It was some Green Machine magic perfectly suited for Magic Round.

The Raiders put their second-half woes behind them to storm back to beat the Canterbury Bulldogs 20-18 at Lang Park on Saturday

But the win could come at a cost with Josh Papalii sent off for a high shot on Tuipolotu Katoa, Jack Wighton sin binned for a cannonball tackle on Adam Elliott and Josh Hodgson put on report for a chicken-wing tackle on fellow Englishman Luke Thompson.

Canberra prop Corey Horsburgh also went off with a chest injury.

The Raiders would be entitled to question why Bulldogs prop Ava Seumanufagai wasn't also sin binned for a late shot on Dunamis Lui.

Canberra played all but 14 minutes of the second half at least one player short - some of it with two - as the NRL's crackdown on foul play continued to see players given their marching orders.

But the Green Machine have at least ended their run of five straight losses.

They've also put their second-half struggles behind them with an emphatic comeback after slipping behind after half-time.

But the NRL's crackdown, which has seen Magic Round marred by a spate of sin bins and send offs, took the focus away from the Raiders' efforts in scoring two short-handed tries in the final 11 minutes to break their drought.

"I think I mocked them. I said we might be down one, we might be down two, it'll show us what kind of spirit you've got," Stuart said.

"It's unfortunate I'm in here answering these questions when I'd love to be talking about the courage and the spirit and the fight there we had to win. We were down.

"I've said it for a number of weeks, our joint's not broken, our club's not broken, it's a wonderful club.

"We've just been losing football games, we haven't had any luck, we had no luck again today.

"Fortunately through their culture and the spirit of the jumper and the player inside it, we hung on."

A Papalii offload eventually led to the opening try - Raiders half George Williams stepped his way through the Bulldogs' defensive line and it ended up with Corey Harawira-Naera galloping over.

Harawira-Naera was excellent on the Raiders' right edge, gaining 116 run metres for his efforts.

Canberra winger Semi Valemei was also outstanding, deputising for Jordan Rapana (hamstring), along with all of the Green Machine's outside backs.

The Raiders dominated possession in the opening stanza, but could only take an 8-0 lead into half-time with Williams also adding a penalty goal.

Would it be enough? That was the obvious question given the Green Machine's second-half woes in their past five games.

Their nerves weren't helped when former Raiders winger Nick Cotric barged over from a metre out and then Nick Meaney also crossing to put the Bulldogs ahead - especially given they were a man down.

But Raiders fullback Caleb Aekins put Curtis Scott and then Sebastian Kris through holes to spark a stunning comeback.

Stuart felt he shouldn't need to worry about further sanctions for his players from the NRL match review committee.

"I shouldn't be [having players suspended]. It should be send off sufficient," he said.

"Jack hit him above the knee. And they said it was unnecessary contact.

"If he doesn't make that contact I'm into Jack, saying why aren't you chopping in at the legs to try and create the third man technique that you need to get the player down on the ground and on his back.

"It was just very unfortunate how the player ended up."

AT A GLANCE

CANBERRA RAIDERS 20 (Corey Harawira-Naera, Curtis Scott, Sebastian Kris tries; George Williams 3 goals) bt CANTERBURY BULLDOGS 18 (Nick Cotric, Nick Meaney, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak tries; Jake Averillo 3 goals) at Lang Park. Referee: Chris Butler.