The Raiders overcame a horror period which saw them end the first half down to 11 men on Friday night to edge past the Bulldogs 24-20 in the opening game of Magic Round.
After making their opponents pay for two crucial errors inside the opening 20 minutes the Raiders looked set to take a big lead into the break, before it all fell apart in dramatic fashion around the half hour mark.
A calamitous defensive mistake from Jordan Rapana gifted the Bulldogs their first try through Jacob Preston, before the veteran Kiwi committed a professional foul and ended up in the sin bin.