The Canberra Raiders put their hand up as NRLW premiership contenders with a gutsy golden point victory on Saturday, despite allowing a nervy second-half fightback.
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The Green Machine defeated St George Illawarra Dragons 19-18, with co-captains Zahara Temara (seven points, 234 kicking metres) and Simaima Taufa (one try, 197 metres, 44 tackles) both standouts once again.
Zahara Temara scored the decisive field goal in golden point for their third-straight win.
But Dragons coach Jamie Soward was fuming at some of the officiating calls including a disallowed try for his fullback Teagan Berry, which was deemed a double-movement by the bunker.
"[Berry] should have had two tries," Soward said of Berry, who finished with the one four-pointer.
"If she's fighting to score a try near the line ... if it's 20 metres back up field, the referee just goes back and says held.
"We lost and people say he whinges every week, but we went from 17 penalties, we gave [four] penalties the whole game, but we're still dirty.
"I'll just keep quiet. I'm not on that much cash where I can spend $10,000.
"We are super fit but can't dig ourselves into a hole like we did in the first half and expect it's going to be okay."
Raiders coach Darrin Borthwick was more annoyed that for consecutive weeks his side tempted the opposition to snatch victory at the death.
"I don't want to take the win away from the girls but we did make it hard," he said post-game. "How long we sustain that for ... we need to be way better.
"It was challenging in the box today. There were times I didn't know where to look. I get frustrated because I know what type of team we've got. We're just not quite nailing it yet."
Zahara Temara sent a first half warning in Wollongong, making an impressive line break for an 80-metre gain from the kick-off.
The Raiders couldn't capitalise on their early momentum and actually conceded first with Dragons centre Bobbi Law attacking the edge of Canberra debutant Alanna Dummett to score.
From there the Raiders clicked into gear and looked unstoppable.
A botched kick-off return from the Dragons set the Raiders up to strike right back with winger Shakiah Tungai finding space out wide.
Wave after wave of Raiders attack eventually broke down the Dragons and after Taufa nearly muscled over the tryline, shifty hooker Chante Temara snuck through at dummy-half to give Canberra the lead.
Taufa then showcased her Jillaroos class from the next kick-off, scoring a sensational 50-metre solo try.
Her bulldozing run at halfway pierced the Dragons' defence, then she put on a right-foot step and sublime fend to score while carrying two Saints players on her back.
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The Raiders went to the half-time break with an 18-6 lead, but it could have been an even bigger advantage had tries to Hollie-Mae Dodd and Kerehitina Matua not been scrubbed by the bunker for knock-ons.
Canberra had to repel a revitalised Dragons in the second half, and kept inviting them into the danger zone with multiple errors and penalties.
The home side was unlucky not to be awarded a try with fullback Berry accused of a double movement.
The physical battle was taking its toll with Dragons second-rower Sara Sautia's day over early with an ankle injury, while Raiders bench prop Grace Kemp had to go up the tunnel too.
The Red V's line defence was much-improved from the first term, twice stopping two golden chances from the advancing Raiders edge threats.
After a try-saver at one end Berry backed it up with an extraordinary chip-and-chase try which reduced the deficit to just six points.
Just as the Raiders sought a response, a blocked grubber was collected by Law who offloaded to Margot Vella, who raced the length of the field to level the score at 18-18.
The Raiders received the kick-off in golden point and played it perfectly, with big metres gained, before pinning their rivals.
The Dragons still held their own, with a Berry chargedown denying Zahara Temara in her first field goal attempt. Then another Raider on debut, Ua Ravu - who only came out in golden point to replace Chante Temara - was held up in goal.
Third time proved the charm for the Raiders, though, and in the same set, Zahara Temara made no mistake to nail the winning field goal.
"We're disappointed because we weren't playing to our standard in that second half," the five-eighth said after the game.
"We need to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them week to week. I'm really proud of the girls that we lifted the energy in that extra time bit, but we need to be better."
NRLW - ROUND 4
CANBERRA RAIDERS 19 (Shakiah Tungai, Chante Temara, Simaima Taufa tries; Zahara Temara 3 goals, field goal) bt ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 18 (Bobbi Law, Teagan Berry, Margot Vella tries; Raecene McGregor 3 goals) at Wollongong Stadium on Saturday.
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