All eyes were Andrew Johns but it was trio of Canberra 20-year-olds who stole the show as the Raiders stunned previously unbeaten Newcastle 48-18 in the NRL match in the nation's capital.

Halves Todd Carney and Michael Dobson were brilliant as they orchestrated all eight of the Raiders' tries, fellow 20-year-old William Zillman the main beneficiary with a hat-trick in only his fifth game in the NRL.

The win presented Neil Henry with his first victory as a top grade coach and the Raiders their first points of the season, making light of wooden spoon favouritism for the club in the process.

"I'm happy for the boys more so because it's a young team and I think they'll gain a lot of confidence from that performance," Henry said.

"They played some good attacking football and backed themselves to score some points and they did.

"We can't control what the media are saying about us (being wooden spoon favourites) that's their opinion, they're entitled to it."

If the Raiders can reproduce the sort of form they displayed, predictions of doom and gloom won't last long.

Carney and Dobson, rekindling the halves partnership that took the Raiders SG Ball side to a premiership in 2004, mesmerised the Knights in every manner possible.

Whether it be running the ball or throwing the long cut out pass, little chip kick or deft grubber, the young pair showcased it all.

Having starred in the first half with try assists for Marshall Chalk and Lincoln Withers and going within millimetres of scoring one himself, Carney threatened to turn villain in the second period.

He coughed up possession 20 metres out from his own line which led to a Johns bomb and Cory Paterson's first NRL try, leaving the scores left tied at 18-all.

The Raiders of the opening two rounds would surely have caved in but Carney and Dobson made sure that wasn't the case.

They combined to engineer a devastating 15 minute spell in which the Raiders scored four tries to take an unassailable 42-18 lead.

Zillman wrapped it up with his third on the final siren, his combination with Dobson proving effective throughout the match.

"I worked a bit with Stacey Jones (at Super League club Les Catalans) last year and he helped me out with my short kicking game a bit and that seemed to pay off tonight," Dobson said.

"Me and Zilly are great mates, he just gives me the nod when he wants it and I just try and put it in the right spot for him."

It was a disappointing return to action for Johns, who was playing his first game since being knocked unconscious in the fourth minute of the season opener.

He played a leading role in all three of the Knights tries, but at times it looked as though the rest of his Newcastle teammates were looking to their mercurial playmaker to do everything for them.

"It wasn't his best game ... Andrew will play better than that next week," Newcastle coach Brian Smith said.

"I'm sure he'll have plenty of good ones in the next few weeks."

The Knights played much of the second half down one interchange with prop Luke Davico suffering rib cartilage damage.

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