NRL: Canberra Raiders rue missed chance as refereeing howler stuns commentators

After a tight defeat like that, it's the moment the Raiders may well want back.

In the dying stages of the first half a penalty was awarded to the Green Machine and Jeremy Marshall-King was sin-binned for a hip drop on Corey Horsburgh that left 'Big Red' fuming.

Down to 12 men, the Dolphins were on their heels at this point but the Raiders settled for two points after an earlier missed conversion.

Jamal Fogarty nailed the kick, but a try would have been handy, especially after the Dolphins scored a minute before the break and six points was the final winning margin.

With 15 minutes to go, the Dolphins were able to square up the game with a contentious try that could set an intriguing precedent for the rest of the season.

Sean O'Sullivan's kick was unable to be defended by Sebastian Kris, and Matt Timoko was left one-on-one with Tom Gilbert in the chase.

But commentators doubted whether it was a legitimate contest when the Dolphin used his hands to shove Timoko before scoring.

"You can run shoulder to shoulder but you can't push and have the hands involved," Shane Flanagan said on Fox Sports' broadcast.

Then the try was awarded, much to everyone's surprise.

Coach Ricky Stuart and captain Elliott Whitehead said after the game they didn't see the incident, but were frustrated at how they've defended kicks.

"The effort has been there. The last two weeks we've had a few tries scored against us through kicks and that's something we're going to have to look at," Whitehead said.

We put a lot of effort in defence, they're not really getting broken down.

"It's costing us two points at the end of the day so it's something we really have to fix up fast. We have a big game against the Sharks next week and hopefully we have a big crowd there and can turn things around with a win."

Forget Josh Hodgson and Tom Starling, it's the Starling and Danny Levi show now.

The hooking duo were slick with Levi setting up Jack Wighton's opening try for the Raiders and Starling looked threatening running well and kicking behind the defence, chalking up 103 metres in 45 minutes.

Levi's strip attempt with two in the tackle and a late smack at a loose ball-carry unfortunately back-fired on the Raiders, but the positive is it showed he's not afraid to be a game-changer.

If this is what the pair can deliver in round two in a Redcliffe bathtub, it's exciting to think what the rest of the season holds.

Electric battering ram Ata Mariota will wait nervously for the NRL judiciary charge sheet on Sunday after he was put on report for a crusher tackle on former Raider Mark Nicholls.

The incident did not look intentional but referee Todd Smith was overhead explaining: "He's still got a responsibility not to put him a dangerous position".

Hudson Young was on the receiving end of a very nasty - albeit technically elite - tackle from Felise Kaufusi that left the back-rower floored.

It was the second brutal tackle Kaufusi had delivered in as many games after a similar rib-tickler last week on Brandon Smith in their win over the Roosters. Trainers were seen attending to Young as he laid on his back, pointing at his chest in discomfort after the big hit. The 24-year-old was able to return to the game thankfully, but he won't be wanting to watch the highlight online.

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