The Brisbane Broncos have held on to beat Canberra 24-18 at Lang Park for their seventh straight NRL victory, but will be counting the cost after a hefty injury toll.
Already without Kotoni Staggs, Kurt Capewell and Selwyn Cobbo, who did not back up after Wednesday's State of Origin opener, the Broncos lost halfback and captain Adam Reynolds to a rib injury, Blues prop Payne Haas to a shoulder issue, and centre Herbie Farnworth left the game let with a nasty looking bicep complaint.
They also ended the game with nobody left on the bench after a last-minute head knock tofive-eighth Ezra Mam.
The injuries meant Pat Carrigan played 68 minutes backing up from a gargantuan effort on Origin debut on Wednesday, when he played 64 straight minutes after coming off the bench early.
Mam scored the first try of the game, flashing some fancy footwork to make his way past the Raiders defence in ninth minute, but the teams went back and forth trading tries.
Nick Cotric crossed for the Raiders before Jordan Pereira, playing in place of Cobbo, scored in his Broncos debut, receiving the final pass from Brenko Lee, who was playing just his second game for the club.
Corey Horsburgh kept the Raiders in touch with a try of his own not long after, before Farnworth touched down on the back of a Te Maire Martin line break in the 34th minute, only for Adam Elliott to almost immediately cancel it out with one of his own.
Farnworth completed his double just after the half-time break, off a handy final pass from Mam, although the lead-up play from Reynolds, Carrigan and Billy Walters played a big part in getting them within striking distance.
That was the final try of the game, with only other points of the game coming from a 55th-minute Reynolds penalty goal, kicked just after he received the heavy tackle from Jamal Fogarty that caused his injury, although he tried to play on for a few minutes before succumbing.
From there it was a matter of white-knuckling the final quarter of the game with an almost empty bench, and while coach Kevin Walters was pleased with his team's resilience, both he and NSW coach Brad Fittler will be concerned by the toll it took.
Haas was already dealing with a shoulder complaint on his left side, but Saturday's injury was to the AC joint on his right, and while the severity is not yet known, he only has 15 days to recover in time for Origin II in Perth.
Reynolds's injury came as he appeared to have found his long-term halves partner in Mam, with the complementary playmakers finding their groove in Brisbane's seventh straight win to remain in fourth spot on the ladder.
Rookie winger scores a double on debut as Storm edge Roosters
Plucked from Queensland Cup, first-game winger Grant Anderson has become an immediate folk hero for Melbourne with two tries in his first game.
With Xavier Coates suffering a nasty ankle injury in State of Origin I, Anderson was called onto the wing in jersey number 24 for the Storm's blockbuster clash with the Roosters, crossing twice in a 26-18 win at the SCG.
Anderson had a chance to score in the opening exchanges after a Dean Ieremia line break, but Ieremia's pass slipped out of his hands, over Anderson's head and over the sideline.
The Roosters opened the scoring through Joseph Suaalii, but Anderson got his first not long after thanks to a stunning pass from Felise Kaufusi, bending low and popping a short ball off his shins to Anderson to touch down on 15 minutes.
The teams went try for try in the first half, with Sam Walker adding one for the Roosters and Marion Seve joining the scoring after half an hour, but Nick Meaney's missed conversion meant the Roosters led 12-10 at half-time.
Seve gave the Storm the lead straight after the break with his second, before Sitili Tupouniua, true to the nature of the game, hit back for the Roosters.
Anderson completed his brace after an hour of play when he latched onto a looping pass from Jahrome Hughes and stepped back inside an on-rushing James Tedesco, giving the Storm a lead they would not relinquish.
It seemed he would score a miraculous hat-trick with 15 minutes left when he chased a Hughes grubber and toed ahead, but was illegally taken out by Blues winger Daniel Tupou.
In the end it was Origin rep Kaufusi who scored the game-sealing try, although Tupouniua squandered a golden chance to hit back for the Roosters when he could not hold a Walker chip.
The bigger issue for the Roosters is the loss of Luke Keary to another concussion, the result of friendly fire from Joey Manu's knee.
Johnston nabs another hat-trick as Souths run over Titans
South Sydney winger Alex Johnston has scored a hat-trick for the second straight game as the Rabbitohs beat the Titans 30-16.
Coming off three tries in their last-start 44-18 win over the Tigers, the leading try-scorer in Souths history added another treble on the Gold Coast to take his tally for the season to 14 to lead the league after 14 rounds.
The win moved the Rabbitohs up to sixth on the NRL ladder, while the Titans slipped to their ninth defeat in 10 games.
The Rabbitohs winger brought up his 150th NRL try, becoming just the 15th player ever to achieve that feat.
South Sydney's win continues their dominance over Gold Coast with their last loss coming six years ago.
Enjoying a 12-4 lead at the break, Johnston bagged his second just after half-time when an error in midfield gifted the Bunnies field position.
Some soft hands to the left edge put him into space, and with enough momentum, got to the line through contact.
Titans skipper Tino Fa'asuamaleaui crossed to get them back into the contest, but Souths wrangled back momentum in the 60th minute after a stellar run by Campbell Graham was finished off by a surging Taane Milne who crashed over.
Fa'asuamaleaui bagged a late consolation minutes from full-time but milestone man Tom Burgess still celebrated a win in his 200th NRL game.
