The Raiders looked dangerous at times in Saturday's 30-16 loss to Melbourne in Wagga, in particular when they attacked the edges, but a 27-42 completion rate ended any chance of causing an upset.

The most vexing part of Canberra's 2-3 start to the year is they are a major threat to rival defences when they hold the ball, but have let teams off the hook.

"I think it was just our completions, we can't build pressure. It feels like we're playing well, but then we give away a penalty or drop the ball," Tapine said.

"It makes it tough, especially against a team like Melbourne.

"I think our effort's there but the execution isn't. We work on it at training, we just have to bring it to games. It's a big part of our game we're not getting right."

OTHER NEWS

The Storm probably had less chances than the Raiders, but the class of representative halves Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes ultimately proved the difference.

Hughes scored two tries, while Munster finished with two try assists, a line break assist and a line break to go with 146 run metres.

"They've got a great spine, you've got to keep the ball away from them as much as possible and we just didn't do that," Tapine said.

"They took their opportunities and built pressure on us, which we didn't do to them."

New Zealand international prop Tapine was one of Canberra's best, finishing with 40 tackles and 116 metres.

The Raiders host the North Queensland Cowboys next weekend.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: