The Raiders turned around their rusty, lethargic, error-riddled first half effort to mount a sensational comeback, scoring four unanswered tries to defeat the New Zealand Warriors 26-14 at Canberra Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

"We just lacked the intensity to start the second half," Warriors captain Tohu Harris said post-game.

The visitors had the perfect start against the Raiders, testing the Canberra defence early and scoring two tries within the first seven minutes with the home side failing to touch the ball until the 10-minute mark.

New Zealand's first score came courtesy of a repeat set when Nick Cotric was muscled back into goal after collecting a Shaun Johnson bomb.

In the ensuing play Jack Murchie slipped out of a tackle around the legs by Jack Wighton and with no-one to wrap him up, the second-rower was able to scurry and dive over the try-line.

Johnson's kicking game was influential again with a soaring torpedo that nearly touched the clouds completely bamboozling Xavier Savage.

The ball smacked the Raiders fullback straight on the scone and seemingly touched a fingernail to be deemed a knock-on.

New Zealand five-eighth Daejarn Asi then waltzed through the line soon after, evading a loose tackle attempt by Elliot Whitehead to score.

The second half of the first 40 was defined by unlucky near misses, errors and blown opportunities from the Raiders.

When Wighton was impeded by Jazz Tevaga on pursuing a grubber Canberra had a golden chance to put some points on the board but Jamal Fogarty's last-tackle bomb was easily defused.

Canberra had another opportunity minutes later when Adam Elliott backed up a line-break by Josh Papalii, only to be pulled up a mere centimetre short by a desperate Johnson try-saver.

Then came the mistakes.

Sebastian Kris bobbled a loose ball as the Raiders looked threatening, Canberra conceded a defensive penalty on their own 40 which allowed Johnson to extend the Warriors' lead to 14, and Ryan Sutton undid his great work in defence to pinch a Warriors play-the-ball, knocking-on a second later without the opposition laying a finger on him.

The Raiders were at times unlucky, such as when Joe Tapine's plucked offload was clearly dropped by the Warriors right in front of referee Chris Sutton, only to be missed by officials.

But the consistent errors were most frustrating for the 11,915 green-clad fans in attendance at Bruce.

A far more energetic Raiders display from kick-off in the second half was in stark contrast to the deflated hands-on-heads seen before they went into the sheds at the break.

Whether it was a Ricky Stuart spray or the huddle pep-talk from Whitehead, it worked, as the tries then flowed.

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Albert Hopoate scored his first NRL try in his first start for the Raiders. A well-placed Wighton kick to complete their opening set from kick-off was butchered by Marcelo Montoya before bouncing into touch and giving the Raiders the ball on the Warriors' 10-metre line.

Canberra spread the ball to their right wing and a determined run from Matt Timoko kept four Warriors busy as he popped the ball out the back for Hopoate to collect and slam in the corner.

The Warriors were clearly on the backfoot as they began to tire and errors crept in. The Raiders could taste blood in the water and three quick-fire tries from Kris, and Corey Harawira-Naera gave Canberra a lead that the Warriors were unable to chase down so late in the game.

Two late penalty goals from Fogarty completed a memorable comeback.

"We had to handle a lot of pressure," Stuart said in his post-match press conference. "Elliott and a few of the senior boys, their maturity and experience really helps in those scenarios."

Stuart said Wighton's kicking game in the second half particularly, including his 40-20, were decisive in the result.

"They were massive," the coach said. "They were game-changers. Jack Wighton's couple of contributions there turned the whole game. It just turns momentum.

"That's what you want big players to do. His combination with Jamal is just improving more and more."

CANBERRA RAIDERS 26 (Albert Hopoate, Sebastian Kris, 2 Corey Harawira-Naera tries; Jamal Fogarty 5 goals) bt NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS 14 (Jack Murchie, Daejarn Asi tries; Shaun Johnson 3 goals) at Canberra Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Crowd: 11,915.

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