Raiders 34 Broncos 16

JUST two years ago, Justin Carney was riding horses in equestrian events and not even thinking about playing in the NRL.

But after yesterday's stunning two-try debut in the 34-16 demolition of Brisbane at Canberra Stadium, the Raiders' latest wing sensation is set to surpass the career of his father, Bob, whose stint at South Sydney came to a premature end after the birth of Carney.

"Dad played for Souths in 1988 and then I was born, and I think that stuffed his career," the 19-year-old said.

"I'd never really been interested in league, I was into showjumping - riding horses and training horses. Then one day I thought I'd have a game just for fun and to get a day off school and I ended up making the NSW [schoolboys] team. After that, the Raiders picked me up. But even then I didn't think I was going to make it. I just didn't think I was good enough."

In a one-sided contest between two teams badly depleted by injury - and the Broncos also being forced to field five players backing up from last Wednesday's night's Origin - Carney was a shining light and Canberra officials have no doubt he has a bright future ahead of him.

After moving from Trangie, near Dubbo, to Canberra this season, he has already won a contract extension through his feats in the under-as Toyota Cup competition, where he is the leading tryscorer with 12.

Called into the Raiders' starting side after second-rower Nigel Plum withdrew and Colin Best moved to the centres as part of an extensive reshuffle by coach Neil Henry, Carney admitted to some pre-match nerves but quickly overcame them to score a double before half-time as the home side romped to a commanding 28-0 lead.

"I wasn't expecting any tries," Carney said. "I was very, very nervous, but all the boys just helped me through it. I think me and 'Besty' had a full conversation there for a while."

With centre Adrian Purtell sidelined for another month with a knee injury, Henry indicated that Carney was now likely to remain in the NRL for that period at least and predicted he would only get better after such an impressive debut.

"He's been very good in the under-20s competition and was fantastic on debut," Henry said. "He scored two tries and had some strong carries and that would be good for his confidence.

"His future is obviously bright, he is signed by the club after agreeing to terms a couple of weeks back and hopefully he can string a few games together for us."

Without any of their four leading playmakers - Darren Lockyer, Peter Wallace, Michael Ennis and PJ Marsh - the Broncos were always going to struggle in attack, but their defence also suffered from the late reshuffle.

The Raiders' first try, in just the third minute, came from a scrum win 20 metres out from the Brisbane line after rookie winger Kaine Manihera had the ball jolted loose when tackled from a kick return and Terry Campese crossed virtually untouched in the corner.

The first time the Broncos mounted a genuine attacking raid at the other end of the field ended with Joel Monaghan racing 80 metres to score after picking up a loose pass and at 12-0 after just seven minutes it was already almost a case of game over.

Brisbane would endure more punishment before half-time, with Raiders prop Troy Thompson crashing over in the 25th minute before Carney crossed for his double in the 29th and 33rd minutes to give Canberra the 28-0 lead at the interval.

"We played a bit of good football there, we defended well and we got some points so it was a very pleasing first 40 minutes," Henry said.

"We spoke at half-time about not dropping off in intensity but we couldn't do that, which was a bit disappointing, and we talked about that briefly at the end of the day.

"But it's two points we needed and we were desperate to get, given that we've probably got our own little injury problems … the guys that have come up have been tremendous."