Kaeo Weekes has produced a try-of-the-year contender as the Canberra Raiders held off a fast-finishing South Sydney Rabbitohs to post a thrilling 36-34 NRL win in Perth.
Simi Sasagi and Hudson Young combined brilliantly in the first half of Saturday’s match at Optus Stadium to lift the Raiders to a commanding 24-4 lead by the break.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Kaeo Weekes breaks free to score stunning try
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
But three tries in nine minutes catapulted the Rabbitohs back into the contest, reducing the margin to just two points with 23 minutes remaining.
Canberra, riding a four-match losing streak and with their finals hopes already shaky, looked ripe for the picking.
Enter Weekes.
With Canberra camped on their own try-line at the start of their set, Weekes received the ball and embarked on a run that will dominate highlight reels for years to come.
Weekes broke through two tacklers within his own 10m, shook off another tackler a short time later before throwing a dummy to fool an opponent.
Still 70m away from scoring, Weekes slipped through a gap and outsprinted two chasers to touch down for a famous solo try.
But there was another twist to come.
After Canberra made it 36-22 in the 72nd minute on the back of Ethan Strange’s try, the Rabbitohs surged back again.
Tries to Alex Johnston and Jack Wighton reduced the margin back to two points, and with 13 seconds remaining Latrell Mitchell launched a bomb in the corner.
Johnston rose the highest, but lost control of the ball as he spun through the air on the landing – with the try-line just one metre away.
The Rabbitohs slipped to a 3-2 record, and will be sweating on the fitness of fullback Jye Gray, who injured the AC joint in his left shoulder in the 13th minute after being crunched to the turf with two tacklers directly on top of him.
The first half was the Sasagi and Young show as the pair tore the Rabbitohs to shreds.
Raiders hooker Tom Starling set up the first try by dribbling a kick through Mitchell’s legs for a surging Young to collect and touch down in the 20th minute.
Canberra scored three tries in the final 12 minutes of the half to open up a commanding 24-4 lead by the break.
Savelio Tamale was suffering a case of the fumbles, dropping two high balls to put his team under all sorts of pressure.
But he made up for it in the 28th minute when Mitchell’s attempt to flick on a pass before even taking possession went horribly wrong.
Tamale picked up the loose ball at the halfway line before sprinting 50m towards the posts.
The final two tries of the half were set up by Sasagi.
He threw a dummy pass before sliding through two opponents to set up Weekes for an easy try.
The next one was a thing of beauty, with Sasagi setting off from inside his own 22m to surge Canberra forward.
Sasagi was brought down by an ankle tap, but immediately rolled up to give off the pass, received it back moments later, before offloading it to Young.
Things looked bleak for the Rabbitohs at halftime, but they came back with a bang in the second half to ensure the match went down to the wire.
