NRL Raiders vs Warriors at Allegiant Stadium: Canberra thrash New Zealand 30-8 in Las Vegas

Canberra will be partying into the night in Las Vegas after kicking the NRL season off with their most impressive performance in recent memory, a 30-8 mauling of a woeful Warriors.

The Raiders looked right at home before a big crowd at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the fortress of their namesake NFL team, and picked up from a fast finish to an inconsistent 2024.

But there was nothing inconsistent about Ricky Stuart’s side on Sunday (AEDT), with the Warriors looking completely lost in their first game of the post-Shaun Johnson era.

New halves combination Luke Metcalf and Chanel Harris-Tavita could not spark the Warriors, who looked too flat for a team that had more members fly over for the second year of the NRL’s Vegas experiment than any of their three NRL rivals.

Prized James Fisher-Harris had virtually no impact, coming off when the Warriors were down 6-0 and only returning when the game looked gone at 28-4.

Raiders captain Joe Tapine went to the sin bin for a shoulder charge on Mitch Barnett in the 65th minute and could face scrutiny from the match review committee.

With an extra man on the field, the Warriors had a late consolation try through Roger Tuivasa-Sheck on the veteran’s return to the wing.

But a comeback never appeared on.

Fresh from proposing in front of the Bellagio, Xavier Savage had two first-half tries down the right wing as the Raiders’ outside backs adapted to the thinner NFL field better than the Warriors’.

In a summation of the Warriors’ struggles without Johnson, new halfback Metcalf threw a pass straight to Savage, who ran 90 metres against the run of play to make it 16-0.

Earlier, off-contract Tom Starling staked his claim to remain hooker ahead of highly-rated rookie Owen Pattie by scooting out of dummy half to put Canberra in position for Savage’s first try.

It was a night full of success stories for the Raiders; Corey Horsburgh looked sharp after a poor 2024, while Pattie held his own when he came on for his debut late.

Hudson Young went from the naughty corner to the top of the class with an excellent game, shaking off scrutiny over his hotel brawl with teammate Morgan Smithies.

Just after halftime, Young’s enthusiastic kick chase forced Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to spill the ball and Seb Kris cleaned up to hit back following the Warriors’ first try.

The Raiders went up 22-4 thanks to Kris, who had earlier scored the first try of the NRL season reaching out onto the chalk.

Canberra’s easiest try came through Matt Timoko who ran down an inexplicably open right edge for a long-range try that all but sealed the result at 28-4.

Savage went on report in the first half for taking Harris-Tavita’s legs out in a kick, while Nicoll-Klokstad was also cited for making boot contact with Horsburgh while airborne.