Raiders too good for Eels, Dragons rout sorry Bulldogs

Canberra Raiders continued their fine start to the NRL season with a convincing 19-0 win over the Parramatta Eels, while the St George Illawarra Dragons battered Canterbury Bulldogs.

The Raiders and the Eels were both tipped to struggle this season but headed into Sunday's clash at Gio Stadium with identical 3-1 records.

It was the hosts that had that extra bit of spark, though, and Josh Papalii crashed over in the 28th minute to break the deadlock, while four points from the boot of Jarrod Croker helped them to an 8-0 half-time lead.

Elliott Whitehead latched onto a Josh Hodgson grubber to extend the lead shortly after the restart and Jack Wighton showed great hands in the air to touch down from Sam Williams' kick to put the game beyond doubt.

The Raiders are now just two points off the unbeaten Melbourne Storm after five matches.

The @RaidersCanberra keep @TheParraEels scoreless! #NRLRaidersEels#NRL pic.twitter.com/ed37ta1U8L

— NRL (@NRL) April 14, 2019

Earlier, Ben Hunt stole the show with two tries and three assists as the Dragons hammered the sorry Bulldogs 40-4.

The playmaker touched down twice in the second half, while Euan Aitken, Tim Lafai, Mikaele Ravalawa, Jordan Pereira and Zac Lomax – scoring his first NRL try – all registered in the seven-try rout.