The Canberra Raiders Cup's two representative sides - the under 20s and open - both fell to the sword of the Newcastle Rebels on Saturday.

The four-and-a-half-hour trip down the highway lessoned the damage this time but the Canberra sides were still unable to achieve redemption.

The open team fell by 12 points in a 28-16 battle.

MORE IN CANBERRA SPORT:

Despite the result, Canberra's coach Jordan Macey had nothing but praise for his side's efforts at Bruce.

He pointed out some of the key players such as Jesse Martin for his efforts, and Josh Mitchell who was "always solid" on the park.

With the rising stars of the region able to rub shoulders with some of the more experienced players, they can only get better.

"They boys were awesome," Macey said.

"It's obviously not the result we wanted, but I thought the effort from all of them was outstanding.

"[Newcastle's] always the benchmark for regional footy, so to be in the game with 10 minutes to go was a real credit to how the boys showed up for each other.

"The forwards, overall, were outstanding. They all had a really good game and just kept showing up."

Similarly, the under 20s fell to the Rebels at NSWRL headquarters earlier in the day with a 26-6 defeat.

The weekend of rugby league in the territory did take a hit due to the rain, with the Katrina Fanning Shield magic round at Raiders Belconnen postponed on wet weather grounds.

Despite the weather, five male players from the region are still set to don NSW Country colours in Sydney on Sunday.

AT A GLANCE

Newcastle Rebels under 20s bt Canberra Raiders Cup representative under 20s 26-6

Rebels open bt Canberra open 28-16