Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton has been cleared of a serious neck injury after being stretchered off the field in the Bulldogs' 40-16 defeat to Canberra.
Crichton was taken off Accor Stadium on a medi-cab after landing awkwardly following an innocuous second-half collision on Saturday with the Raiders' Noah Martin.
The Canterbury captain, who has been plagued by shoulder issues all season, has previously had nerve problems in his neck which have caused him to lose feeling in his right arm.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo confirmed in his post-match press conference that his five-eighth was back on his feet in the Dogs' dressing room.
"He wanted to get up, but I think the trainer was just thinking safety first and made him stay there and wait till everything was all right," Ciraldo said.
"He lost feeling down one arm there and it was a little bit scary, but he's looking a bit better in there now.
"Two years ago something happened that was pretty similar so fingers crossed it's a good result, but he'll get a scan and make sure everything's OK."
It is unclear how long Crichton would face on the sidelines, but the last thing the Bulldogs can afford at this stage of the season is to be without their captain as they slumped to a 7-9 record.
The Raiders, meanwhile, secured one of their strongest wins of 2026 with hooker Owen Pattie booting two 40/20s and back-rower Zac Hosking scoring a hat-trick of tries.
But the undoubted star of the Green Machine's big victory was halfback Ethan Sanders, who produced the strongest game of his 21-match NRL career.
Challenged with the daunting task of replacing Jamal Fogarty following his move to Manly, Sanders has struggled to hit the high notes many expected of him in 2026.
Sanders scored 16 points and registered four try assists to keep Canberra's top-eight aspirations alive in what felt like a coming of age performance and payback for coach Ricky Stuart's faith in the young playmaker.
"I don't need to be rewarded, I know what I'm doing," Stuart said.
"We didn't beat ourselves, it's hard to beat any team when you're beating yourself first."
The Raiders went ahead in bizarre circumstances when Jethro Rinakama had the ball dislodged by Martin in the act of scoring and winger Xavier Savage scooped it up and ran the distance.
Canberra were happy to chance their arm and after Pattie kicked a 40/20, Sanders came into his own to send an on-rushing Martin steaming over for their second.
Sanders then showed his ability with the boot by sending a crossfield kick for Hosking to claim and touch down, the halfback kicking the conversion and two penalties to claim a 22-0 halftime lead.
Rinakama scored four minutes into the second half and sparked Stuart into throwing NSW Origin representative Ethan Strange into the fray.
But Strange's influence wasn't needed as Pattie swung things back in the away side's favour with another 40/20.
Hosking barged over soon afterwards and then sealed his treble off a Pattie pass when Rinakama pulled out of contesting another Sanders bomb.
Sanders added his fourth try assist with a grubberkick to the in-goal for Simi Sasagi, before Crichton went off and Matt Burton and Connor Tracey got two back for the Bulldogs in the dying stages.
