Raiders on the back foot.

In the past, they would've been overrun. But they weren't. They were able to hold tough when it counted and take their chance when they needed to.

Part of that was a brilliant Wighton kick chase, off his own kick, that lead to a goal-line drop-out in the dying stages.

Now it's down to Fittler to decide how Wighton fits into the Blues' origin picture - starting No.6, utility on the bench or not at all.

Stuart felt it should be one of the first two.

"That's Origin effort, that's Origin moments. They turn phases of games," he said of Wighton.

"He got cranky on himself after he kicked that ball out on the full, I might have to get him to do that at the start of the game if he's going to finish off games like that.

"He is really becoming instrumental in out team's performances through his passages of play. Some of his attack tonight was great.

"The ball he gave [Croker] to score the try was a classic five-eighth play.

"He has only been there for half a season, and for him to do that early in his career in that position is a [sign of] a guy who is playing with his eyes up and having a look at what the defenders are doing more so than premeditating play.

"Freddy has got a big decision on his mind."

AT A GLANCE

CANBERRA RAIDERS 22 (Aidan Sezer, Bailey Simonsson, Jarrod Croker tries; Jarrod Croker 5 goals) bt CRONULLA SHARKS 20 (Josh Dugan 2, Josh Morris, Braden Hamlin-Uele tries; Shaun Johnson 2 goals) at Canberra Stadium. Referees: Ashley Klein, Peter Gough. Crowd: 10,021.