Canberra Raiders 24–26 Wests Tigers — Semi-Final, 2010 NRL Finals Series
17 Sep 2010 · Canberra Stadium, Canberra, ACT · Attendance: 26,476
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Semi-Final, 2010 NRL finals series: Canberra Raiders 24–26 Wests Tigers, at Canberra Stadium, Canberra, ACT on 17 Sep 2010.
Sourcing caveat: No try-scoring minutes were found in any accessible source. Two independent sources describe Croker's late, deciding miss as a field-goal attempt, though one earlier extraction described it as a missed penalty attempt; the field-goal version is used as better corroborated. Wests Tigers' 4th interchange player is unidentified — Rugby League Project's own team-list page for this fixture lists only 3 bench names (Fulton, Fifita, Dwyer) rather than the standard 4, and no other source checked names a 4th.
Scorers
| Canberra Raiders | Tries: Bronson Harrison; Joel Monaghan; Trevor Thurling; Alan Tongue Goals: Jarrod Croker (4/5 conversions) |
| Wests Tigers | Tries: Gareth Ellis; Chris Heighington; Chris Lawrence; Lote Tuqiri Goals: Benji Marshall (5/5 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Canberra Raiders | Wests Tigers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josh Dugan | Fullback | Mitch Brown | 4 |
| 2 | Reece Robinson | Wing | Lote Tuqiri | 2 |
| 3 | Jarrod Croker | Centre | Blake Ayshford | 3 |
| 4 | Joel Monaghan | Centre | Chris Lawrence | 19 |
| 5 | Daniel Vidot | Wing | Beau Ryan | 5 |
| 6 | Terry Campese (c) | Five-Eighth | Benji Marshall | 6 |
| 7 | Josh McCrone | Halfback | Robert Lui | 7 |
| 8 | Tom Learoyd-Lahrs | Prop | Bryce Gibbs | 15 |
| 9 | Glen Buttriss | Hooker | Robbie Farah (c) | 9 |
| 10 | David Shillington | Prop | Keith Galloway | 10 |
| 11 | Joe Picker | Second Row | Todd Payten | 8 |
| 12 | Bronson Harrison | Second Row | Gareth Ellis | 12 |
| 13 | Shaun Fensom | Lock | Chris Heighington | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Alan Tongue (c) | Liam Fulton | 11 | |
| 15 | Trevor Thurling | Andrew Fifita | 14 | |
| 16 | Dane Tilse | Simon Dwyer | 16 | |
| 17 | Scott Logan | UNCONFIRMED | UNCONFIRMED | |
| David Furner | Coach | Tim Sheens | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Tony Archer and Jared Maxwell (two-referee system) |
Match report
Canberra hosted an elimination semi-final against Wests Tigers in front of a big Canberra Stadium crowd, with the winner advancing to a preliminary final and the loser's season ending. The Tigers, who had beaten the Raiders twice in the regular season, again proved a bogey side, building an 18-12 halftime lead through tries to Gareth Ellis, Chris Heighington, Chris Lawrence and Lote Tuqiri, all converted by an immaculate Benji Marshall. Canberra fought back in the second half with tries from Bronson Harrison, Joel Monaghan, Trevor Thurling and captain Alan Tongue, with Jarrod Croker slotting four of five conversions, but the Raiders could never quite peg back the Tigers' advantage. The match went down to the wire, with a late Croker field-goal attempt drifting wide, sealing a heartbreaking 26-24 defeat and ending Canberra's finals campaign. Wests Tigers progressed to a preliminary final against St George Illawarra, which they lost by a single point the following week.