We love the mighty Canberra Raiders
The Raiders lost 15-12 to the Eels, with the game marked by an early try and a sin-bin for Sanders.
The Canberra Raiders fell 15-12 to the Parramatta Eels at Commbank Stadium.
Both sides started hot after recent defeats, trading heavy early sets and metres.
Ten minutes in the Eels opened the scoring when Brian Kelly's dummy-half play released Jordan Samrani to finish on the right.
Raiders halfback Ethan Sanders was sin-binned in the 23rd minute for a tackle without the ball.
NRL's 2026 season shows surprising struggles for top teams Broncos, Raiders, Bulldogs, and Storm, now ranked 11th to 15th.
2026 was always going to be a different year in the NRL.
Last year's top four - the Broncos, Raiders, Bulldogs and Storm - in their majority came out of the blue.
While the Broncos and Storm were tipped widely to keep on rolling somewhere near the top of the ladder, at the end of Round 15, the clubs are going to sit somewhere between 11th and 15th on the table.
Before Sunday's game between the Titans and Tigers, they actually sit in back-to-back positions, all with either five or six wins from 13 or 14 games.
Parramatta defeated Canberra 15-12, condemning them to a ninth loss and jeopardizing their finals hopes. Eels' defense and key players shone in the victory.
Parramatta have put Canberra's season on life support after inflicting a ninth loss of the season for the 2025 minor premiers on Saturday.
The Eels were resolute in defence and did enough in attack to come away with a scrappy 15-12 win at CommBank Stadium for their fifth win of the year.
Ricky Stuart's Raiders now need to win seven or more of their last 10 games if they are any hope of returning to the finals.
It's a stunning fall from grace for the Raiders, who lost just five regular-season games last year when they claimed the top spot by four points.