NRL: Canberra Raiders' Joe Tapine labelled world's best prop by Ricky Stuart

And that's the area Joe Tapine's now officially in, as he again showed his genius - but also the fire that burns behind it.

It had both his Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart and his co-captain Elliott Whitehead labelling him the best prop in the world after another dominant display.

He scored a stunning solo try - carrying a third of the Gold Coast Titans team across the line with him - ran for 173 metres and even had time for a 10-minute spell in the sin bin.

Tapine felt he'd copped a cannonball tackle from Titans hooker Aaron Booth, which was why he lashed out with a punch and got sent to the bin as a result.

You could see the determination to make amends to his teammates when he returned - especially with the aforementioned try where it was clear not even a road train would've stopped him.

"He's been outstanding all year and I think he's probably the best middle in the world at the moment," Whitehead said.

"The work he puts in at training he should be as well - he works really hard. It's nice to see.

"He's always had the capability and his consistency's probably not always been there, but this year's he's been outstanding and he deserves the recognition he's getting at the moment."

Stuart agreed and put Tapine's front-row partner Josh Papalii up in the same stratosphere.

Papalii was also excellent, running for 160m himself.

They were backed up by Adam Elliott (126m) and Hudson Young (105m).

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Young's emerged as a damaging second-rower, who's not only able to find the tryline himself, but has an array of skills to help his teammates get there as well - whether it's a deft kicking game or his range of flick passes.

"He's the best front-rower in the game and backed up by a wonderful forward pack and Papa," Stuart said of Tapine.

"For the life of me I don't know why Pap didn't play more time in Origin, but he's supporting Taps as well as any front-rower in the game."

New Zealand Warriors forward Eliesa Katoa toured Canberra Raiders HQ last week when he was in town for the clash at Canberra Stadium.

But the Green Machine have withdrawn their offer to bring the 22-year-old to the capital.

The Raiders are in the hunt to replace the departing Adam Elliott, who will join Newcastle next season, with Katoa an option they were looking at.

He was given until Friday to respond to their offer, but didn't, and it was withdrawn.

It's been almost two years since Canberra winger Nick Cotric scored an NRL brace, but he's finally done it.

The last time he scored two tries in a game was in the Raiders' preliminary final loss to the Melbourne Storm at Lang Park in 2020.

Having scored twice in the first half against the Titans, it looked like the 23-year-old might finally score his first NRL hat-trick in his 123^rd game - but the wait continues.

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