This is not the greatest grand final in the world. It's just a tribute.
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While it was not the thriller the Canberra Raiders' victory in the 1989 grand final, it was thrilling enough for the Green Machine faithful.
They celebrated the club's 30th anniversary of their maiden premiership in style, with the Raiders running out 20-12 victors over the Wests Tigers in front of 15,656 at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.
It was the Raiders' sixth win in the past seven encounters with the Tigers to cement their spot in the top four.
The Raiders were inspired from the start, having run out past '89 legends Mal Meninga, Laurie Daley, Gary Belcher, Bradley Clyde - 15 of that year's class making it back to celebrate.
Try-scoring hero Steve Jackson blew the Viking horn and it seemed to infuse Dunamis Lui with the spirit of the valkyrie.
The unheralded Lui barged over in a throwback to Jackson's match sealer back in the day for just his third try of his career.
THE WASH-UP
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said the presence of so many past players lifted his team, who showed a lot of defensive grit in the second half to hold off a pressing Tigers.
"Yeah absolutely. I just said that to them as well. We knew how important the game was. We knew how desperate they would be," he said.
"Where they are on the table and the points they're on I knew they'd be really desperate in regards to their game."
The Raiders looked like blowing the Tigers off the park, like they have a number of times in recent history.
Canberra halfback Aidan Sezer grubbered for fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to score and he threw a Stuart-esque cutout pass for winger Jordan Rapana to cross in the corner.
Of course it was Rapana - the Green Machine flyer's made a habit of tormenting the Tigers.
It was his 11th try in eight games against the combine.
Wests prop Josh Aloiai barged over and the 20-6 half-time scoreline probably flattered the Tigers some what.
To make matters worse, Wests lost Thomas Mikaele and Matt Eisenhuth after a head clash in a tackle - although Eisenhuth was able to return.
Sia Soliola's form is giving Stuart the luxury of starting Origin star Josh Papalii on the bench.
Soliola was at his energetic best, eating up 98 metres in his first stint to get the Green Machine rolling and ending with 152.
Not to be outdone, Papalii clocked up a lazy 184m as well.
Tigers veteran Benji Marshall put Wests winger David Nofoaluma over to give the visitors hope in the second half, but the Raiders' desperate defence kept them at bay.
How important has Nicoll-Klokstad become for the home team? This is a recording.
Tigers fullback Moses Mbye was just as important for West.
But not as important as Sezer's try-saving tackle on Michael Chee-Kam and then Croker's to force Nofoaluma into touch just before he flicked the ball back inside for Esan Marsters to score a try that would've made for a grandstand finish.
Stuart said the Raiders old boys had been proud of the effort - even if it wasn't the prettiest game.
"They were mate. We had a great night last night with them [at the hall of fame dinner] and we'll have another good night tonight with the rest of the boys that just got down today," Stuart said.
"I hope they are proud of the effort. An ugly win, but certainly we scrambled our way back to two points there tonight."
While the Tigers game was a massive one in terms of the Raiders' history, they now face a massive one in the context of their season - travelling to Penrith to take on the Panthers, who are on a seven-game winning streak.
AT A GLANCE
CANBERRA RAIDERS 20 (Dunamis Lui, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Jordan Rapana tries; Jarrod Croker 4 goals) bt WESTS TIGERS 12 (Josh Aloiai, David Nofoaluma tries; Moses Mbye 2 goals) at Canberra Stadium. Referees: Adam Gee, Chris Butler. Crowd: 15,656.