Canberra Raiders have defeated Illawarra Steelers 18-14 in a hard fought UNE SG Ball Cup Grand Final that went down to the wire.
Both sides came out of the sheds firing and with a dry track at Leichhardt Oval, there looked to be plenty of points on offer.
The Raiders started to gain ascendency early after Caleb Esera started to generate some ruck speed. A few plays later, Toby Thorburn was able to capitalise as he dropped Esera underneath who crashed over for the first try. Mitchell Spencer was successful with the conversion to bring his side out to 6-0 after 12 minutes.