Canberra's march towards the finals continued on Sunday with an entertaining 34-12 victory over the fourth-placed Roosters at a rain-soaked Canberra Stadium.
The Raiders sent an ominous warning to the rest of the competition with another spirited performance against quality opposition to claim their fourth win from the past six matches.
It was the second big scalp for the Green Machine in as many weeks after ending St George Illawarra's seven-match winning streak last weekend.
The victory was set up in the first half as the Raiders crossed for three unanswered tries before Joel Monaghan rounded out a golden afternoon with his second try for the day just minutes before the final siren to send the home crowd of 13,417 into raptures.
The Roosters had no answers for a dominant Raiders side that extended its winning run in the nation's capital to four against the team from Bondi Junction.
As good as the Raiders were in attack, their defence was equally impressive, continually repelling any Roosters' forward thrusts.
In cold and wet conditions, Canberra made a perfect start when five-eighth Terry Campese crossed in the sixth minute. Todd Carney added the extras to give the home team a 6-0 advantage.
The Roosters had their chances as well but handling errors and missed tackles proved costly.
Carney was causing all sorts of problems for the Roosters with his excellent kicking game, twice putting in 40/20 kicks to keep the visitors on the back foot.
The Raiders set up a match-winning lead just before half-time with two tries to Marshall Chalk, the second coming right on the buzzer after being set up by a Colin Best chip-kick off the ground.
Canberra blew the game wide open early in the second half as Adrian Purtell scored his 11th try in 14 games to make it 22-0, before Carney converted for a 24-0 advantage.
And when Monaghan crossed 10 minutes later after leaping over the top of Shaun Kenny-Dowell, the margin was 28 points and it was all Canberra.
The Roosters finally got on the board when Braith Anasta found a gap in the Canberra defence in the 57th minute, with Craig Fitzgibbon adding the extras.
They reduced the margin again when Amos Roberts scored a try in the 64th minute but it was too little, too late.
Monaghan added the finishing touches to a perfect afternoon when he launched a high kick, only for Purtell to knock it back into his path before crossing under the posts.
The Roosters face another tough match next week against Manly at the Sydney Football Stadium, while Canberra has another home assignment when it meets the Titans at Canberra Stadium.
Canberra Raiders 34
Tries: Chalk 2, Monaghan 2, Campese, Purtell
Conversions: Carney 5
Sydney Roosters 12
Tries: Anasta, Roberts
Conversions: Fitzgibbon 2
Sportal's NRL Player of the Year:
3 - Joel Monaghan (Canberra)
2 - Alan Tongue (Canberra)
1 - Todd Carney (Canberra)