Ricky Stuart and Joseph Tapine fronted the media on Sunday and reflected on their rollercoaster Anzac day performance.
The green machine made a gritty second half comeback after a dismal opening, conceding five tries in the first 40 minutes.
The Raiders coach was expecting a fast start given the emotions heading into the match and he got anything but.
"It was disappointing, that first 40," he said.
"[The word ‘effort’] got a fair mention before the game too."
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Stuart revealed that the game had extra significance for the playing group as they were paying special tribute to Brett Dickson, a respected member of the Raiders' staff and a former military serviceman.
"The bloke standing to my left when we were out there, his name is Brett Dickson," he said.
"He’s ex-military, he served and he’s one of our great staff members,"
"He’d hate me saying it."
Stuart didn't hold back on his side at halftime after their sluggish start, challenging his players to dig deep.
"The last message at half time was to go and show me what you’ve got then. What’s really underneath the jumper? Because in the first half it was really embarrassing," he said.
"They ran over us rough shot in the first half,"
"I think it’s a very important day in our history… it’s got to be celebrated with probably the way they played in the last 40 minutes,"
"It’s easy to go to the ceremonies but you’ve got to back it up when the difficult times come,"
"So it was nice to show that we had 40 minutes of football in us,"
"You go out and you’re ten percent off, you’re going to get what we got in the first 40 minutes today."
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When Raiders captain Joseph Tapine was asked what inspired their comeback, he credited his coach's address at halftime.
"Nice little spray from coach. He tested our character and put a challenge to us," he said.
Tapine was particularly happy with how the team's younger brigade responded under pressure.
"I’m enjoying my time with these young fellas because people say they’re young and inexperienced, but I think the way we build them around our culture, they soak up everything and they’re all winners. That’s what we’re trying to mould them into," he said.
Canberra takes on Melbourne next week at magic round.