Canberra Raiders under-20s claim biggest win in Cup finals history

Having been pushed over the tryline and forced to defend back-to-back sets in the opening minutes, Ash Barnes implored his side to just dig deep.

And they responded with a 66-point rout.

The young Green Machine claimed the biggest grand final win in Canberra Raiders Cup history on Sunday, thrashing the Bulls 66-10 with a 13-try blitz.

A 46-0 first-half shutout saw the Raiders smash the previous record held by the West Belconnen Warriors, who beat the Queanbeyan Blues 44-10 in 1998.

Cries of "declare now" filled Seiffert Oval as the Raiders' score ticked higher than the clock - a fast start not even Barnes saw coming.

"No, not at all. The Bulls have been great all year and all of our games with them have been tight tussles," Barnes said.

"I think the guys have been building for this throughout the year. This competition for us was about developing these players as individuals, which has been something we really appreciate.

"It all came together today in terms of what we wanted to do, which was unfortunate for the Bulls.

"In the second half, they were down a substantial margin and kept coming at us which is a credit to them.

"We knew the Bulls would play with a lot of emotion early. It's a massive deal for local clubs like Gungahlin to make the grand final. They should be applauded for their efforts this year."

The triumph likely marked the last outing of the Raiders in the competition, with the under-20s outfit to rejoin the Jersey Flegg Cup next year.

Canberra entered its young stars in the Raiders Cup following the cancellation of NSWRL pathway competitions, ending their Jersey Flegg campaign before it began.

"It's a great reward for an outstanding group of young men, I'm very proud of them," Barnes said.

"A lot of these guys have been away from home without being able to see their families for a long period of time. There's guys from Queensland and New Zealand.

"When the Jersey Flegg competition got cancelled there was a great unknown for what was next for the boys. So for them to have regular football is going to be massive for their development going forward.

"I can't thank the local clubs and the CRRL enough to let us play in the competition."

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A hat-trick apiece to Caleb Esera and Manaese Kaho helped lift the Raiders to the title, with the former named player of the match for his clinical performance. The second-rower started an avalanche of Raiders tries when he broke the deadlock in the eighth minute, instantly punishing Rourke O'Sullivan for losing an inside-ball.

"It was good but full credit to the boys it was all their hard work through the middle," Esera said about his three-try haul.

Canberra's second-phase play continued to haunt Gungahlin as Adrian Trevilyan and Kaho both scored from offloads.

The latter caused havoc with a second try from dummy-half before running the full length of the field in counter-attack to round out his hat-trick.

Despite the 12-try blitz, the loudest cheer of the afternoon came when Linkin Bradley pounced on a Connor Williams kick to score the Bulls' first try in the left corner.

Earlier, the Woden Valley Rams beat the UC Stars 22-4 in the reserve grade final.

AT A GLANCE

First grade: CANBERRA RAIDERS U20 66 (Esera 3, Kaho 3, Williams 2, Trevilyan, Allen, Harris, Mooney, Titiuti tries, Souter 4 tries; Williams 3 goals) bt GUNGAHLIN BULLS 10 (Bradley, Eldridge tries, Smith goal).

Second grade: Reserve grade: WODEN VALLEY RAMS 22 bt UC STARS 4.