Canberra Raiders

After extra time was required to separate the two sides, who were tied at 28-28 at the end of normal time, it was a Hudson Young penalty for offside which presented Ponga with the chance to kick his side to a 10th straight victory and confirm a showdown with the Warriors in Auckland on Saturday.

It was a finals game without precedent, marred by an allegation of biting made by Tyson Gamble against Jack Wighton, but which will be defined by so much more.  

Ricky Stuart's men held onto fifth position after Round 22, despite falling to Newcastle 28-6 to record their second consecutive loss, and will need to restore some pride if they're to be taken seriously as premiership contenders this season. 

With Stuart assured the loss was out of character for his side, the Green Machine will need to get their discipline in check after missing 42 tackles and coming up with 16 errors not good enough to compete with any side in the NRL. 

Newcastle left the Raiders in a state of shock with a commanding first-half performance which saw them run up 20 unanswered points, and while the scoring rate dropped off in the second 40 minutes, Newcastle's intensity didn't and the Raiders were never really in the contest. 

Even with the result secured, the Knights came up with some huge goal-line efforts in the final five minutes to deny Canberra consolation tries. 

Newcastle's impressive victory over the Storm moved them to within one point of the top eight, filling the Knights faithful with hope that a return to the finals is a very real possibility.

With Kalyn Ponga in supreme form and their forwards rumbling through the middle of the ruck, Newcastle have piled on 126 points in the past three games to take their points differential into positive territory at +42.

An incredible late surge from Ricky Stuart's Raiders, with Elliot Whitehead and Jack Wighton tries saw the visitors go back-to-back in two minutes but a missed Jarrod Croker conversion put the game into extra time.

But when Johnson drilled the clutch moment with his first opportunity from 30m out, the Warriors broke the Raiders' hearts for a second time this season and booked a spot in the top three of the competition ladder.

In a game where momentum shifted constantly and neither team enjoyed periods of prolonged dominance, the result looked confirmed when the Raiders scored eight points in the final six minutes, but a Tino Fa'asuamaleaui try two minutes from time set up a thrilling finish. 

Fullback Sebastian Kris was key for coach Ricky Stuart, with his aerial dominance leading to a first-half try and snuffing out several other promising Gold Coast raids. 

Even without skipper Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, who was rested after Origin II, the Titans forwards took the game up to the highly touted Broncos pack, laying the foundation for their classy backline to lay on some scintillating tries.

At the end of a tumultuous week in which the club parted ways with coach Justin Holbrook, the players dug deep to register their best win of the season, holding the Broncos to half their season average of 23 points per game.

Bouncing back from a disappointing loss to the Warriors in Round 15, the Raiders rolled out of their bye red-hot on Sunday night, with Jamal Fogarty terrorising James Tedesco with the high ball, setting up two early tries off the boot.

With errors creeping into their game in the second-half, Ricky Stuart's side couldn't convert a try after the 28th minute but thanks to a Jarrod Croker penalty goal, two points was enough to secure the win at Moore Park.

The joint venture may have breathed a sigh of relief when Raiders coach Ricky Stuart decided to rest veteran Jarrod Croker, with the Green Machine guaranteed to have put it all on the field for their favourite son in what would have been his 300th game.

How in-form young guns Junior Tupou, Jahream Bula and Starford To'a rise to the occasion at Campbelltown Stadium on Friday will determine if the Wests Tigers can claim their fourth win of the season and continue their rise up the ladder.

On the eve of the New South Wales team being named, Trbojevic, who endured a patchy start to the year littered with injury niggles, stood tall with a hat-trick of tries and 239 running metres.

Two of those four-pointers were assisted by five-eighth Josh Schuster, who after three weeks out injured returned with a bang, finishing the game with three try assists and scoring one of his own. 

The victory at GIO Stadium snapped a three-game losing streak for the Sea Eagles, who have now won six of their last eight against Canberra.