NRL rivals Canberra Raiders and Wests Tigers take a knee for Black Lives Matter movement

The Canberra Raiders and Wests Tigers joined forces and took a knee following their NRL clash at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday night.

For a few fleeting moments the competition points secured in the Green Machine's gritty 14-6 win over Tigers fell into the background, so too the significance of their place in second on the ladder.

Because this was a chance for some of rugby league's best to make a statement, to band together in unity and send a message: black lives matter.

They followed the lead of other clubs this weekend and more will do so on Sunday, because this is about more than a game of rugby league. It is about equality.

Where else would you rather be than the top of a five-storey car park on a cold night in Campbelltown?

A couple of Raiders die hards found themselves a neat little vantage point to watch the Green Machine grind out a win over the Tigers.

A handful of supporters were welcomed into corporate boxes as the rest of the rugby league world counts down the days until they will be allowed back into grandstands.

What those few green-eyed fans in the car park saw was anything but glamorous. Passes didn't find the mark, they were held scoreless in the opening half and they finished with two fit men on the bench after Jordan Rapana and Joe Tapine were taken from the field for head injury assessments.

But all of that will have mattered little, because the Raiders picked up two competition points, and they return to the top two.

Coach Ricky Stuart certainly enjoyed it, knocking back a beer during the team song to mark the occasion.

Need to shop for an engagement ring? Want someone to join you on the golf course? How about a teammate to help you strike fear into NRL defensive lines?

These two always knew who to call.

So close were the duo once known as "Leipana" that Rapana and Joey Leilua would push their beds together when they roomed with each other for Canberra Raiders away games.

"Saves him reaching over showing me something on his phone, he can just roll over," Rapana once laughed.

So it's only natural they drew some attention to one edge of Campbelltown Stadium when they went head to head after Rapana was drafted into the starting side ahead of Bailey Simonsson.

Rapana racked up 165 running metres before his night came to a premature end due to a head knock - but he walked away with bragging rights over his old mate in a battle which didn't quite live up to what might have been hoped.

"They were very good mates at home but he had a job to do, and he did it," Stuart said.

"It's a matter of bringing in some experience. We didn't underestimate the week we had coming up, and it was important I had some experience on that edge.

"Bailey Simonsson is a wonderful team person and he took it in his stride. Everybody wants to start but he accepted it and understood the reason. It was important having BJ on that edge with so much experience, that we matched experience with experience.

"We had Jarrod [Croker], Jordan, Jack [Wighton] and Elliott [Whitehead]."

Wests Tigers forward Russell Packer paced up and down the Campbelltown Stadium sideline, interchange card in hand, with one thought running through his head.

You're about to step back onto the park for the first time since April 22 last year, and what stands before you is one of the competition's most impressive forward packs.

It's time to make a statement after a foot injury which threatened to end the 30-year-old New Zealander's career. But Packer's return was anything but a dream.

He waited almost 49 minutes for his first taste of action, and he was sin-binned five minutes later to leave the Tigers a man down - and Canberra made them pay instantly. Before long he was on report for a high shot on Joe Tapine.