A one-man advantage is meant to be a good thing, but David Fifita's sin-binning sparked one of the worst Canberra Raiders losses in recent years.
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Not even a frosty Canberra reception could cool the Gold Coast Titans' attack as they blew the Green Machine off Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.
The 44-6 loss was greeted by boos from some parts of the crowd and was the biggest Raiders defeat since 2014, when they lost by 42 points to the New Zealand Warriors.
It was also the Titans' highest ever score.
But it all went downhill when Fifita was binned for a late shot on Raiders halfback Sam Williams, who was playing his 100th NRL game.
While Williams scored a consolation try in his milestone, it was all Gold Coast from there.
They scored three unanswered tries in Fifita's absence in a horror 10 minutes for the Green Machine.
Fifita had opened the scoring with a strong run from close range, before Kevin Proctor scored the first of his two tries, Moeaki Fotuaika and Jamal Fogarty all crossed to send the visitors into the sheds leading 22-0 at half-time.
The effort was especially disappointing given what was at stake.
Despite losing eight of their previous 10 games, the Raiders were still in touch with the top eight and a win would have kept their finals hopes alive.
It's hard to see them making it now - although there's still time.
Especially given they travel to Brookvale to face a rampant Manly Sea Eagles, who flogged the Canterbury Bulldogs 66-0 earlier on Saturday.
The tries kept rolling in in the second half with Brian Kelly, Proctor, Phillip Sami and Patrick Herbert all scoring.
Josh Papalii was one of the few shining lights for the Raiders.
The Queensland Maroons prop ran for 160 metres and made three offloads, but he had few helpers.
Raiders five-eight Jack Wighton will have at least some good news after a quiet game, with reports he'll play five-eighth for the NSW Blues in State of Origin III.
That only compounds the Raiders' concerns against Manly - they could be missing their star No.6.
AT A GLANCE
GOLD COAST TITANS 44 (Kevin Proctor 2, David Fifita, Moeaki Fotuaika, Jamal Fogarty, Brian Kelly, Phillip Sami, Patrick Herbert tries; Fogarty 6 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 6 (Sam Williams try; Jarrod Croker goal) at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Matt Cecchin. Crowd: 7646.
More to come ...
David Polkinghorne
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
