Raiders Nearly Choke on Dragons' Fire: Victory Snatched from the Jaws of Embarrassment
Author by
Clara
Monday, 2025 Jul 07|
10:58 PM
Canberra Raiders fans may be breathing, but barely.
In a game that felt more like an emotional hostage situation than a footy match, the Raiders scraped past the St George Illawarra Dragons 28–24 on Sunday after nearly blowing a commanding 24–6 lead.
The kind of game where you spend the first half planning finals tickets… and the second half planning therapy.
Let’s start with the meltdown.
After storming ahead early, Canberra did what Canberra does best—panic.
Their defence turned to mist, their discipline went out the window, and their backline started giving away territory like it was an election campaign.
The Dragons, dead in the water by halftime, suddenly decided to live—and almost pulled off the comeback of the round.
It was a mess.
A dramatic, soap-opera-level mess, complete with sin bins, missed tackles, and at least five moments where Ricky Stuart looked like he was going to hurl his clipboard into orbit.
For Dragons coach Shane Flanagan, it was bittersweet: a loss, but one of those “we almost got there” ones that somehow builds character and ulcers in equal measure.
The fans? They were whiplashed.
Raiders supporters went from smug celebration to frantic pacing in twenty minutes flat.
Dragons fans were halfway through rage-posting on Reddit before suddenly daring to hope—and then cursing the universe when it ended in heartbreak.
Again.
And yet, the bigger picture is painfully clear: the Raiders, sitting just outside the top 8, need more than luck and nostalgia if they’re serious about finals.
They’ve got raw talent and an occasionally exciting attack, but inconsistency and late-game panic are baked into their DNA this season.
For the Dragons, though, this wasn’t just a near-win—it was the latest entry in a season of could’ve-beens.
Their rebuild is testing patience, but there were flashes of potential, especially in that chaotic second half where they threw absolutely everything at Canberra and nearly broke them.
So, what did we learn?
That the Raiders can’t keep flirting with disaster and expect happy endings.
That the Dragons are somehow both terrible and terrifying depending on the minute.
And that watching NRL in 2025 still comes with a health warning: may cause screaming, swearing, and rapid loss of faith in your team’s ability to defend a 20-point lead.
🧨 You made it to the end. now what?
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