NRL: Canberra Raiders joint ladder-leaders after beating Dragons but Ricky Stuart concerned with late fades

The home side threatened an almighty late comeback in Wollongong, but the Raiders just held on for a 36-26 victory with a Hudson Young tackle setting up Sebastian Kris' game-winning try.

The win put the Raiders on equal points atop the NRL ladder before the weekend's games, however the way Canberra have allowed opposition sides comeback opportunities this season is concerning Stuart.

"We should have put them away. To say I'm disappointed in that second half is an understatement," Stuart said in his post-game broadcast interview.

"I'm getting sick of it and I'm frustrated we're letting other teams in the game.

"It's just not good enough.

"I don't want to be that team that lets teams back into the game. It's not our fitness. It's not the character of the individuals, it's just pieces of play we've got to be better at."

Stuart said his side need to crack down on their mental approach to winning games, but was confident he could fix the defensive lapses that were evident against St George Illawarra.

"We used to be a team that was happy to win those games no matter how, but we've got to change that attitude and mindset to be more ruthless," he said in the press conference.

The Raiders raced out of the blocks with four tries in the first half, but a poor second-half defensive effort - particularly on the left edge - allowed the Dragons right back into the game.

Raiders centre Matt Timoko was a standout with a game-high 211 run metres, six tackle breaks and two tries, while Jamal Fogarty's on-song kicking game alongside surprise halves inclusion Matt Frawley caused havoc for the Dragons.

The 28-year-old started the week as 18th man but right before kick-off, Frawley was switched to five-eighth, with Jack Wighton shifted to lock to add some experience to their forwards.

Ever-reliable Joe Tapine and youngster Ata Mariota became the starting props, and Emre Guler went to the bench with Trey Mooney and Raiders debutant Peter Hola, while Nick Cotric became 18th man.

Raiders winger Jordan Rapana opened the scoring inside 10 minutes which was followed by a sensational try celebration that recreated the controversial Jonny Bairstow dismissal in the Ashes, complete with Elliott Whitehead as the English batsman.

Tapine then exposed the Dragons defence to score his first try of the season, with a special celebration of his own, dedicated to his baby daughter.

Timoko scored his first try of the night through sheer determination not to be tackled, and Frawley collected a neat grubber by Fogarty that bounced off the goalposts to give Canberra a comfortable first half 24-6 lead.

Only Mikaele Ravalawa's bruising solo effort to barge over the Raiders' line put the Dragons on the board.

With three Raiders forwards ruled out for round 19 in Pasami Saulo (concussion), Corey Horsburgh (Origin), and Josh Papali'i (hamstring), the middles were tested in an energetic second half start by the Dragons.

Veteran centre Jarrod Croker had a moment he'd like back when he spilled the ball after a collecting a bomb, which allowed Zac Lomax to score the easiest try of his life for the Dragons.

Timoko put the visitors ahead again with his second score coming from a neat kick to the wing by Frawley, but Canberra couldn't stop the Dragons surging and the comeback was on.

Ravalawa and Lomax scored three tries in seven minutes to reduce the deficit to just four points when the Dragons got a bad break for half Jayden Sullivan who copped a hamstring injury.

The Raiders had to stop the momentum and Young did just that with a perfect tackle forcing a knock-on as the Dragons looked dangerous again.

A Timoko burst soon after that play put the Raiders in enemy territory before Kris pierced through for a crucial four-pointer to ice the game.

The Raiders will now go into a bye before they return in round 21 well-rested to take on the Warriors in New Zealand.

In the earlier NSW Cup match, Raiders fringe fullback Xavier Savage suffered a hamstring injury which will keep him sidelined up to four weeks.

Fullback Paul Turner (knee) and Jacob Liddle (HIA) were other casualties along with Sullivan for the Dragons but interim coach Ryan Carr was pleased his side never gave up without Maroons star Ben Hunt.

"I'm super proud of our effort and how we kept fighting and going after the game," Carr said.

"You can see we've got a pretty resilient group there that want to continue to fight and chase that level of performance we demand of ourselves."

AT A GLANCE

CANBERRA RAIDERS 36 (Jordan Rapana, Joseph Tapine, Matt Frawley, Sebastian Kris, Matthew Timoko 2 tries; Jarrod Croker 6 goals) bt ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 26 (Mikaele Ravalawa 3, Zac Lomax 2 tries; Zac Lomax 3 goals) at Wollongong.

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