Frustrated Canberra coach Ricky Stuart is seeing the silver lining to his NRL club's inability to close out tight matches.
The Raiders' 16-10 loss to Canterbury at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night was their fourth by six points or less this season - including two which have gone to golden point.
In comparison, their four wins have come at an average margin of 22.5 to leave them 10th heading into the representative round.
But Stuart said the close results showed the team's issues weren't hard ones to fix.
"They're better than big losses," Stuart said.
"I don't say that being a smartarse either.
"We're in every game, it's just we're losing the tight ones at the moment and it's frustrating."
The issue of winning close games is nothing new to Stuart in his tenure at the Raiders.
Canberra have won just seven of 27 matches decided by a converted try or less since his arrival in 2014, as they continue their rise through the ranks.
At the top of Stuart's priorities will be the team's completion rates.
They were ranked 12th in the competition over the opening eight rounds with an average completion of 75 per cent. That mark dropped to 68 per cent in the loss to Canterbury.
"We were frantic and panicked a bit," Stuart said.
"We have high expectations on our footy. I think that's why you get really let down and disappointed because when you have high expectations and you don't reach them."
The Raiders may have been dealt another blow with Kangaroos prop Shannon Boyd suffering a lower leg injury.
He left the field in the 25th minute and did not return, just a day after being called into the Kangaroos' side for misbehaving Canberra teammate Josh Papalii who was stood down for a pre-season drink driving incident.
Share
