NRL: Canberra Raiders produce Magic win over Canterbury Bulldogs

But Stuart was full of praise for the way Croker's fought his way back from two crippling injuries to within sight of his 300^th NRL game.

The 32-year-old's just four games short and deserving his spot in the side - not just offensively, scoring his second try of the season, but defensively with his cool head having a calming effect on his teammates.

That being said, he was part of a trademark frantic ending to a Raiders game with the Green Machine holding on to be 34-30 winners over the Canterbury Bulldogs at Lang Park on Friday night.

They'd been up 34-24 and seemed to be coasting to victory before letting the Bulldogs back into the game.

Raiders winger Jordan Rapana scored two tries, while lock Corey Horsburgh laid down a State of Origin marker on Queensland's home turf - with Maroons coach Billy Slater no doubt watching on with glee.

His first carry led to the opening try of the game and he was metre-eating all over the park.

He finished the half with 113 run metres - 61 of them post-contact - with two tackle busts, and he ended the game with 174m.

It showed he can play two different roles in the middle - a hard-running prop or that of a ball-playing linkman.

For the "home side", Jake Averillo and Jacob Preston scored two apiece where they did well to be in the game given how dominant the Green Machine was.

The Raiders were denied two tries through controversial referee decisions, both involving Canberra five-eighth Jack Wighton.

The first was for a flat ball to Emre Guler that was called forward. The second a knock-on against Wighton that clearly came off his head before Savage eventually picked it up and streaked away.

It's the Raiders' fourth win in a row - and seventh in a row against the Bulldogs - as they start to build momentum going into the second half of the season.

By the end of the game the Lang Park turf was looking very sorry for itself, raising concerns it wouldn't last the weekend - despite the NRL giving it the all-clear at the start of the week.

At least the Raiders got the best of that.

Stuart felt they were the better side and deserved to win by more.

He then revealed he'd asked Croker to retire during the off-season - because he didn't want to pick him in NSW Cup.

Croker's fought back from a shoulder reconstruction and a debilitating knee injury over the past two years, playing just 13 games over the previous two seasons.

But he's now back firing, bringing up the possibility he could climb to second on the all-time point-scoring list and overtake Hazem El Masri by the end of the season.

Croker's now just 130 points behind the Bulldogs great, with Melbourne Storm legend Cameron Smith well out in front of the pair.

"I love 'Toots'. If your children could have the integrity of Jarrod Croker you've got wonderful kids," Stuart said.

"He's a great bloke, he's a wonderful captain. I'm so happy that he's back healthy and he's creating a point of difference in our game.

"His body's copped a hammering over the last two years.

"I don't mind saying, I've asked Toots to retire because his body was just not coping with the loads and he was in a position where I was feeling the pain that he was under.

"We were doing all the tough work at training and he couldn't do it, but he's persisted and persisted and to his credit he said, 'I'm just happy to help the young blokes and play in second grade'.

"He just loves the game. And good on him - that's his attitude and character.

"I didn't want to be the bloke picking him in second grade because I didn't want to disrespect Jarrod Croker's profile."

AT A GLANCE

CANBERRA RAIDERS 34 (Jordan Rapana 2, Xavier Savage, Matt Timoko, Hudson Young, Jarrod Croker tries; Croker 5 goals) bt CANTERBURY BULLDOGS 30 (Jacob Preston 2, Jake Averillo 2, Hayze Perham tries; Matt Burton 5 goals) at Lang Park. Referee: Chris Sutton.

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