The Canberra Raiders’ nine-game winning streak came to a crushing end on Saturday night, falling 18-12 to the St George Illawarra Dragons in one of the biggest upsets of the 2025 NRL season.
Despite a dominant first half that saw them lead 12-6 and firmly in control, the Raiders were held scoreless in the final 40 minutes, failing to capitalise on their early momentum as errors and ill-discipline marred their performance.
Head coach Ricky Stuart didn’t hold back in his post-match press conference, visibly fuming as he labelled his side’s second-half performance as “dumb”.
"I'm disappointed about the result," Stuart said.
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"I thought we were dumb in the second half.
"In that second half, we made too many errors and forced passes, turned the footy over too much and gave them a lot of field position against that breeze."
Despite the blunt assessment, Stuart acknowledged the team’s strong first-half effort.
"I thought we were very courageous, played really good football in the first half," he stated.
This week’s stunning loss has put Canberra’s hold on the NRL’s top spot – and their quest for the minor premiership – in serious jeopardy, with the Bulldogs poised to overtake them if they can defeat the Wests Tigers by more than 16 points on Sunday.
Despite leading the competition, Stuart admitted his relatively inexperienced squad isn’t focused on the bigger picture just yet.
"We're not looking too far ahead and we can't," Stuart said.
"I haven't got that experienced squad to be looking too far ahead... It's still such a tight four."