THE Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Canberra Raiders ended the near decade long NRL drought in the region with a clash at Port Macquarie's Regional Stadium over the weekend.
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The last time any NRL club brought a match to the region was in 2012 when Penrith hosted Newcastle.
After an exciting game that saw the Bulldogs get an early lead, the Raiders managed to charge back and score a well-deserved win in the final pre-season trial 12 to 10.
Josh Jackson and Jarrod Croker lead out their respective sides on Saturday to a standing room only crowd with nearly every seat in the building taken by keen fans.
Kick-off saw the Bulldogs get some early points with a try in the first five minutes; the conversion hit the upright.
The Canterbury side extended their lead in the 10th minute when Sione Katoa sent Dylan Napa over next to the sticks.
This time the conversion hit home with a solid kick from Averillo making the score 10 to 0.
The raiders probed the Bulldogs defence for the first time at the 15 minute mark, and despite their best efforts, the staunch doggies sent them packing.
Joe Tapine, Josh Papalii and Jack Wighton finally got the Canberra team on the board after a brilliant play ended with Wighton running over the line untouched.
The ever accurate Jarrad Croker converted to maker the score 10 to 6.
At half time, the Bulldogs solid start to the half was starting to wane as the Raiders came alive and starting pressing the Canterbury lines.
With only 20 mins to go, and still trailing by four, Raiders coach Ricky Stuart made the call to pull off Jarrad Croker and Josh Hodgson.
In the dying minutes of the game, Sam Williams had the final say when he crossed the line for the Raiders, levelling the score.
He then put the Canberra team in front for the first time with a conversion from beside the posts, giving the Raiders a slight lead 12 to 10.
The Bulldogs refused to go down without a fight, but the Raiders were ready, ultimately the doggies final gasp amounted to nothing and the Raiders snuck away with a clean 12 to 10 victory.
This won't be the last the area sees of the Bulldogs over the next five years after partnership was recently formed with Group 2 and Group 3 rugby league.
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