The emotion was clear to see, with Croker reduced to tears as he ran out in front of 21,082 at Canberra Stadium.

Perhaps that emotion got the better of the Canberra Raiders as a resolute New Zealand Warriors ran over the top of them in the second half to spoil the party.

READ ALSO:

They came from 8-6 down at half-time to win 36-14 on Friday night.

It was the Warriors' defence in the first half that got them there - withstanding a mountain of Raiders possession of about 64 per cent over the first half hour.

From there they wound their way into the game, with ex-Raider Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad excellent in his first game back to Canberra.

He finished with 186 metres and a try, with Shaun Johnson also influential for the visitors.

The Green Machine had come in on a high, not only playing for Croker, but off the back of seven wins in their previous eight games.

However, the Warriors will have an anxious wait to see what the match review committee does with a Mitch Barnett high shot on Jordan Rapana that saw him put on report and sent to the sin bin.

They also lost debutant Ali Leiataua to a leg injury and Marata Niukore was also sent to the bin and put on report.

Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton was also put on report for a dangerous tackle.

The Raiders had clearly come to play and they absolutely dominated the first quarter, with a massive 64 per cent possession.

Fittingly, Croker put them on the attack with his very first touch - poking his nose through the Warriors defensive line.

But the Warriors had also clearly come ready to defend - standing resolutely as the lime green waves kept coming, including holding Matt Timoko up over their tryline.

Just as the Green Machine appeared to be getting frustrated, up stepped Jack Wighton. Wighton regathered his own grubber and produced an elegant swan dive to celebrate his great mate's milestone game.

The Raiders started to rub their hands together when Barnett was sent to the sin for his high shot on Rapana.

Elliott Whitehead went close to extending the Green Machine's lead, but he knocked on in-goal. And still the Warriors held on.

They even managed to score a shorthanded try while Barnett was still in the bin. A centimetre-perfect Johnson kick found Dallin Watene-Zelezniak all alone against the sideline to level the scores.

Raiders lock Corey Horsburgh was not only playing for Croker, but putting in an audition for State of Origin.

Queensland coach Billy Slater would've liked the cool head the usually fiery redhead showed when Watene-Zelezniak tried to wind him.

Horsburgh had the last laugh, well a wry grin actually, when the bunker penalised Watene-Zelezniak and Croker knocked it over to make it 8-6 at half-time.

Injuries to Tom Gilbert (shoulder) and Jai Arrow (ankle) have opened the door for Horsburgh to play Origin II for the Maroons.

The second half didn't exactly start to script, with the visitors taking advantage of three consecutive sets.

Up stepped Nicoll-Klokstad to start to spoil the party.

He broke a Croker tackle to put the Warriors in front for the first time.

They lead grew when Warriors prop Tom Ale found a gaping hole in the middle of the Raiders line to charge under the posts.

That gap and the margin got even bigger when Johnson put his halves partner Luke Metcalf over and Wayde Egan darted out of dummy half.

Raiders stalwart Josh Papali'i scored a consolation try, but the Green Machine then threw Johnson an intercept for him to score off the restart.

Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up below.