'Worst of all time': NRL world stunned by 'horrendous' moment

The NRL world was left stunned on Thursday night when the North Queensland Cowboys produced one of the worst captain's challenges of all time.

The Cowboys scored three-straight tries to pinch a remarkable 18-12 win over Canberra, sealed by Jeremiah Nanai in the 72nd minute.

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However the visiting side looked woeful in the first half and left commentators in shock with a 'horrific' captain's challenge.

Replays showed that Reuben Cotter had clearly stripped the ball from Joseph Tapine, leaving fans gobsmacked that the Cowboys had asked for a challenge.

“It’s 12-0, they have just given away their fifth penalty, that is headless sort of stuff there from Reuben Cotter,” Greg Alexander said in commentary.

“Did he just flick that out from his hand, they are going to challenge it.”

Warren Smith said: “I thought I saw the worst challenge ever last week, that is the worst of all time.

“That is horrendous.”

Alexander added: “That is the gold medal... how would Reuben Cotter convince anyone that he didn’t do anything?”

Ricky Stuart blasts 'pathetic' Raiders after collapse

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart labelled his side "pathetic" and "not NRL standard" after they threw away a 12-0 half-time lead.

Stuart lashed his players for a lack of intensity after they routinely coughed up possession and be out-run by more than 200m.

"The way we started that second half was pathetic and there's some individuals who just didn't start the way they needed to and get us back onto the front foot," he said.

"It's just not on and I'm sick of it. As individuals, they're got to have a good look at themselves because it was not NRL standard, nowhere near the standards we want to set as a football team.

"We showed what we can do in the first 40 minutes, and we were let down by our performance in the second half."

The Raiders led 12-0 at the break via a dashing dummy-half run from Tom Starling and a diving effort from Jordan Rapana.

But as their intensity waned, the Cowboys took over and Heilum Luki struck from close range early in the second half.

They were level in the 63rd minute when Valentine Holmes burst through a hole in the Raiders' defence.

In a vital play, substitute Raiders fullback Xavier Savage was bundled into touch on his first run of the game after Rapana opted to pass rather than take the return himself.

The Cowboys made full use of the field position, with a sharp kick from Scott Drinkwater sitting up perfectly for Nanai to plant home.

Stuart, who had opted to keep Savage in NSW Cup despite calls for the youngster's inclusion, said it showed the difficult learning curve of NRL football.

"That's why Xavier Savage hasn't been playing first grade, because he's still learning the game," he said.

"So many of you people want X-factor, so many people want Xavier out there - that's why Xavier hasn't been playing, he's still learning the awareness of the game, but I'm only a dumb coach.

"Everybody else wants X-factor. Well, we haven't got X-factor at the moment, we're still teaching young people how to play a game of football at an NRL standard."

with AAP

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