Fantasy Match Report
Raiders ’94 v Panthers ’03
Sydney Cricket Ground
Referee: Bill Harrigan

CANBERRA ‘94
Brett Mullins
Ken Nagas
Mal Meninga (c)
Ruben Wiki
Noa Nadruku
Laurie Daley
Ricky Stuart
Quentin Pongia
Steve Walters
Paul Osborne
David Furner
Jason Croker
Bradley Clyde

Brett Hetherington
David Westley

PENRITH ‘03
Rhys Wesser
Luke Lewis
Paul Whatuira
Ryan Girdler
Luke Rooney
Preston Campbell
Craig Gower (c)
Joel Clinton
Luke Priddis
Martin Lang
Joe Galuvao
Tony Puletua
Scott Sattler

Ben Ross
Trent Waterhouse
Shane Rodney
Luke Swain
(Two subs only)

The Sydney Cricket Ground was a sea of colour as the mighty 1994 Canberra Raiders came to town for a showdown with the all-conquering 2003 Penrith Panthers. After a spine-tingling rendition of the national anthem from Julie Anthony and pre-match entertainment from Tina Turner and Cold Chisel, it was time for the main event with the Panthers winning the toss and electing to kick-off in the first-half.

It was a rough start for Panthers bookend Martin Lang with the Raiders forwards, led by Steve Walters and Quentin Pongia, zeroing in on the Queenslander on a number of occasions.

However Penrith struck the first blow through Lang’s engine room teammate Tony Puletua who poked his head through the line at the 9th minute and found a flying Rhys Wesser on halfway. The fullback came to his opposite Brett Mullins, veered right and set sail for the corner. A desperate Mullins could not make the tackle but had done enough to slow Wesser down and allow Ken Nagas and Brad Clyde a chance to bundle Wesser into touch inches from the try-line.

Canberra hit right back with some Laurie Daley magic who split the Panthers on their right hand edge before being dragged to ground only thirty-five from the Penrith line. With the Panthers back peddling, referee Harrigan had no choice but to penalise Joel Clinton and Luke Rooney who held Daley down too long in the tackle.

David Furner stepped up and split the posts to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead after thirteen minutes of play.

13th Minute: Furner penalty goal (Raiders 2-0)

The Raiders, on the back of Ricky Stuart’s right boot, began to win the field position and the pressure soon told when Panthers centre Paul Whatuira was forced into an error right in front of his own posts.

Penrith looked shot on their third consecutive line drop-out but quickly found themselves counter attacking after a Stuart grubber kick was trapped by Scott Sattler who in turn flicked a pass to Whatuira who made up for his earlier mistake by streaking away on a sixty-metre run before being caught from behind by Noa Nadruku.

Canberra couldn’t recover with Paul Osborne deemed offside by the officials and Ryan Girdler levelled the scores at two with his own penalty goal.

22nd Minute: Girdler penalty goal (2-2)

The game erupted on 25 minutes when Jason Croker and Pongia upended Luke Priddis with the players coming from everywhere to get involved. Eventually the penalty went to the Panthers and their first real attacking opportunity at Canberra’s end.

Preston Campbell and Wesser were both held up over the line in the same set of six only for Mullins to save the day on both occasions.

Eventually the Raiders broke when Craig Gower sent a ball skyward and across to the flying Luke Lewis who was smashed by Canberra legend Mal Meninga as he found the grass. Lewis showed his class however by popping a ball out the back which was scooped up by Campbell and found Girdler in one motion. With his try in the corner, Penrith had the lead.

29th Minute: Girdler try and goal (Panthers 8-2)

But a team like Canberra doesn’t go away in a hurry and they found their stride once more after a slick backline movement from their own half of the field. With the Panthers in two minds, Daley found Clyde who burst through a yawning gap. Penrith tried to kill the ball but after drawing in Wesser, Clyde found a rampaging Ruben Wiki who scored next to the posts, carrying two Panthers across in the process.

34th Minute: Wiki try, Furner goal (8-8)

Penrith needed the siren in a hurry as the Raiders pressed forward again through Clyde, Walters, Daley and an impeccable kicking performance from Stuart. Things almost got worse for the mountain men with Meninga drawing the attention of three Panthers but was still good enough to find an around-the-corner pass to Furner who almost embarrassed the covering Panthers by making it the thirty metres to the line himself. Canberra had the foot on the throat before the buzzer but just couldn’t break the Panthers defiant line. Eventually, Stuart would take the next best thing and snapped a field goal on the stroke of half-time.

40th Minute: Stuart field goal (Raiders 9-8)

Half-Time
Raiders 9
Panthers 8
Canberra coach Tim Sheens used his second interchange of the match when he brought David Westley in for Quentin Pongia, essentially making it a double switch after replacing Paul Osborne for Brett Hetherington just before oranges.

But it would be a Panthers reserve making the first impact with Trent Waterhouse coming onto the field in the 47th minute for Martin Lang. Waterhouse went into the meat of the Raiders defensive line on his side of halfway and somehow found a way through the other side quickly finding Priddis in support.

The Panthers wanted the lead back and a shift back to the left from Gower saw an overlap on the blindside only for Canberra centre Wiki to come out of the line, jarring Scott Sattler and forcing the ball free. Three tackles later, hooker Walters found some space behind the ruck before eventually being brought to ground by Wesser.

Penrith were stretched with Nagas unmarked on his wing. Some quick hands to Daley saw the New South Wales and Australian five-eight drift across field looking for Mullins. Panthers to their credit covered valiantly but Daley’s inside pass to a bullocking Furner was too much to handle with the test forward slamming the ball down in traffic.

52nd Minute: Furner try and goal (Raiders 15-8)

Joe Galuvao tried to inspire his Panthers on the sixty minute mark with consecutive tackles on Croker and Furner and it worked a treat with Priddis stripping the pill from Nadruku on the fourth play. The Panthers took full toll with a remarkable try that saw six Penrith players handle the ball before a grubber kick from Campbell saw Rooney win the race for the ball ahead of Stuart and Mullins.

61st Minute: Rooney try, Girdler no goal (Raiders 15-12)

With the Raiders battling for field position, Stuart took control once more with a monster spiral punt from his own thirty finding touch ten metres from Penrith’s line.

Potentially with the play of the day, the classy Brad Clyde stepped up.

With the Panthers now struggling to ruck the ball away from their own danger zone, Sattler was forced to kick with Gower caught on the fifth play. Clyde pounced, charging down the kick. Canberra had the ball back.

Walters and Mullins both went close to sealing it for the green machine and with the Panthers condensing, a cut-out ball from Stuart to Daley left the five-eight a free passage to the line and a Canberra Raiders victory.

74th Minute: Daley try, Furner goal (Raiders 21-12)

Full-Time
Raiders 21
Panthers 12

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