It was set up by a Jack Wighton first-half masterclass - two tries, including a runaround, and involved in everything.
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But the Canberra Raiders were lining up behind him in the 36-16 victory over the Gold Coast Titans on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
It has the Raiders in touch with the top four and on the verge of wrapping up a finals berth, which would be the first time they've been in the finals two years in a row since 2004.
Ryan Sutton played the opening 52 minutes to run for 195 metres in a revamped starting pack that had the Green Machine rolling forward.
Josh Papalii came off the bench to produce one of the ankle taps of the century - chasing down a flying Jamal Fogarty, having given the Titans halfback a big head start.
Not to mention his 144m.
Papalii was put on report for a high shot on Titans prop Jaimin Jolliffe - who went off for a head-injury assessment, but was able to return - but he shouldn't have too many concerns.
Nick Cotric scored a double - his second in two weeks - although he came off with a tight groin with about 13 minutes remaining.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said it was just precautionary.
"He had a tight groin. He was complaining about a tight groin and I'm better off resting him," he said.
"It's too late in the season to be risking players and aggravating anything when we can give him a bit of rest and get it back to 100 per cent."
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Dunamis Lui, celebrating his 150th NRL game, produced his fifth one-on-one strip to take him to the top of the NRL in that regard.
Corey Harawira-Naera was excellent in his Raiders run-on debut, with a potential shoulder charge his only blemish.
Tom Starling scored his first NRL try - a nice show-and-go out of dummy half opening up the room for him to dive over.
His housemate and good mate Hudson Young crossed to bring up his second career try to keep himself ahead of Starling - who had the try assist with the pass to put him over.
Raiders co-captain Jarrod Croker cruised past 2100 career NRL points from the kicking tee.
While the Raiders dominated possession in the opening exchanges, the Titans caught them on the break with Phillip Sami swooping on a Tanah Boyd grubber that eluded Cotric.
But that was where the home team's joy ended.
Canberra fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad produced a nice cutout pass for Cotric's first.
Then Wighton masterminded a brilliant left-edge try, his runaround at the centre of it and the ball ended up back in his hands to cross.
He then outdid himself with a nice step, a fend and his second.
"I think Jack was probably our most consistent player at sticking to task," Stuart said.
"He played direct, he played to the plan that we wanted to adopt today. He never lost the will to stick to a structured game of footy.
"That was a really nice piece of play that he set up for a try. His decision making as a half now is really improving.
"I want him to take the line on, he's a great runner of the football. His elite skill at his pass selection, the type of and how, is really improving considering he's only played there for a little over 12 months."
When Starling crossed it was 22-4 to the visitors at half-time.
Young and Cotric tries were overshadowed by Papalii's brilliant effort to get back and stop Fogarty scoring a certain one himself in the second half.
The spate of crusher tackles continued, with Titans lock Moeaki Fotuaika put on report for one on Croker.
Gold Coast second-rower Keegan Hipgrave crossed for a consolation try when the contest was over.
While happy with the final score, Stuart felt they could've played a lot better.
"There is a lot of character in this joint and you can see that with the huge amount of injuries we've had this year, the adversity with our travel and I don't say that for a shoulder to cry on - I say it because it's fact," Stuart said.
"We've had a really tough year this year and the way they've stuck together these blokes I couldn't be prouder as a coach.
"But I think we' could've played better tonight. We didn't.
"We won the way we should've won on the scoreboard, but not in regards to the quality of our play. So we've still got improvement.
"We've still got a way to go. We're nowhere where we need to be if we're going to be a threat in the semis."
The Raiders now have a long week to prepare for the Canterbury Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium next Sunday, while the Titans face St George Illawarra at Kogarah Oval.
AT A GLANCE
CANBERRA RAIDERS 36 (Jack Wighton 2, Nick Cotric 2, Tom Starling, Hudson Young tries; Jarrod Croker 6 goals) bt GOLD COAST TITANS 16 (Phillip Sami, AJ Brimson, Keegan Hipgrave tries; Jamal Fogarty 2 goals) at the Gold Coast. Referee: Chris Butler.