With Round 1 in the books for these sides, the Raiders will now return to Canberra, preparing to face the Broncos in Round 2. Meanwhile, the Warriors will look to bounce back when they head home to Auckland for a crucial clash with the Manly Sea Eagles. For now, that rounds things out in this one. Thanks for tuning into Tribe.

Canberra will be ecstatic with their performance, dominating the contest in all areas. Josh Papali’i and Corey Horsburgh laid the foundation through the middle, while Tom Starling’s sharpness out of dummy half provided a crucial attacking spark. Savage and Timoko were electric out wide, making the most of every opportunity. On the other hand, the Warriors will need to regroup quickly, with their young halves struggling to create attacking opportunities and their forwards failing to match Canberra’s physicality. Tuivasa-Sheck was a shining light, but he lacked the support needed to turn the tide.

Despite being outmuscled for most of the match, the Warriors showed some late fight, with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck producing a moment of brilliance in the 72nd minute. The winger received a well-timed ball on the left edge, bursting past Xavier Savage and powering through two defenders to plant the ball down in the corner. While it was a classy finish, it proved little more than a consolation, as the Raiders' defensive resilience ensured there was no chance of a late Warriors comeback.

The Raiders picked up where they left off in the second half, extending their lead almost immediately. A high ball caused havoc for Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who spilled it straight into the hands of Kris, gifting him his second try in the 45th minute. Canberra’s forward pack continued to dominate, laying the platform for Matt Timoko to break free down the right edge in the 56th minute, leaving Nicoll-Klokstad grasping at air with a brilliant dummy before racing away to score. The Warriors struggled to gain any real momentum, as their young halves pairing of Chanel Harris-Tavita and Luke Metcalf found it tough to unlock Canberra’s defensive wall.

The Canberra Raiders have started their 2025 NRL campaign in style, claiming a dominant 22-point victory over the New Zealand Warriors under the bright lights of Las Vegas. A blistering first half set the tone, with the Raiders capitalising on Warriors mistakes to establish an early lead. Sebastian Kris powered his way over for the opening try in the sixth minute before Xavier Savage stole the show with two stunning efforts, first finishing a slick backline move in the 27th minute, then intercepting a Luke Metcalf pass and racing 90 metres to score. The Warriors managed to pull one back just before half-time, with Kurt Capewell crossing in the corner after a classy offload from Adam Pompey, keeping their hopes alive heading into the break.

The Raiders work it to halfway through Young and Smithies. Savage comes in for a run, followed by Timoko in centre field, stopped 43m out. Tapine trucks it up next, with the last tackle seeing Fogarty drill it low into touch 15m from the try line. On the run goes Halasima, offloading loosely for Egan to clean up, and that is full-time.

Nicoll-Klokstad carries in midfield, followed by Tuaupiki to the 40. Another run for Nicoll-Klokstad, working it to halfway, before Clark works it forward in centre field. Last play for Metcalf and he fires it to Barnett, who puts a chip in that is cleaned up by Fogarty.

The Raiders play left off the scrum, carried forward by Kris towards the 20. Out of dummy half go Canberra, with Smithies then met well on his 30. Left it goes for Young to carry beyond the 40. Tapine then makes it past halfway in centre field. Last play and Fogarty bombs for Tuivasa-Sheck to take on the 20.

Pompey sends the kick off high and short, bouncing into the hands of Tuivasa-Sheck. Carrying it forward is Fisher-Harris, with the ball then worked towards the try line by Halasima. Clark is then stopped in front of the sticks, with Metcalf having a look up at the defence, knocking on for a Raiders scrum on their 10.